U.S. Army Africa Intelligence Soldiers graduate top of class

By Sgt. Terysa Shaffer, U.S. Army Africa Public AffairsAugust 31, 2011

USARAF NCOs graduate BSNCOC
Staff Sgt. Megan Nater, G2 east Africa team NCOIC, and Master Sgt. Joseph Traylor, G2 intelligence operations divisions NCOIC, graduated first and second, respectively at the Battle Staff NCO Course (BSNCOC) taught by the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Ac... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

VICENZA, Italy - Two noncommissioned officers from U.S. Army Africa were further prepared for a demanding, yet rewarding position in staff operations by graduating at the top of their class at the Battle Staff NCO Course (BSNCOC) taught by the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA).

Master Sgt. Joseph Traylor, G2 intelligence operations divisions NCOIC, and Staff Sgt. Megan Nater, G2 east Africa team NCOIC, graduated first and second, respectively in the course.

"It's everything an NCO would need to be more educated to be a Battle Staff NCO," Traylor said, "It's a good school for career progression."

The BSNCOC is a two-phase branch immaterial functional course for staff sergeants through sergeants major selected for staff assignments. Phase I consists of 75 hours of self-study utilizing interactive multimedia instruction produced by the USASMA.

Phase II is 177 academic hours taught through the resident course or via video-teleconference to distant sites from the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, which Traylor and Nater took in Vilseck, Germany.

Traylor has had a lot of experience with battle staff operations, which include staff work, operations orders, graphics and overlays. The course really demonstrates how the war fighting functions contribute to the process, Traylor said.

Nater also agreed that the school was informative and helpful with her military occupation specialty as an intelligence analyst (35F) saying the course was more of an introduction of battle staff operations that senior NCOs in her MOS perform, and that she literally applied what she learned as soon as she got back to work.

The course is a performance orientated program that concentrates on the battle staff duties and responsibilities of NCOs at battalion and higher level staff positions.

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