Top division enlisted leader meets with senior NCOs

By Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson, 41st Fires Brigade JournalistMarch 3, 2009

Top division enlisted leader meets with senior NCOs
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq - Noncommissioned officers here met with the Multinational Division - Center and 10th Mountain Division (LI) senior enlisted adviser during a working lunch Feb. 19.

Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore began his discussion by talking about training and the fact that some deployed Soldiers are being asked to accomplish tasks that are outside their areas of expertise. They also are using new equipment they may have had little training on. With new tasks and equipment, there are new levels of risk, and proper training can mitigate that risk level, Redmore said.

"It all revolves around troop-leading procedures, at least the way I see it," he said. "Some of the challenges I see that we have out there as I do my battle field circulation, a lot of it starts at the fire team level. It really does, and it's managed by the first sergeants and battalion sergeants major to understand what the policies are and make sure that their subordinate NCOs understand what the policies are and how to properly implement them."

He said realizing the importance of training is critical not only for the senior leadership but also for the lowest-ranking enlisted Soldier.

"Recognize the importance that training is everything and everything is training. To not take advantage of an opportunity is an opportunity that's lost, and when you lose opportunities, you fail to maintain a level of readiness that your potential will allow you to achieve," Redmore said.

Using anecdotes and personal experiences, Redmore described to the audience of sergeants first class, first sergeants and sergeants major, some of the lessons learned and observations he has made while visiting troops throughout MND-C.

Redmore spoke on a wide range of topics, including decentralized and centralized promotions, NCO evaluation reports, counseling, self-study, after-action reviews, redeployment and the Army Force Generation rest process. He also talked about the current state of the Army and the changing environments where the Army is deployed.

"Our Army is evolving a great deal, and it's evolving because of the two areas of conflicts that we're in, whether that's Afghanistan or here, and each footprint within that theater is changing a great deal," Redmore said.

"That's why it's so much more important to exercise our full potential as noncommissioned officers because of all these paradigms changes we are experiencing conducting atypical type missions."