VOGELWEH AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Alexander Bruno, a religious affairs noncommissioned officer with the 519th Hospital Center, graduated from the Kisling NCO Academy as the only U.S. Army Soldier in the only U.S. Air Force leadership academy in the entire European theater, Feb. 13, at the Armstrong Club on Vogelweh Air Base.
“It was completely different compared to Army schools,” said Bruno. “There was a lot more influence on joint-ness and being able to understand the different branches and how people operate.”
The Kaiserslautern Military Community is home to not only the Army and Air Force, but also to the Navy, Marines, Space Force, and our NATO allies.
“I think the importance of this school is to not only network but to increase your moral compass on how every person throughout the military acts and how they work together,” said Bruno. “That way you can increase your capabilities. So, if we end up working together on a battlefield, we can maintain the commander’s intent and complete our missions.”
The guest speaker for the graduation was Command Sgt. Maj. Kofie Primus, the senior enlisted advisor of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
“NCOs are the custodians of culture and operational discipline and have the greatest impact on junior Soldiers,” said Primus. “Leadership is not about you. Never punish a learner. Develop your Soldiers
into the noncommissioned officer that you’ve become, so that one day they too can be called sergeant, a trainer of Soldiers, and cement the historical importance of our enlisted heritage.”
Within our history, the NCO has always trained, planned and fought alongside one another in a joint environment. Today’s strategies and tactics are no different, especially in Europe where the different services and NATO Allies work side by side together every day.
“The noncommissioned officer will always remain the most decisive and dynamic element of our joint force,” said Primus
The U.S. Air Force leadership academy’s five-and-a-half week course is the equivalent of the Army’s enlisted senior leader course . The partnership between the Army and Air Force has provided the opportunity for Soldiers and Airmen to integrate into each other’s professional development schools.
“Considering that I’ve completed the Air Force’s equivalent of SLC, my future expectations of SLC is to incorporate a lot more joint environment and understanding how the joint principles work throughout all the mission intents,” said Bruno.
While Bruno is not the first 21st TSC Soldier to attend the course, he is the first to graduate on the Commandants’ List.
“Attending this course, for Soldiers, allows for us to increase our entire scope for what’s happening worldwide, considering all that stuff that’s happening,” said Bruno. “We’re able to increase our capabilities and create a shared understanding of what our actual needs may be in future operations.”
He goes on to say that his favorite part of the course was the amount of networking and the ability to see how the Air Force operates compared to an Army unit.
The opportunities to learn together in a joint environment not only makes for better leaders, but also builds stronger partnerships that strengthens the interoperability between each other.
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