FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- The 10th Special Troops Battalion recently started a new tradition for welcoming newly promoted Soldiers into the Noncommissioned Officer Corps.
The traditional pomp and circumstance of the induction ceremony has inductees walk under an arch, receive congratulations from senior NCOs and pose for a photo opportunity.
Thanks to the guidance of Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Pinkston, 10th STB senior enlisted adviser, and the support of a handful of NCOs from the battalion, inductees also will endure strenuous physical and mental challenges before earning the honor of induction.
On the day of their NCO induction ceremony, Oct. 15, eight inductees and their sponsors started their morning at 3 a.m. at the battalion with an operation order that provided them with the details of the day's challenges and situational training exercises.
"None of the events were advertised to the inductees prior to the day of challenge," Pinkston said. "The events were kept secret to put them in a stressful situation where they had to rely on their sponsors to get through it."
The events consisted of completing an Army Physical Fitness Test and a six-mile ruck march, negotiating a confidence course, conducting troop-leading procedures, programing a radio, sending up a situation report and evaluating a casualty.
These events were designed to challenge the NCOs, make them think outside the box and get them to operate in a stressful environment.
The sponsors were not allowed to aid the inductees other than by offering encouragement along the way. Still, Pinkston said none of the inductees would have gotten through challenge without that support. The sponsors represent the role that the newly promoted NCOs will serve after being inducted.
"It's all about teaching sergeants what right looks like and playing that vital role," Pinkston said. "That is what our NCO induction was all about."
Throughout the day, the inductees found some events more challenging than others, and exhaustion was just one of the factors that played into the difficulty of the events.
For Sgt. Chrystal Schlangen, an inductee assigned to the 226th Signal Company, 10th Special Troops Battalion, the most difficult part was the confidence course because of her fear of heights.
"After finishing the challenges I felt accomplished, because I actually completed some of the obstacles that were really high for my limits," Schlangen said. "And having my sponsor there pushed me farther than I ever expected to get."
The last leg of the ruck march that ended back at the battalion marked the end of the challenge.
Once the inductees completed all of the events, it was time for the induction ceremony.
The guest speaker at the ceremony was Command Sgt. Maj. David M. Clark, senior enlisted adviser at the U.S. Military Academy, who expressed his pride and gratitude to the NCOs for their hard work and determination.
With their uniforms covered in dirt and drenched in sweat, the inductees stood with a sense of pride at the ceremony.
"You don't just walk under the arch just for the sake of going to the promotion board and meeting the cutoff scores," Pinkston said. "It's about bringing pride in the (NCO) Corps and a sense of accomplishment."
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