Success requires more than just box checking

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Timothy Carney
  • 60th AMW Command Post
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  About a year ago, I was having a discussion with a fellow Airman when the subjects of promotion and advancement came up. He firmly held to the belief that promotion and success relied heavily on what is commonly referred to as “ticket punching” or “box checking;” that is, “meeting your prerequisites.” I argued that devotion to duty and something larger than one’s self held the keys to advancement. 

To add weight to my argument, I told my friend the true story about a Soldier who used those very same principles to advance far beyond anyone’s imagination. 

He was a young man whose simple longing to serve his country led to a very successful military career. 

John Joseph Clem was born in Newark, Ohio, Aug. 13, 1851. Known as Johnny, he was filled with desire to serve his country in the Army when the Civil War began in 1861. 

Despite his age, he promptly ran away from home and offered his services to the 3rd Ohio Infantry. As expected, he was turned down due to his age. Johnny then tried to enlist in the 22nd Michigan Infantry, but got the same answer. 

Time after time, this same regiment turned him down. 

Finally, Johnny stopped asking and simply began to follow the unit from camp to camp. Gradually, the Soldiers “adopted” him, and appointed him as the unit’s drummer boy. Even though his enlistment was not official, Johnny was paid the standard Army wage of $13 a month like everyone else — except his pay was donated out of the regimental officers’ pockets. 

Throughout the war, Johnny earned his pay and proved his worth to the 22nd Michigan Infantry. 

At the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, he narrowly escaped death as he bravely marched with his unit in an infantry attack on Confederate lines. 

In 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga, Johnny proved himself so useful that he was issued a musket modified for his height. During a retreat, a Confederate officer demanded his surrender. Johnny not only refused, but shot the officer dead as well. His actions earned him a promotion to sergeant, national media attention, and the nickname “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.” At this point in his military career he was a seasoned combat veteran at the tender age of 12. 

Shortly before this battle, he was officially enlisted into the United States Army and began receiving government pay. 

Even though he was wounded several times in action, Johnny Clem served until the end of the war. After the war he applied to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but was turned down because of his limited education. Undaunted, he enlisted the aid of President Ulysses S. Grant, his former commander. 

President Grant personally granted Johnny a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1871. He continued to faithfully serve the Army and ultimately achieved the rank of major general. He retired in 1916, after serving for 55 years on active duty. John Lincoln Clem died in San Antonio, Texas, May 13, 1937 at the age of 86 and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Johnny Clem succeeded because he had a cause. He devoted himself to something that was bigger than him. Throughout his career, he advanced because he always put his cause before himself. And that cause was the defense of his country and being a Soldier, something that he simply loved. The Air Force recognizes this trait as its second core value: service before self. 

I still hold to the belief that advancement and success in the military doesn’t involve “box-checking” or “ticket-punching.” The key is honest and faithful service to the nation. My belief is confirmed not only by Johnny Clem’s service, but by something Gen. George S. Patton said 60 years ago, “If you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself.”