Photo By Staff Sgt. Kirstin Spanu | Sergeant Jason R. Raths, library president, and Sgt. Maj. Bobby D. Frazier, battalion...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - There are many reasons people join the Marine Corps. For many, the sense of unity and pride that comes from belonging to something greater than oneself is among those reasons.
The leadership of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment has found a way to highlight those benefits of the Corps by dedicating a professional military library complete with office spaces, a conference room and a terrain table to the non-commissioned officers of the battalion. The battalion hosted an official dedication of the room April 15, 2015, in Wallace Creek, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
By investing in their corporals and sergeants, the battalion hopes to strengthen what is known to many as the “backbone of the Marine Corps” by giving them a space of their own to gain knowledge, plan and communicate.
“My goal is for this to be a place for you to come as a professional NCO and professionalize your core of NCOs here in this battalion,” said Lt. Col. Eric A. Reid, commanding officer of the battalion, to his Marines. “I am absolutely convinced that the preparedness and proficiency of our non-commissioned officers will be the decisive factor in battle during the remainder of our lifetimes and beyond.
As non-commissioned officers, you bear a great responsibility for our future missions and for the lives of your Marines and sailors. Do not take it lightly. You must be ready.”
For some, freshly bearing the title of an NCO can come with many questions about the responsibilities they now have. The sergeant major of the battalion recalls what it was like for him as a new corporal.
“Initially, I experienced a lot of confusion,” said Sgt. Maj. Bobby D. Frazier, native of Brooksville, Florida. “Hopefully with this professional military library, the more experienced NCOs will be able to feed [information to] the younger group of NCOs. It’s extremely important to learn from the generation ahead of you; they have intangibles.”
The library serves as a place of learning and bonding amongst peers, which in turn strengthens the core of NCOs as a whole and gives the battalion’s junior Marines a good group to look up to. The library president, appointed by the battalion sergeant major, looks forward to the potential for growth this room gives the battalion.
“This is going to be a really good tool for us,” said Sgt. Jason R. Raths, library president and squad leader with Alpha Company. “If you have really strong NCOs who are doing the right thing… all your junior Marines will start to fall in line. It will give them somebody to look up to… and believe in and that’s extremely important in the Marine Corps.”
The president also hopes that as time goes on the NCO professional military library can be a place of inspiration and tradition for all who enter, filled with the history of the battalion.
“This is a brand new building, but if you go into other buildings around the Marine Corps you’re going to find artifacts… history… stories… and that’s something we don’t have,” Raths said. “We have the last flag we brought back from Afghanistan… We’re going to get that framed and get it hung up in here.”
Education, pride and camaraderie are among the many benefits 1/2 foresees coming from the investment they made in their non-commissioned officers.
“I think it will help us build a better, stronger generation of Marine leaders,” said Frazier. “I think it will bring the NCO core together and make us more ready, more relevant, and make it easier to win [in battle].”
| Date Taken: | 04.15.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2015 09:25 |
| Story ID: | 160682 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | BROOKSVILLE, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 1/2 invests in NCO core with library space, by SSgt Kirstin Spanu, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT