FORT RUCKER, Ala - One of the Army's top commanding generals visited the Fort Rucker community last week to promote Army resiliency, technology, education and more.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, commanding general for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Va., met with students and various units to get feedback, offer advice and assess how certain programs are progressing.
Speaking to a warrant officer senior staff course, Dempsey discussed service, leadership and the ever-changing world Soldiers have to deal with each day.
"Don't be seduced by the idea that things are tougher now than they were before or that things will be easier later," Dempsey said. "There's always going to be uncertainty, but we can't let that stop us."
Dempsey also addressed the development of technology over the years and how modern Soldiers need to be flexible and able to adapt to changes.
"It's absolutely amazing to think about where we were to where we are now," he said.
CW5 Raymond Quinones, course manager for Advanced Studies Division, attended Dempsey's guest lecture and thought he made several good points.
"The younger Soldiers, the 20-somethings, are already living with the newer technology," he said. "It's us older ones, the (chief warrant officer fours) and (chief warrant officers fives) who sometimes need to catch up."
Quinones also said education was an important issue Dempsey touched on during his speech. Today, anyone who wants to teach at the Warrant Officer Career College must have a Bachelor's degree before they can be considered, he noted.
"Education is vital today," he said. "I know I wouldn't be a (chief warrant officer five) today if I had just stuck to doing one thing and just learned all I could about that one thing. That's not enough to advance a career."
Col. Mark Jones, Warrant Officer Career College commandant, also attended Dempsey's guest lecture. He said the visit was a positive one.
"I think the biggest thing I took away from him was that change is inevitable," Jones said. "When he talked about people saying something is 'unprecedented' or has 'never happened before,' it's up to us to know how to look at that now and to realize it's probably not the case."
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