VICENZA, Italy -- The Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited with Soldiers here May 1. Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell serves as the principal military advisor to the Chairman and the Secretary of Defense.
During his visit, he toured Caserma Ederle and the housing area at Villaggio before speaking to a group of Soldiers at the post theater. Topics included threats to the United States and the role that troops in Europe will play in combating those threats.
"I wanted them to understand the operational environment, globally, that we operate in, and some of the challenges that we have, not only from nation states, but from violent extremists and non-state actors, so that they understand why the operational tempo we have is high and why it will probably continue to be high," Troxell said.
After having lunch with enlisted service members, Troxell took the short trip over to Caserma Del Din to see the home of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He received a tour of the base and met with sergeants major and first sergeants of the brigade.
Troxell spoke to brigade senior NCOs about the importance of empowering junior NCOs. He said the strong noncommissioned officer is something other nations have a hard time understanding, but also one that give the United States a distinct advantage.
"Troops at all levels need to understand the importance of what they're doing," he told the group. Because, he said, when a unit has empowered their junior leaders to make important decisions, it can have large strategic implications by making the U.S. military more agile and responsive.
As he saw many facilities on Del Din and Ederle and learned about support for families, the senior leader said it is crucial to have a strong garrison team, and the role of the garrison is the key to success for a deployed service member.
"Everything they do for families is vitally important. Because as we're asking these service members to maintain this high operational tempo, and potential (deploy) for three, six, nine months to go to places like Lithuania or somewhere else, it is vitally important that we're taking care of the families back here.
"The Soldiers can keep his or her mind on the mission they have to do and know that their family members are going to be taken care of. The more we can take care of their families here, the better off those forces will be during that deployment."
The SEAC finished his Vicenza visit by meeting with leadership of U.S. Army Africa.
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