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“Give it a shot and see if you like it or not.”

With those words, or something to that effect, Scott Woodward accepted his father’s advice and took a shot at qualifying for the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at SUNY Brockport.

“When I went to college, I competed for one of the two-year ROTC scholarships between my sophomore and junior year,” said Woodward, (photo at right), a 1989 graduate of Batavia High School. “I was interested in ROTC, but it was never pushed on me.

“My dad asked me to give it a shot and see if you like it or not. I ended up getting the scholarship and, from there, it just kind of came naturally to me, and I did pretty well at it.”

“Pretty well” is quite the understatement.

Today, Woodward is five months away from a 30-year career in the Army and has progressed through the ranks to earn the title as Brig. Gen. Scott C. Woodward – making his parents, Tim and Maria, his family and his hometown proud.

PROMOTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL ON DEC. 7

Woodward was promoted from colonel to brigadier general by the U.S. Army Chief of Staff on Dec. 7 at a ceremony in McLean, Va. His promotion was delayed for several months due to a confirmation hold by Sen. Tommy Tuberville.

The 52-year-old Batavia native, who now serves as the Deputy Commanding General-Training at the Army’s Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said he sometimes has to pinch himself to make sure it’s not a dream.

“It’s weird,” he said during a phone interview with The Batavian earlier this week. “I had to catch myself because I’m still trying to say ‘Colonel’ sometimes (when talking about himself) because I was a Colonel for seven years.”

For an officer to reach such an elite level, it takes a combination of service and leading others, said Woodward, who was commissioned as a second lieutenant after completing the ROTC program.

FOUR DEPLOYMENTS IN IRAQ

Woodward has all of that, and more, on a resume that includes four deployments in Iraq during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve, along with deployments in Bosnia-Herzegovina for Operation Joint Forge and Kuwait for Operation Desert Spring.

“It was March 2003, as a captain during OIF, when I was experienced combat,” Woodward said. “I went over there as a troop commander during the ground war – the initial invasion, we went all the way from Kuwait to Baghdad.”

He took on a different role during Inherent Resolve in 2014 after being promoted to lieutenant colonel.

“I was a G3 (operations officer) for the First Infantry Division … right when the whole ISIS thing really kicked off,” he noted.

TAKING ON LEADERSHIP ROLES

Woodward has excelled at various posts in the states, as well, including:

-- The Armor Colonels assignment officer, Senior Leader Development, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Washington DC.

-- Operations Officer, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.

-- Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G3/5/7, HQDA, Washington DC.

-- Executive Officer to the Commanding General of US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, Va.

He is a graduate of Armor Officer basic course, Aviation Officer advanced course, the Command and General Staff College, and the US Army War College, where he earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Army War College.

Woodward said that being a commander is vital to moving up the ladder in the Army, and he was fortunate to be selected to lead men and women every step of the way, as a captain of a tank company and reconnaissance troop in Fort Stewart, Ga., as a lieutenant colonel of a cavalry squadron at Fort Riley, Kan., as a colonel of a cavalry regiment at Fort Irwin, Calif.

'RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB'

Last August, Woodward was named the new Combined Arms Center-Training Deputy Commander during a ceremony in Fort Leavenworth.

The previous Commanding General Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin (photo at left) said Woodward was the right person for the job, which oversees around 1,400 enlisted men and women and civilians.

According to an Army public relations’ article, Martin pointed out that he had served with Woodward at the Training and Doctrine Command.

“I’ve seen what this officer can do,” Martin said. “I saw what he did in the Mojave Desert leading the Blackhorse (11th U.S. Cavalry) Regiment and I have nothing but high hopes and great expectations for what you will do for CAC Training.”

Woodward said he calls Kansas home, having met his wife, Judy, there in 2006, and having been stationed there five times. One of his two daughters graduated from the University of Kansas.

Speaking about his new job, he said, “Essentially, I manage the training enterprise for the entire Army; all the training aids, training devices, simulators, simulations, ranges, the constructive simulations that we run for our corps and divisions.”

It’s a high-level management position with a $2.3 billion portfolio every year, he added.

WORKING WITH 'THE BEST' PEOPLE

For someone who thought he would give the Army four years and move on, Woodward said his motivation to serve is as strong as ever.

“I would say that the thing that keeps me in the Army -- the thing that keeps me motivated -- is the people,” he offered. “I’m serving with the best people in the world. And I think the job we do on a daily basis is worth it to me and to the people I serve with and what we do for the American public, I believe in it.

“And that's what keeps me motivated and staying in. I still think I'm making a difference in people's lives. And I still feel like I can contribute.”

Woodward was quick to add that he’s “proud” to be from Western New York and from Batavia.

His Batavia family is well known, with his parents, Tim and Maria (Gilmartin), and brother, T.J., having owned and operated Gilmartin Funeral Home for many years. His sister, Michelle, now resides in Atlanta.

STAYING LOYAL TO THE BUFFALO BILLS

Military service is not foreign to the Woodwards and Gilmartins as Tim served in the New York Army National Guard and his late brother, Mike, was in the Navy. Both grandfathers, the late Earl Woodward and Darwin Gilmartin, served in the Navy during World War II.

Woodward has two grown daughters, Savannah, who lives in Newport News, Va., and Sydney, who resides in Charlottesville, Va.

Although he hasn’t been in Western New York for quite some time, his love for the Buffalo Bills hasn’t waned.

“The Bills played out here a couple weeks ago against the Chiefs and I went to the game with a Bills’ jersey on,” he said excitedly, talking about Buffalo’s thrilling 20-17 victory. “I’m still and always will be a Bills fan.”