WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 12, 2015) -- The sergeant major of the Army told a roomful of senior noncommissioned officers, or NCOs, today that a "monumental change" to NCO education and training is just over the horizon and it promises to be an emotional topic.
Speaking at the opening day of the Association of the United States Army's, or AUSA's, annual meeting, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey said a new instruction is in the works and expected to be effective Jan. 1, 2016, and it will change the way Soldiers get promoted.
Called STEP, for "Select, Train, Educate and Promote," the Army, as it gets smaller, will be taking a harder line toward who gets promoted and who doesn't.
"You cannot and will not get promoted if you do not have the requisite level of education commensurate to that rank and grade," he said, noting that last year 14,000 active-duty NCOs and a combined 40,000 Guard and Reserve Soldiers had not gone to school commensurate with their rank.
"So this is good news and bad news," Dailey continued. "This is very, very, very good news for those Soldiers who are ready and able. We already know there's going to be a contingent of people who don't go to school, who therefore will not get promoted. Do the math. What does that mean for next year's promotion list? More promotions."
Dailey said everything the Army is going to do with regard to ensuring the deserving get promoted is centered on the objectives of the Army secretary and chief of staff: fight and win.
He went on to say the sergeants major, who are working STEP, have assured him there will be enough school seats to train and educate every Soldier the Army needs. Dailey also said that in the past, when Soldiers have been unable to get seats in training schools, it wasn't due to a shortage of seats, but rather "inefficiency" that resulted from other students not showing up for schools.
Dailey also discussed "Not in My Squad," which was initiated early in the year. He said it was centered and focused on exactly what NCOs had been asking for: putting discipline and standards back into the hands of NCOs.
"I told the chief and the secretary that doing PowerPoint presentations and mandated training for the things that are hurting us most is not the way to get after it ... if you want to fix something in the Army, ask an NCO to take care of it and empower them to do so," he said.
Lastly, he encouraged the audience to get involved in the AUSA panel discussions and ask questions and "give me your input, because that's what we need," Dailey said. "I constantly remind my senior sergeants major we're making decisions about the future that are going to affect the NCOs into 2025 and 2035."
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Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey
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