Photo By Staff Sgt. Leon Cook | Command Sgt. Maj. Ronnie Kelley, U.S. Army Central command sergeant major, talks to...... read more read more
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SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. – The United States Army is, at its core, just as it sounds – a nation’s armed force, part of a larger multi-force structure, comprised of trained and resilient warriors.
The U.S. Army has three unique classes of Soldiers; commissioned officers, warrant officers, and noncommissioned officers. The noncommissioned officers, commonly referred to as ‘the backbone of the Army,’ are the men and women who are tasked with many duties: the care of the Soldiers in their charge, the execution of the orders of the officers over them, and the general readiness of their units, just to name a few. Other nations’ armies have NCOs, but the U.S. Army has had a long time to cultivate the NCO corps.
The U.S. Army has had roughly 200 years to refine, design, and fine-tune its NCOs and their duties, responsibilities, and training. Kazakhstan, on the other hand, has had only 20. A recent meeting between the top enlisted Soldier from U.S. Army Central and one of the top enlisted personnel from Kazakhstan brought together unlikely friends in a partnership that would help bring Kazakh NCOs up to a higher standard of excellence.
Command Sgt. Maj. Ronnie Kelley, USARCENT command sergeant major, has had a close relationship with some top enlisted leaders of the Kazakh army over the last couple of years. His efforts in creating and cultivating a long-lasting partnership has enabled the Kazakh NCOs to emulate U.S. Army NCOs.
“They look at us as a role model,” said Kelley. “The U.S. Army sets the standard high for the way we train and grow our NCOs. There really is no other country out there anywhere near an equivalent to it. There is no other Army in the world that has the same level of responsibilities that we give our NCOs.”
Despite being a relatively large country, Kazakhstan’s army is small in comparison to the U.S. Which, arguably, makes their committed revision of their NCO corps over the recent years all the more commendable.
“The NCO corps in Kazakhstan was developed about 20 years ago so we have done good work to develop them so far in accordance with what we've learned from the U.S.,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Temirbek Khalykov, the sergeant major of Kazakhstan's armed forces. “We can take what we've learned here from what's worked for other countries back home with us and energize our own forces.”
Kelley and Khalykov share a unique common bond that sets the foundation for a long-lasting friendship. They both graduated from military courses in the U.S. specifically designed to prepare senior enlisted leaders for positions of greater responsibilities – Khalykov attended the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy held at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Kelly attended the Senior Enlisted Academy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
“Khalykov was the first Kazakh to graduate from [USASMA],” said Kelley. “I am inspired by his passion to make Kazakhstan’s army more professional. He has recently been added to the Hall of Fame of [USASMA] as one of its best graduates. Few have managed to do that.”
USARCENT hosted officers and NCOs from seven countries in June 2015, for a week-long symposium, which aimed to strengthen the relationship between NCOs from the U.S. and partner nations within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
“(This) is great opportunity for cooperation between our countries,” said Kelley. “I look at it very positively. Both countries understand that there are bad things happening in the world we live in. And the more we work as a team, the more we cooperate, the stronger we will be. Our multinational countries will be able to resist a foreign aggression.”
Kelley is proud of his achievements and said, “it’s not all about me. I have a whole team who facilitate my plans. I might have an idea, but there’s a bunch of folks here at USARCENT who make that happen. I’m not the one who makes everything happen; I’m just the one who gets to come up with the great ideas. A lot of these folks put this together and it’s a logistical challenge.”
“Command Sergeant Major Kelley's dedication and commitment to assisting other nations in improving their NCO corps has provided service members with the purpose, direction and motivation to work toward that goal,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Barberet, USARCENT security cooperation NCO. “With Kazakhstan, the progress continues to grow with every engagement that happens, which opens up more windows of opportunity to conduct further engagements.”
USARCENT will be saying goodbye to Kelley this April. Barberet shared some insight to what the incoming sergeant major can do to pick up where Kelley left off.
“In order to ensure the continued success with Kazakhstan, Command Sergeant Major Kelley's successor will need to carry on the drive and dedication that (he) put forth toward USARCENT's Security Cooperation's engagements with Kazakhstan, specifically the development of their NCO corps.”
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2016 11:33 |
| Story ID: | 195240 |
| Location: | SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 184 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USARCENT mentors in NCO development, by Luke Graziani, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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