FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Army Transportation Corps senior leaders from Fort Lee, Virginia, visited Fort Leonard Wood March 24 to participate in an NCO symposium in Lincoln Hall Auditorium, organized by the 58th Transportation Battalion.
The symposium provided the instructors and drill sergeants of the battalion — the Army’s only motor transport operator advanced individual training unit — the chance to hear from subject matter experts on topics such as professional development, promotions and talent management. Additionally, the NCOs had an in-person opportunity to hear from and pose questions to the most senior officer and enlisted leaders in Army Transportation: Chief of Transportation, Col. Beth Behn, and Transportation Command Sgt. Maj. Randy Brown.
After a reciting of the NCO Creed by Sgts. 1st Class Kevin Calderon, Trakinya Johnson and Kathryn Kidwell to kick off the event, 58th Trans. Bn. Command Sgt. Maj. Quincy Rice advised the NCOs in attendance to take advantage of the opportunities the symposium offered.
“There’s no better communication than face-to-face communication,” Rice said during his opening remarks. “We have a lot of strategic-level leadership sitting right here in front of you, so take advantage of that.”
Behn said events like this are a good chance to step back from the daily tasks of leading and instructing, and instead, focus on learning and self-development.
“Our noncommissioned officers who are stationed here as drill sergeants and instructors, they are grinding it out every single day, leading trainees and developing the next generation of transporters,” Behn said. “We wanted to have an opportunity for them to step back for a minute, think broadly and have the opportunity to ask questions about how the Transportation Corps is doing in general, what our modernization initiatives are, and what professional development opportunities exist for them.”
Brown said the Soldiers of today are looking for more professional learning environments, and symposiums like this are one way of helping meet that need.
“They are recognizing and embracing the opportunities that are out there and pursuing them,” Brown said. “(This symposium) is a testimony that this command team is invested in developing leaders.”
One of the symposium attendees was Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Morphew, a Motor Transport Operator Course instructor here, who called it an “amazing opportunity to have open discussions with the people who can ultimately shape our future in the Transportation Corps.”
“As a sergeant first class and a senior noncommissioned officer, I get asked all the time how I made sergeant first class, and the answer I give a staff sergeant, or a junior noncommissioned officer is clearly different than what someone else might say,” Morphew said. “So, I think it’s important to have the senior leaders of the Transportation Corps in the room, and they can let these NCOs know what the Army is looking for right now to set you apart. It might be different than when I got promoted. Times change and requirements change, and I think it’s an amazing opportunity to let these NCOs have their questions answered, real time and in person.”
Morphew, who has been an instructor here for about two years, said he asked Behn and Brown about the future of Army Transportation, including autonomous and electric technologies now in development and how these will affect the Army Motor Transport Operator military occupational specialty.
“They were able to dispel rumors and let us know that we’ll work hand in hand with these types of vehicles in the future,” Morphew said.
Behn said she and Brown will return to Fort Lee with a greater understanding of what’s on the minds of the NCOs here.
“Hearing what their questions and concerns are, their ideas about how to improve training that we deliver for the type of systems that we’re developing – it’s definitely a win-win for everyone,” she said.
Brown said he’s excited about the future of the Transportation Corps.
“There are a lot of modernization efforts going on to be able to sustain the warfighter in large-scale combat operations,” he said. “I’m also excited about the investment in our people. We continue to invest in military education to make a more capable Soldier, surely more than what I was when I was at their stages of career.”
Social Sharing