FORT HOOD, Texas - Command Sgt. Maj. George D. Duncan, commandant of the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Hood, accepts the NCOA colors during the NCOA Change of Responsibility ceremony held June 16. Duncan assumed responsibility from the outbound Commandant of the NCOA, Command Sgt. Maj. Tedd J. Pritchard. In 1971 Retired Gen. Bruce C. Clarke was asked by then Army Chief of Staff Gen. William Westmoreland to travel around the Army and find out what needed to be changed. As Clarke visited Fort Hood and other installations around the Army they were closing down their NCOAs, at the time only four active NCOAs remained. Clarke told Westmoreland, “We are running an Army with 95 percent of the NCOs untrained. Due to Clarke’s candid thoughts to Westmoreland in 1973 the Fort Hood NCOA became operational once again. Noncommissioned Officer Academies are the only organizations in the Army commanded by an enlisted Soldier rather than an officer.
Fort Hood NCOA Change of Responsibility ceremony
By Sgt. Richard Sherba, 11th PADFebruary 25, 2013
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