Photo By 1st Lt. Richard Longoria | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Christopher Bautista, the NATO Headquarters Sarajevo legal...... read more read more
American noncommissioned officers from NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, shared experiences and insight with 40 corporals from the BiH Armed Forces at the Rajlovac Barracks May 11, 2016.
The Americans presented four briefings as part of the AFBiH Primary Leadership Development Course, a five-week course designed to provide young soldiers with the knowledge and skills to be future NCOs.
“Any opportunity to meet with and to speak with the soldiers of the Armed Forces of BiH is extremely important in our efforts of continuing and strengthening the bonds that exist within the NATO and AFBiH relationship,” said the NHQSa Senior Enlisted Leader, U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Harley Schwind. “Information sharing, cooperation and strengthening our relationship will allow a better future for us both.”
Sergeant Major Schwind’s counterpart, Armed Forces of BiH Command Sgt. Maj. Emin Dervisevic, explained the importance of having his soldiers meet with NATO personnel.
‘We found it very useful to include [NATO personnel] because of the experiences they can share and, by creating a ‘multinational environment,’ it gets our soldiers familiar with foreign military members,” said Sergeant Major Dervisevic. “Additionally, the material they presented is suitable for our military; specifically, the perspective of U.S. soldiers is beneficial since we have copied their doctrine.”
The American NCOs presented briefings on the History of NATO, Military Ethics and Military Discipline as well as the U.S. Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program.
“The topics we presented show them that even the world's most powerful military, the U. S. Military, has to contend with negative behavior,” explained Sergeant Major Schwind, a Mandan, N.D., native deployed from the North Dakota Army National Guard. “It proves to them that there are solutions and gives them ideas for combating their own negative and difficult situations.”
The sergeant major added, “It also gives to them examples of successful policies, programs and systems they can utilize to improve or develop their own programs and solutions."
The AFBiH soldiers described the presentations as “very useful and professional.”
The opportunity wasn’t just valuable for the students, but also the American instructors.
“For me, it was probably the one and only chance that I could get to brief armed forces from another country,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Christopher Bautista, the NHQSa legal advisor assistant and a Honolulu, Hawaii, native deployed from Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. “It was definitely an honor and a privilege to brief the BiH soldiers. It will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. Also, it was exciting to seeing how disciplined, motivated and engaged these BiH soldiers were. Their ability to understand our concepts and absorb the information being relayed to them and help them in their own military was great to see.”
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2016 02:30 |
| Story ID: | 198192 |
| Location: | RAJLOVAC, BA |
| Hometown: | BISMARCK, ND, US |
| Hometown: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Hometown: | MANDAN, ND, US |
| Hometown: | SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 435 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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