The mission of the Army is to fight and win our

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1 The NCO Corps Our National Asset The Year of the NCO By Kenneth O. Preston Sergeant Major of the Army The mission of the Army is to fight and win our nation s wars, and we are accomplishing this mission in our continuing war on terrorism. Today the American soldier brings unmatched skills to defending our nation, our allies and our friends. The Army has more than 260,000 soldiers forward-deployed to 80 countries around the world. Of them, 150,000 are in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa in brigade combat teams (BCTs), multifunctional brigades, functional brigades and other force-enabling units. The Army National Guard has more than 67,000 soldiers and the Army Reserve more than 30,000 mobilized, serving all around the world and throughout the United States, providing critical skills to our joint, combined and interagency teams. We could not do all that we do today as a nation or as an Army if it were not for our citizen soldiers. Our Army civilians perform critical missions all across the the force in TM October 2009 ARMY 43

2 SMA Kenneth O. Preston is the 13th Sergeant Major of the Army. Previously, he was command sergeant major for Combined Joint Task Force-7, serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He has served in every enlisted leadership position from cavalry scout and tank commander to command sergeant major and Sergeant Major of the Army. As command sergeant major, he had assignments with 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; 3rd (Grey Wolf) Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Armored Division, Bad Kreuznach, Germany; and V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany. He is a graduate of the Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course, Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course, First Sergeants Course, M1/M1A1 Tank Master Gunner Course, Master Fitness Trainer Course, Battle Staff Noncommissioned Officers Course and the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. support of our Army missions. Today there are more than 4,000 of these Army civilians forward-deployed, along with more than 33,000 contractors supporting our soldiers and their teams. On January 7, 2009, the U.S. Army officially launched the Year of the NCO. Our goals this year were to recognize the contributions of our NCO Corps, both past and present; inform the American people, members of Congress and our government of the national asset they have in their NCO Corps; and enhance the capabilities of our NCO Corps to provide our commanders a greater asset and warrior leader in the accomplishment of their missions. One such enhancement is Army Career Tracker (ACT), a web portal that integrates and eases access to every training and education opportunity available to soldiers. ACT will provide all soldiers and their leaders the ability to manage their professional development. The Army fast-tracked ACT this year to gain approval as an Army system of record. Now we will pilot ACT at the end of this calendar year to test the capabilities of the system and continue with full implementation in mid-fiscal year (FY) 2010, two years ahead of schedule. While this initiative has come to fruition during the Year of the NCO, ACT will provide soldiers, NCOs, officers and our Army civilians the mechanism to channel professionaldevelopment opportunities far beyond our institutional schools. ACT is not a replacement for institutional education opportunities, but a portal to search, see, understand and act on the extensive array of education programs available. With ACT, soldiers will search for and enroll in training and education; examine and manage their professional and personal career development; and view their entire assignment history, all from one site. ACT will provide leaders with the ability to access and monitor their subordinates career development as well as offer personalized training recommendations based on soldiers professional goals. One of the significant NCO development tools that ACT provides is a relevant and current professional-development career map. With the implementation of ACT, all soldiers will have access to a career map that contains guidance on what steps they could take to develop their occupational skills and their promotion potential. During the week of October 26th, the Army will launch a demonstration of technology for Army Career Tracker to Career Management Fields 18 (Special Forces) and 25 (Signal Corps) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Through a combination of focus groups and online testing, the Signal Corps and Special Forces will assess ACT s features and capture feedback specific to the soldier s needs. The Army invested $3.2 million dollars in the development of ACT this year and will invest $41 million dollars over the next five years to complete development for all soldiers and Army civilians. As part of ACT, this year we fully funded and developed the first two of five tiers of our structured self-development (SSD) program, which will provide greater education opportunities in the future to expand our formal NCO Education System (NCOES) courses. Under the Year of the NCO initiative to accelerate development of our SSD program, the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) completed the first modules for the three remaining levels of SSD. As a formalized program under NCOES, SSD allows for total soldier development across an entire career, broadening development beyond our four institutional professional military education (PME) courses. SSD contains clearly defined learning requirements sequenced throughout soldiers careers. Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) will synchronize these learning requirements with soldiers operational and institutional assignments to promote continuous growth as warriors and warrior leaders. SSD builds knowledge and skills through a defined sequence of learning approaches using the strengths of formal education and experiential learning. It provides NCOs with expanded and enhanced professional development by providing additional training beyond PME courses through an online capability. This additional education opportunity closes gaps in PME and unit training and fosters lifelong learning throughout an NCO s career. SSD is adaptive and flexible to the needs of the Army and our NCOs. SSD provides access to current education and doctrine, initiatives, concepts and developments to enhance NCOs knowledge at any point in their careers. A significant professional-development tool that fully leverages technology and enhances our NCO Corps skills, SSD bridges gaps between the operational and institutional learning domains. TRADOC also began to repurpose the Army correspondence course program (ACCP) into our guided self-development program, which will provide purpose and direction for those soldiers seeking additional professional-development opportunities. Under this Year of the NCO initiative, the repurposing validated all course content to ensure relevancy of material and resulted in the elimination of 550 outdated subcourses. TRADOC is working with the American Council on Education to review ACCP for the potential awarding of college credit to soldiers and NCOs completing 44 ARMY October 2009

3 SFC Jared C. Monti, Medal of Honor Recipient SFC Jared C. Monti, a Fire Support Specialist (13F), served as a targeting NCO assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. He distinguished himself with acts of conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty against an armed enemy in Gowardesh, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. As this article goes to press, preparations are under way for the President of the United States to award SFC Monti the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in combat in Afghanistan. On June 21, 2006, then-ssg Monti helped lead a 16-man patrol assigned to conduct surveillance in Gowardesh. An enemy force of more than 50 insurgents attacked the patrol as dusk fell. The enemy had established two support-by-fire positions above the patrol on a wooded ridge. SSG Monti immediately returned fire and ordered his patrol element to seek cover and return fire. He called for indirect fire and close-air support (CAS) while directing the patrol s fires on the enemy positions. SSG Monti engaged the enemy using his rifle and a grenade, successfully disrupting a major attempt to flank the patrol, while still calling for fire. After discovering that PFC Brian J. Bradbury was critically wounded 10 meters from protective cover, SSG Monti quickly moved into enemy fire, coming within 3 feet of Bradbury s position. The intense machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade (RPG) fire, however, forced him back to the rocks. SSG Monti rose again to maneuver through another barrage of enemy fire to secure PFC Bradbury. Again, he was forced back in place as the enemy intensified their fires. Unwilling to leave his soldier wounded and exposed, SSG Monti made a third attempt as the remaining patrol members covered him. After a few steps, he was mortally wounded by an RPG. The indirect fire and CAS he had called for earlier arrived and broke the enemy attack, killing 22 enemy fighters. SFC Monti s actions that day saved his team s lives and preserved the patrol s position. His repeated acts of heroism inspired his patrol to fight off and destroy the numerically superior enemy force. SFC Jared C. Monti is the sixth servicemember to receive the nation s highest award for valor since 9/11 and the first soldier in Afghanistan to receive the Medal of Honor. The second paragraph of the NCO Creed reads: My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind, accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my Soldiers. SFC Monti s focus on accomplishing the mission and the welfare of his soldiers exemplifies what it means to be an NCO. Because of his sacrifice and selfless actions, the men with whom he served are alive today. ACCP courses. This retrofit under guided self-development will align policies and procedures to increase NCO competency and performance. The Warrior University web site is operational and increasing the number of civilian institutions of higher learning available within the College of the American Soldier. All of these universities are affiliated with the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) degree program and recognize the education credits of each school s curriculum, while helping TRADOC enhance and accredit our military courses for college credit. Warrior University is a web site that centralizes both training and education opportunities available across the Army. The site eases the identification and access for both Army military training courses and courses taught under the College of the American Soldier. It allows soldiers to easily identify training and education opportunities by centralizing all courses from more than 20 web sites. TRADOC created the College of the American Soldier to increase a soldier s ability to complete collegelevel programs and maximize transferability of credits, while minimizing residency requirements and costs. Continuing to add additional colleges and universities to this program expands soldiers choices and enhances their ability to get a college education as they serve throughout their careers. The Army fully funded a major NCOES transformation recently, which will continue over the next several years. TRADOC took the first steps toward a One-Army school system by transferring responsibility for seven Warrior Leader Course (WLC) institutions from Forces Command to TRADOC control, which centralizes oversight, resourcing and scheduling. The transformation of NCOES provides education to the soldier and NCO aligned with the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) model. NCOES transformation provides NCOs the flexibility to attend PME courses at more beneficial times and locations. A transformed NCOES will: develop broadly skilled NCOs who think and adapt on the fly, exceeding their comfort zones; accelerate development and prepare NCOs to serve and operate above their current grade levels by starting leadership development sooner and migrating course content one level down; and create a flexible and adaptive education system de- October 2009 ARMY 45

4 To launch the Year of the NCO in Europe, SMA Kenneth O. Preston addresses servicemembers at the Rhine Ordnance Barracks, Germany, in March. SMA Preston praised NCOs for their contributions to the Army s efforts worldwide. signed to rapidly address development gaps. NCOES transformation supports mobile training teams to provide PME courses at home station, supporting ARFORGEN and allowing NCOs to spend their nights with their families while furthering their careers. NCOES transformation adds SSD modules between PME courses to allow all soldiers to further their education needs in all environments throughout their careers. In addition, it combines civilian accreditation of our PME courses with the College of the American Soldier to help NCOs earn their associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees as part of lifelong learning. I recently received an about the leadership attributes of his young NCOs from a concerned senior NCO currently deployed in theater. He felt the combination of early promotions with the streamlining and shortening of NCOES courses was not preparing NCOs for the leadership challenges facing them individually, nor for the challenges they were facing with their soldiers and families after nearly eight years of war. The Chief of Staff of the Army and I have heard and understand the concerns and challenges from this senior NCO and others across the force. To better understand the current state of NCOES and where we are heading in the future, let s review our system from a historical perspective. In late 2005, Army leaders directed TRADOC to lead a task force called the Review of Training and Assignments of Leaders (RETAL) to take a critical look at NCOES and NCO assignment processes. RETAL s mission was to provide Army leaders with recommendations for continuity and change in our processes that would develop the skills and attributes required of our soldiers to accomplish the Army s primary mission to fight and win our nation s wars, support the National Security Strategy and simultaneously transform the Army. RETAL spent six months interviewing Army leaders from staff sergeants through general officers in the active and reserve components. The focus of the interview process was to understand from the field s perspective the strengths and weaknesses of NCOES and determine development requirements supporting the Army s transformation to a full spectrum expeditionary force. As part of its charter, RETAL reviewed the NCO development policies and programs to ensure that they supported the current and future development of the NCO Corps. The RETAL task force reported to Army leaders in 2006 the following recommendations taken from more than 2,600 interviews and 13,000 survey responses: Focus on tactical skills, warrior tasks and battle drills; maintain NCO core competencies (standards are important); start NCO development early and make it continuous; improve squad- and platoon-level training; and increase the emphasis on civilian education for NCOs. The overarching theme from NCOs during and after this analysis period was their concern for the Army s operational deployment tempo and limited dwell periods between deployments, both of which reduced their ability to attend NCOES. NCOs voiced their concerns regarding the increased stress on themselves and their families. They were also concerned with units getting NCOs to NCOES courses within limited dwell periods. The immediate changes made to NCOES stemming from the RETAL study began with transforming the existing Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC) to the Warrior Leader Course in The new curriculum focused on first-line leaders leading soldiers in the execution of warrior tasks and battle drills, troop-leading procedures and precombat checks. This curriculum deemphasized some of the garrison skills-focused drill and ceremonies, and uniform inspections, incorporating the learning objectives of these garrison skills into the combat-executed tasks. To further assist soldiers and NCOs get to school and return to their families and units more quickly, TRADOC extended the academic duty week to seven days and extended the hours of the academic duty day, allowing a 30-day, 196-hour academic course to be condensed to a 15-day, 192-hour academic course. TRADOC immediately began reviewing the changes that could be made to the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Courses (BNCOC) and the Advanced Noncommissioned 46 ARMY October 2009

5 Officer Courses (ANCOC) to give NCOs and their leaders the attributes and skills needed to support the recommended changes from the RETAL study. BNCOC and AN- COC principally provide the technical skills for NCOs to serve as squad leaders and platoon sergeants within their primary occupational career fields. The first two weeks of both BNCOC and ANCOC covered core subjects common to all occupational specialties and taught to all NCOs attending these courses. TRADOC reviewed the curriculum of both courses, revealing redundancy in the common core subjects. Adding one day of instruction to the BNCOC common-core phase allowed TRADOC to shorten every AN- COC by two weeks, shortening the temporary-duty time for senior NCOs away from families and units. TRADOC and its proponent schools extended the length of the academic duty week and duty day to collapse these courses into an eight-week period, or shorter. Only a few specialty career fields were not able to meet the eight-week goals. Throughout our nation s history and during the current period of persistent conflict, the NCO Corps has adapted to meet every challenge. Historically, junior NCOs serving in our units always exercised tactical leadership within the framework of platoon operations. The importance of the tactical leadership provided by our NCOs on the ground remains the same today; however, those junior NCOs decisions can now have strategic-level impacts on the overall mission. NCOs need to understand, therefore, the overall character of operations and the context of their mission, the general principles of counterinsurgency and cultural differences so they may make decisions that account for cultural sensitivity. The traditional activities of NCOs communicating, supervising, training, teaching and mentoring remain at the core of our roles and responsibilities. We relate care and concern for our soldiers families to the care and leadership we provide our soldiers. NCOs today must adapt and learn new roles, solve problems, analyze and synthesize information, and manage supplies and resources. The evolution of the operational environment in which many of these activities take place adds complexity and importance to many of the NCOs traditional tasks. Sergeants and staff sergeants are more often the integrators of tactical effects of organic weapons available to teams, squads and platoons, but also of a wide range of supporting effects from numerous sources. The operating environment, ARFORGEN and constrained resources require the institution to seek new and innovative ways to train and educate soldiers and leaders. The Army must improve soldier access to information and learning materials, and empower soldiers to identify and personalize their learning needs. In addition to the RETAL findings, the design of our enlisted promotion system created another challenge while supporting an extended conflict. The Army designed the current NCOES system based on a select, train and promote model. For example, unit leaders officially selected a specialist for promotion to sergeant when the soldier appeared before and passed the battalion promotion board, obtaining a status known as SPC Promotable (P). The SPC(P) would then attend PLDC (now the WLC) to meet the trained requirements of the Army. Once the SPC(P) met the cut-off score to qualify for promotion, the Army promoted the soldier to sergeant. This system worked well for us in a peacetime Army with limited and brief deployments, but did not support an Army at war. Deployment tour lengths of 12 or more months and soldiers who could not attend NCOES courses while deployed required the Army to waive the train requirement for soldier promotions. With- For their combat efforts in Afghanistan, soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), stand in formation following a valor award ceremony honoring nine NCOs of their company at Panzer Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, in July. 48 ARMY October 2009

6 SMA Preston addresses Class 60 at the Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) in August. The USASMA s structured selfdevelopment program allows for total soldier development across an entire career. out this waiver, soldiers deployed in support of combat operations would not receive their promotions at the same pace as those soldiers not deployed in some cases, two years later. Over the past eight years, many NCOs have served in leadership positions prior to attending the required level of NCOES. We have historically always had, and will always need, leaders to place NCOs into positions of increased responsibility above their rank to fill critical unit leadership vacancies. The timing of the attendance to NCOES courses, the need for NCOs to fill critical leadership roles above their current rank and the results of the RETAL task force all contributed to the future changes to our NCOES structure. Supporting future changes to the NCOES structure, TRADOC widened the window of eligibility to allow soldiers and NCOs to attend these professional-development courses. This past year, the Army widened the window of eligibility for privates first class (PFCs) to attend the WLC. The rapid growth of the Army to build more deployable formations exceeded our ability to grow sergeants, which left new or resetting units short of first-line leaders. Many units deployed in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with less than 100 percent of their authorized NCO strengths. In many cases, junior soldiers and NCOs filled important leadership roles above their current rank. In some cases, PFCs filled corporal and sergeant positions, assuming responsibility for two or three soldiers. Serving in these positions of increased responsibility throughout their units train-up period of approximately six months, followed by 12 months or more deployed and three months of reintegration, these junior leaders led their soldiers for nearly two years before getting the opportunity to attend school. In support of the RETAL study, educating soldiers earlier in their careers became a priority. Today the Army encourages unit leaders with privates first class and specialists serving in leadership positions to send their soldiers to the WLC to gain those leadership attributes and set the conditions for their young leaders to succeed. This year, BNCOC will transform into the Advanced Leader Course (ALC), and ANCOC will transform to become the Senior Leader Course (SLC). As with the WLC, educating soldiers and NCOs earlier in their careers supports the findings of the RETAL study and provides the education needed to show leaders how to think and not what to think. WTC reflects this realization. TRADOC will take those relevant leadership tasks and attributes taught in AN- COC and merge them with BNCOC, expanding this course to become the ALC. Each of the component schools retains responsibility for the technical training and education provided in each course. As an example, Armor Crewmen (19K) attending the ALC will receive the technical training to serve as tank commanders (squad leaders) and the leadership attributes to serve as platoon sergeants. The window of eligibility for the ALC now allows sergeants and staff sergeants to attend school in preparation for the responsibilities of serving as section sergeants and the preparedness to step up and serve as platoon sergeants. The First Sergeant Course will collapse into the current ANCOC, expanding and transforming this course to the SLC. Potential common-core subjects of the SLC include: lethal and nonlethal fires, full spectrum operations, family violence, conflict management, ethics/solving complex problems, land power, soldiers rights, and physical security, among others. The window of eligibility for the SLC now allows staff sergeants and sergeants first class to attend school in preparation for the responsibilities of serving as platoon sergeants. The Army will implement a new senior staff NCO course designed to provide staff skills for assignment above the brigade level for senior NCOs in the rank of sergeant first class and above. This course will provide the education and skills needed for these senior NCOs to serve in staff positions supporting senior Army and joint headquarters. The course subjects will include: how the Army runs; preparing staff studies; staff estimates and courses of action; managing priorities and combining the elements of full spectrum operations during conflict; full spectrum operations and the levels of war; land operations and the changing threat; and joint task force operations and organizations. The Army s growth and ongoing transformation will restore balance to our force, our units, our soldiers and their 50 ARMY October 2009

7 families. Achieving an ARFORGEN model that supports a minimum ratio of one year deployed to two years dwell for the active forces and one year deployed to four years dwell for our reserve component units is critical to providing predictability and stability for our force. Increased dwell periods will reduce stress on soldiers and families and allow the Army and TRADOC to expand and slow NCOES courses to their predeployment pace, while incorporating all the improvements NCOs and their leaders have asked for in the RETAL study and lessons learned from theater. In order to meet both the development needs of the NCO and the operational needs of the Army, we must pursue a lifelong learning approach to leader development. For all soldiers, there are some lengthy periods of time lulls between attending the different levels of our professional military education courses when education and leader development must continue. Our institutional schools represent the first of three pillars of learning and development supporting soldiers growth throughout their careers. Although critical to development, this first pillar is the thinnest of the three when you count the number of days soldiers spend in classrooms throughout their careers. The second pillar representing more than 70 percent of the learning and education we receive over the course of our careers is our operational experience and assignments. We learn hands-on from the breadth of assignments, leadership opportunities, and leader mentoring and counseling to grow and develop those attributes that make us successful in positions of increased responsibility. Routine counseling, leader-taught classes that address unit-specific weaknesses, and NCO and officer professional-development classes in the unit reinforce what our leaders expect of us every day. The third pillar supporting leader development and education is self-development and self-study. Historically, self-development and selfstudy were executed voluntarily and encouraged by promotion points for completing ACCP, earmy U and college courses. NCO and soldier of the month, quarter and year awards and monthly promotion boards focused on those subjects that unit commanders and leaders wanted their soldiers and junior leaders to be, know and do. Implementation of SSD further expands training and education opportunities under the self-development and selfstudy pillar and reinforces a culture of lifelong learning. These initiatives are part of a larger effort to continue professional development and education for all soldiers, while integrating or linking the subjects taught across all three pillars. TRADOC is currently revising the BNCOC common-core subjects to identify those tasks best suited for SSD. The Chief of Staff of the Army authorized the development of an SSD program for all soldiers. Under this plan, soldiers will complete up to 80 hours of distributed learning instruction during the lulls in attendance to their different levels of professional military education. SSD focuses on the common cognitive skills that prepare and enhance our soldiers and leaders abilities to lead, and provides the foundation skills for those more complex subjects taught in an institutional course or PME. Some tasks effective writing, speed-reading and comprehension exercises, and nutritional health are valuable PME subjects best suited for individual learning in SSD, preserving precious classroom time for subjects requiring soldier and leader interaction. SSD is not intended to replace time in the classroom or shorten course lengths. Course lengths are dependent on the education needs of the soldier in each occupational specialty serving at the required skill level. SSD will allow our PME courses to focus on the rapidly expanding skills and attributes our soldiers and leaders need for the complex environment in which we operate every day. SSD will enable all soldiers and civilians to gain valuable education and immediately begin application of their learning in the units where they serve. Our strategy must account for the current operational tempo and help soldiers pace themselves. Their development is not a sprint it is a marathon. As we implement this strategy, we must fully understand what our soldiers and NCOs face when not in garrison, while protecting and building on their experiences gained over the last eight years. While we must challenge our NCOs to exceed their comfort zones, we cannot assign them unattainable or unrealistic requirements. We owe it to our soldiers to find the right balance of training, education, experience, downtime for families and overall quality of life. There is great potential in the use of advanced technology to create realistic scenarios based on operations in the current environment, while improving our training and education activities. The use of gaming, mobile learning, and the virtual world s three-dimensional capabilities can greatly increase the complexity and relevance of the development of the technical, tactical and leadership competencies soldiers and leaders need. The core responsibilities and roles of the NCO Corps remain unchanged, but the importance, level of complexity, range and breadth of responsibilities continue to evolve in many areas. The development of our next generation of leaders will require an increased level of competence and the ability to learn and adapt quickly, communicate clearly, understand the context of operations and solve complex problems that arise unexpectedly. We have the greatest combat-experienced all-volunteer force in our history. Continued development of our NCOs is an Army priority. For the future, we will maintain this warfighting competency and continue to sharpen our individual soldier and leader attributes across all three pillars of learning. This year the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy opened the Army Physical Fitness Research Institute (APFRI) program to assess the level of physical health and fitness of our next generation of sergeants major. Focusing on our senior NCOs and supporting the Army s comprehensive soldier fitness program (CSFP), the APFRI initiative will use the individual s assessment to educate and train these NCOs and their families. During the USASMA course, our future senior NCOs will learn the value of fitness and nutrition in maintaining a healthy lifestyle across all compo- 52 ARMY October 2009

8 Noncommissioned officers assigned to the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, La.: (left to right) SGT Airealle Glynn, Company F, 94th Brigade Support Battalion; SSG Amanda Christopher, U.S. Army Medical Activity/Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital; SSG Jarod Wicker, U.S. Army Air Ambulance Detachment; SFC Jerald Egbert, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment; and SSG Tommy Peek, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). ARMY Magazine/Dennis Steele nents of fitness. USASMA developed a phased approach to the Army s Master Fitness Course and will begin working education opportunities into all phases of resident and structured self-development NCOES courses. To further complement and support the CSFP, life skills and resiliency training will support our NCOs throughout their formal NCOES courses, enhancing their capabilities as individuals and leaders for the future. Class 60 of the USASMA matriculated in August 2009 and will pilot their new program of instruction (POI) this year. In an effort to build complementary officer and NCO teams, USASMA incorporated the Command and General Staff Course POI taught at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to our senior captains and majors into the Sergeants Major Course. This education will enable those operations sergeants major graduating from USASMA to provide their officer counterparts with an increased capability and common understanding to lead battalion-, brigade-, division- and corps-level staffs across the Army. During the Year of the NCO, the Army invested more than $1.6 million dollars to support NCO leadership development at USASMA. The Army will republish Long Hard Road: NCO Experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Army will support the expansion of the NCO Journal from a quarterly to a monthly publication. USASMA will begin a longoverdue renovation of the NCO Museum located at Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss, Texas. USASMA will complete digitization and expansion of their Learning Resource Library by the end of this year. The Army began implementation of the first Army Congressional Fellowship Program, NCO Legislative Liaison Program and an NCO Army Congressional Orientation Program in January. These three programs place senior NCOs on Capitol Hill, working with and advising members of Congress and their staffs. The NCO Fellows Program is currently a one-year assignment for two senior NCOs, who are assigned to the staffs of two U.S. senators to provide assistance to each senator s staff and associates while gaining an invaluable understanding of our government process and telling the soldier story every day. The Army will expand this one-year assignment by five months in FY 2010 to include a full-time graduate program, enabling those selected senior NCOs to complete a graduate degree while working on the Hill. The NCO Legislative Liaison Program is a two-year assignment for two senior NCOs to serve as legislative liaisons working in the House and Senate Liaison Divisions, Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison. Both of these senior NCOs have already made significant contributions to the Army and our elected officials. The Army Congressional Orientation Program provides two senior NCOs the opportunity to tell the soldier story while working with the staffers who support senators and representatives. This program will enable us to involve many senior NCOs from across the Army, giving them the opportunity to experience and see our government at work, tell the soldier story, and return to their units with an understanding of how our Army meets the needs of our nation and the American people. During this past year, I have had the distinct honor to meet face to face with many of our soldiers, our Army civilians and their families all around the world. The culture of innovation fostered by our young men and women continues to show the American spirit of ingenuity and commitment, even under the most challenging of environments. Soldiers represent what is best about our nation, and they work to build lasting relationships wherever they deploy and serve. Soldiers serving today are the greatest of their generation. We will feel the impact of their service for many years to come, just as we did with veterans throughout our 234-year history. Every generation has its heroes, and this one is no different. SFC Jared C. Monti is an excellent example of the heroism of the NCO. We are asking much from our soldiers and leaders at all levels of responsibility, and I am proud to serve in your ranks and stand shoulder to shoulder with each of you. Thank you for all that you do every day for our nation and for America s Army. Army Strong! October 2009 ARMY 53