FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Have you read the recent story about the off-duty NCO who jumped into action at the scene of an accident to assist an injured motorcyclist and remained by the rider until emergency responders arrived'
Have you seen the article about another NCO who has long, busy days as an instructor, but still finds the time and energy to volunteer for community causes and funeral details when he is not on duty'
Or did you catch the report about the NCO instructor who in his spare time mentors five elementary school students who are having difficulties with motivation'
Unfortunately, sometimes good deeds and actions such as these don't get the attention they rightly deserve. We sometimes only hear about the negative things that Soldiers do.
That's changing. We realize that Soldiers like these make for good news stories - and sometimes great news stories. For example, the first NCO that I mentioned shows a Soldier extending a principle of the Soldier's Creed to a fellow citizen. The second is an example of an NCO extending selfless service through volunteerism. The same goes for the third NCO.
All three of these stories are about Fort Jackson Soldiers, and the articles recently ran in The Fort Jackson Leader. The Leader has begun to publish a weekly feature about inspiring NCOs around post. There are many of these fine examples of leadership among you.
Two years ago, there was an Armywide NCO public recognition campaign, The Year of the NCO, which incorporated a number of other initiatives as well.
One of the main goals was to acknowledge the value of the NCO Corps to the Army and the public, as well as show appreciation toward our noncommissioned officers for their commendable actions and efforts.
I know that all of you have heard, at one time or another in your careers, that NCOs are the "Backbone of the Army." There is no fact more important than that today. In a time of a persistent conflict, such as the one we are in, NCOs step forward with an adhesive strength to keep our Army on track and rolling along.
The same holds true here on Fort Jackson, where our bread-and-butter mission is turning civilians into Soldiers. On Fort Jackson, we assign a tremendous amount of responsibilities to our drill sergeants and platoon sergeants.
They receive an appropriate amount of respect because they assume the most critical roles in the successful development of our new Soldiers.
We leaders realize the importance of noncommissioned officers in the execution of our mission, and we realize as well that there are tremendous demands placed on them. Most important, we also realize that they are up to the task. They are highly motivated, physically and mentally fit and well disciplined.
I am sure that you will be reading about many of them here as the NCO of the Week feature continues to take shape. In short, I am very proud of our NCOs on Fort Jackson. It's clear to me that they are the driving force that carries us through each and every working day.
We all have role models who have helped to guide us and to provide the pick-me-up when we needed it most. I am confident that there are many elite NCOs on Fort Jackson whose stories will help give us an introspective look at how we measure up. Subsequently, their stories will strengthen the standards and disciplines in all of us.
Army Strong and Victory Starts Here!
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