Photo By Tatum Vayavananda | At the graduation and completion of the Bulgarian non-commissioned officer development...... read more read more
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VELIKO TARNOVO, Bulgaria — The non-commissioned officer is considered the backbone of the Marine Corps - shrouded in legend, achievements and history. Their courage, leadership and dedication are the tales that has helped make the Marine Corps legacy what it is.
Marines with Black Sea Rotational Force 11’s non-commissioned officer development detachment is showing parts of the world what it means to be an non-commissioned officer by recently finishing their fourth stop in their eight-country tour to advise the importance of non-commissioned officer leadership to partner nations.
“In the counterinsurgency environment we are operating in [today] it’s important to develop non-commissioned officers and allow them to make the decision to drive the battle at a lower level,” said Lt. Col. Nelson S. Cardella, commanding officer, BSRF-11.
“It’s the only way we’re going to win and training other nations is very important,” said Cardella, “That’s why we’re here."
Each participating country has re-evaluated how they use their Non-commissioned Officer Corps, how they are trained and the responsibility that is given at that level.
“Non-commissioned officer leadership still varies a lot, from some countries that follow the old Soviet-style and hold most of the power in the commissioned ranks, to other countries that have already progressed to where sergeants make a lot of decisions,” said First Sgt. Gerry M. Amundson, first sergeant, BSRF-11.
“We are not only here teaching but learning how every country does what they do so we can operate better as a multi-national force,” added the Port Townsen, Wash., native.
The non-commissioned officer development detachment consists of eight Marines ranging from the rank of corporal to first sergeant.
“It’s challenging, it’s fun and it’s been a real experience,” said Cpl. Andrew L. Enochs, Non-commissioned Officer Academy instructor, BSRF-11.
“We are learning a lot not only from visiting the countries but working with foreign troops as well,” he added.
The two-week courses focus on advising in core-values of the Marine non-commissioned officer, small-unit leadership, decision-making ability, leadership traits, leading troops and military professionalism and proficiency. In most cases, the Marines conduct their training to non-commissioned officer instructors from foreign militaries to supplement already existing leadership training programs.
“Having this kind of training gives our instructors great confidence when training our own soldiers,” said Bulgarian Maj. Dobrev Radoslavov, director of education and training, Bulgarian Land Forces.
“Having this experience updates the training and makes more sufficient non-commissioned officers and have ready soldiers to guide [troops] in battle,” he added. “This kind of training helps our interest in counterinsurgency.”
The most recent training was conducted in Bulgaria, where Marines advised Bulgarian non-commissioned officer instructors from the Bulgarian Land Forces Non-commissioned Officer College.
“This level [of instruction] is exactly what we need,” said Bulgarian Master Sgt. Teodore Hubanov, Bulgarian Non-commissioned Officer College instructor, Bulgarian Land Forces, “because here we teach soldiers at the squad level how to become a better experienced non-commissioned officer.”
“From what I see the Marines are very professional, very skillful and have the highest level of discipline,” he added. “I’m very grateful to get to train with the U.S. Marine Corps; they came and represented their country in a very professional way.”
Bulgaria’s Non-commissioned Officer College conducts annual training to better improve their Non-commissioned Officer Corps.
“I hope U.S. Marines see that we have sufficient instructors and we want to build an Non-commissioned Officer Corps that is more professional and can see the mission in a different way; which is part of building a new, professional army,” said Radoslavov.
“The Marines are doing great; they’ve really stepped up the game, enjoy the mission and they understand the impact they are making on partner nations’ forces,” said Cardella, a Waxhaw, N.C., native.
The Marines have been traveling around the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions of Eastern Europe since April providing the non-commissioned officer development course to the participating Eastern European countries who have requested it. They have conducted non-commissioned officer development training with Romania, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria with future stops in Georgia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Macedonia.
“It is important that the NATO and allied nations in this area work together,” said Radoslavov. “We need to build relationships so we can understand our different mentalities and [realize] that we have to all work together.”
“The U.S. Marines love the experience, the traveling and getting to meet good people [in our allied nations],” said Amundson. “I hope [partner nations’ non-commissioned officers] realize they have the ability to lead and that sometimes you just need to push the fact that they can make important decisions on their own.”
Black Sea Rotational Force is a rotational deployment of Marines to the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions of Eastern Europe to participate in security cooperation to build military capacity, provide regional stability, and develop lasting partnerships with nations in the region. BSRF-11 will be operating as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force until September of this year.
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2011 07:13 |
| Story ID: | 73340 |
| Location: | VELIKO TARNOVO, BG |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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