By: CSM Michael Shipley

Yesterday, I stood on ground that felt heavier than usual. The 236th Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB) officially deactivated, closing out a chapter that meant a great deal to many of us who served in its ranks. From the outside, it probably looked like just another ceremony on just another drill weekend. For those of us who led Soldiers in that formation, watched them grow, and put in the work to build and sustain a battalion, it felt a lot more personal than that.

Units come and go in the Army. They activate, reorganize, convert, and deactivate as the force adapts to new missions and whatever comes next. We all understand that, especially in the National Guard, our formations must remain ready while meeting the needs of the state and the nation. Even so, when a battalion cases its colors, it’s more than an administrative footnote. It’s the end of a shared identity, a set of relationships, and a stretch of service that shaped every Soldier and leader who passed through it.

For me, the deactivation of the 236th BEB hit close to home. I had the privilege of serving as the battalion’s Command Sergeant Major (CSM) from January 2024 to November 2025, and I’ll say it plainly: that assignment remains one of the most meaningful stretches of my career. The job pushed me. It sharpened me. And it reminded me, day after day, that leading at the battalion level takes more than rank or position. It takes presence, patience, accountability, and a real commitment to the Soldiers who trust you enough to let you lead them.

Looking back over the battalion’s history, one thing stands out above everything else. The 236th BEB served the North Carolina National Guard for only a decade, 2016 to 2026, but in that short window, it produced a remarkable line of senior enlisted leaders. Five men carried the title of Bayonet 7, each one holding the standard through a different season of the battalion’s life. Together, their stories show what this battalion built, and who it built.

Durham, NC. 236th BEB Deactivation Ceremony 17 May 2026. From left to right: MAJ Ryan Bedgood (BN XO), SGT Jamal Cox (Color Bearer), CSM Andrew Odom (BN Command Sergeant Major), & LTC Joel Pierce (BN Commander) Furl and Case the Battalion Colors. (Photo courtesy of SFC Jessica Oser, BN PSNCO)

CSM Benjamin Garner was the first Command Sergeant Major of the 236th BEB. Somebody must set the tone at the start, and that job fell to him while the battalion was still figuring out who it was going to be. Being the first CSM isn’t just about holding a title, it’s about laying down the expectations, discipline, and culture that everyone who comes after inherits. Garner carried that same standard forward, first as the 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Command Sergeant Major, then as the North Carolina National Guard State Command Sergeant Major, and eventually as the Guard’s Command Senior Enlisted Leader.

His path matters because it shows how far the 236th’s influence traveled. The standard he built didn’t stay locked inside one battalion, it followed him into brigade leadership, then into state-level leadership, and finally into a role advising and representing every enlisted Soldier across the North Carolina National Guard. That says something about the leader, and it says just as much about the formation that helped shape him early on.

CSM Brian Webb came next, serving as the second Command Sergeant Major of the 236th. He took what Garner had built and kept it moving. From there, he became Patriot 7, the 60th Troop Command CSM, before eventually serving as the North Carolina National Guard State Command Sergeant Major. Because he served as an AGR Soldier, Webb also carried significant full-time responsibility as the G3 Sergeant Major, all while holding down senior enlisted positions like Patriot 7 and Bayonet 7 at the same time.

Carrying both traditional command leadership and full-time operational responsibility gave Webb a rare kind of reach across the North Carolina National Guard. He understood what command required, what readiness demanded, and what it took to run operations at scale. His career after the 236th proved, once again, that this battalion produced leaders who could operate well beyond its own footprint. His recent retirement closed an important chapter, but his place in the 236th’s story isn’t going anywhere.

CSM Derrick Singletary took over as the third Command Sergeant Major, bringing a wealth of engineer battalion experience with him. Before landing at the 236th, he’d already served as Command Sergeant Major of the 105th Engineer Battalion. He arrived just before the battalion deployed, exactly the kind of moment when steady senior enlisted leadership matters most, and led the 236th through its 2019–2020 Operation Spartan Shield deployment, guiding Soldiers through mobilization, overseas service, and the weight of representing the North Carolina National Guard abroad.

After his time at the 236th, Singletary kept that same pattern going. He served as Command Sergeant Major of the 60th Troop Command, a brigade-level job with a broad and demanding mission set. Today, he serves as the 30th Mobile Brigade Combat Team Command Sergeant Major, known across the formation as Hickory 7, leading the enlisted force of the largest brigade in the state. His path says a lot about the kind of leader the 236th prepared, someone who could move between engineer battalions, lead through deployment, and step into commands with greater scale and visibility.

That lineage means even more to me because I served under most of these leaders long before I ever became the 236th’s CSM myself. I served under CSM Garner at the 236th and again at the 130th MEB. I served under CSM Webb at the 236th, later at the 60th Troop Command when he was Patriot 7, and again once he became State Command Sergeant Major. I served under CSM Singletary too, first when he was Patriot 7 and later when he became Hickory 7. Eventually, I followed him into the Bayonet and Patriot 7 seats myself, which made that connection hit even harder. Every one of them shaped how I lead, how I talk to Soldiers, how I hold the line on standards, and how I take care of people.

I followed CSM Singletary as the fourth Command Sergeant Major of the 236th BEB, and I never took that lightly. I knew I was stepping into a chair that had already produced leaders who’d gone on to shape the North Carolina National Guard at the brigade and state level. That stuck with me because it reminded me I wasn’t just inheriting a job. I was inheriting a standard.

My time in that battalion taught me that a CSM must protect standards, develop leaders, take care of Soldiers, and tell the truth even when the formation doesn’t want to hear it. The 236th had talented Soldiers across a dozen different disciplines, and leading it meant thinking past any single MOS, company, or problem in front of me. It forced me to think more broadly, listen better, and lead with both firmness and humility. Those lessons still shape how I lead today.

These days, I serve as the Command Sergeant Major of the 60th Troop Command – Patriot 7 –, and I still carry many lessons from the 236th with me. That battalion taught me how to lead through complexity, how to balance mission against people, and how to stay steady when the organization faces uncertainty. It also taught me that Soldiers remember whether their leaders showed up, listened, and fought for them when it counted. That’s why my time as the 236th’s CSM will always sit near the top of my career.

CSM Andrew Odom served as the fifth and final Command Sergeant Major of the 236th BEB. Before stepping into that role, he’d served as the battalion’s Operations Sergeant Major, which gave him a front-row seat to the formation, its mission, and its people. That background mattered as he helped lead the battalion through its final chapter. Closing a formation requires a different kind of leadership because Soldiers still need standards, guidance, and care even as the organization prepares to shut its doors.

Odom carried that responsibility the way it deserved to be carried. He stood as the final senior enlisted leader of the battalion, not just to watch the colors get cased, but to make sure the formation finished with honor. In the next few months, he’ll retire, and his service as the last 236th BEB Command Sergeant Major will remain part of this battalion’s history for good. Every unit needs someone to open the book and someone to close it correctly. Odom was the only choice to close this one – he knew the formation, understood its people, and had earned the trust it took to carry the 236th BEB through its final chapter with dignity.

Durham, NC. 236th BEB Deactivation Ceremony 17 May 2026. Former Command Sergeants Major of the 236th BEB gather for one final photo. From left to right: CSM Benjamin Garner, CSM Derrick Singletary, CSM Michael Shipley, CSM Andrew Odom. (Not Pictured CSM (Retired) Brian Webb. (Photo courtesy of SFC Jessica Oser, BN PSNCO)

When I think about the Command Sergeants Major of the 236th BEB, I don’t see five separate assignments. I see one leadership line that ran from a single battalion formation all the way to the top levels of the North Carolina National Guard. Garner set the standard and carried it through the 130th MEB, the State Command Sergeant Major chair, and eventually into the Command Senior Enlisted Leader role. Webb carried that same standard through the 236th, through the 60th Troop Command as Patriot 7, through the G3 as Operations Sergeant Major, and into the State Command Sergeant Major position himself.

Singletary brought battalion experience in from the 105th Engineer Battalion, led the 236th through Operation Spartan Shield, and carried that standard on to Patriot 7 and now to Hickory 7, where he leads the enlisted force of the largest brigade in the state. I got to carry that standard too, as the fourth Command Sergeant Major of the battalion, and I still carry those lessons forward as Patriot 7 today. And Odom, who’d already served as the battalion’s Operations Sergeant Major, carried the formation through its final chapter and made sure it finished strong. Five assignments, one story, bigger than any single leader in it.

That lineage matters because it shows what the 236th BEB gave the North Carolina National Guard. This battalion didn’t just build mission capability. It built leaders, leaders who went on to shape Soldiers, units, brigades, and the state itself. It grew senior NCOs who understood standards, accountability, Soldier care, and what it really means to wear the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

After the ceremony ended, something else happened off to the side, away from the main formation. It was quiet, but it may have captured the battalion’s legacy better than anything in the official program. LTC Pierce, CSM Odom, and 1SG Matthew Kleinschmit’s family promoted him to the rank of Sergeant Major right there in front of his company, as he prepared to move on to the 105th Engineer Battalion. No big crowd, no need for extra attention, just the Soldiers of Bravo Company, 236th, and their former 1SG. CSM Odom mentioned earlier that day that he’d overheard a Private First Class say she hoped her next 1SG would be as good as her last one. That moment spoke for itself.

Durham, NC. 236th BEB Deactivation Ceremony 17 May 2026. 1SG Matthew Kleinschmit is promoted to SGM by LTC Joel Pierce, CSM Andrew Odom, and his wife and children. (Photo courtesy of SFC Jessica Oser, BN PSNCO)

That promotion reminded me that the 236th’s legacy didn’t end when the colors got cased. Even as the battalion closed one chapter, it sent another senior enlisted leader forward to serve the engineer community and the North Carolina National Guard. SGM Kleinschmit’s promotion was continuity in action, proof that a formation can deactivate while the leaders it built keep moving forward.

That’s the part of deactivation people sometimes miss. A unit can leave the force structure, but it doesn’t disappear from the people who served in it. The lessons stick. The friendships stick. The standards stick. And the leaders that unit built keep carrying their influence into whatever comes next.

The 236th Brigade Engineer Battalion won’t stand in formation again the way it once did. Its colors now belong to history, and its Soldiers will keep serving in other units across the force. Still, this battalion’s impact remains visible in the leaders it produced and the Soldiers it shaped. For those of us lucky enough to have served there, the 236th BEB will always be more than a unit designation.

It was hard work, hard lessons, and hard-earned trust. It was engineers, logisticians, signal Soldiers, military intelligence professionals, medics, maintainers, supply personnel, and staff members, all carrying the mission forward together. It was long days, tough conversations, field problems, inspections, inventories, ceremonies, deployments, state missions, and the daily work of leading Soldiers. More than anything else, it was people.

Standing there yesterday, I felt pride, gratitude, and a little sadness, all mixed together. Pride in what the battalion accomplished. Gratitude for the Soldiers and leaders who gave it life. Sadness because any ending like this carries weight, no matter how you look at it. But I also walked away confident that the 236th’s legacy will keep going through the leaders it developed and the Soldiers who still carry its standard in their own way.

The colors may be cased, but the standard is still out there. It’s in CSM Garner, CSM Webb, CSM Singletary, CSM Odom, and in the lessons I still carry from my own time as the battalion’s CSM. It’s in SGM Kleinschmit as he moves forward to the 105th Engineer Battalion. And it’s in every Soldier who served in the 236th BEB and walked away better, stronger, and more prepared because of it.

The 236th Brigade Engineer Battalion has closed its chapter, but it hasn’t lost its voice. That voice carries on through the leaders it formed, the Officers, NCOs and Soldiers it shaped, and the legacy it leaves to the North Carolina National Guard.

Bayonets!