Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Nicolas A. Cloward | U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Allan Lawson, the command senior enlisted leader for...... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – A team of senior noncommissioned officers with the Washington National Guard visited the Kingdoms of Malaysia and Thailand May 5-14, 2025. The Washington National Guard team conducted professional development sessions emphasizing the critical role of empowered NCOs.
This is the second rotation to the region for the Washington National Guard team, who arrived prepared to share best practices and insights from their previous visit.
One of the major challenges facing both nations is the underutilization of their NCO corps. The idea is to help bridge the gap between their officers and NCOs while identifying methods to develop and empower NCOs at every level.
"The overarching goal was to sit down and collaboratively develop a four-to-five-year plan with our partners," stated U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Kyle Chaplin, the Joint Force Headquarters operations NCO for the Washington National Guard and one of the senior enlisted leaders on the visit.
The engagement, part of the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program, centered on a subject matter expert exchange and the initial structure of a comprehensive five-year noncommissioned officer professional development plan, aimed at enhancing their ranks with a robust NCO corps to provide training, experience and guidance.
While these sessions provided valuable theoretical knowledge, Chaplin highlighted the profound impact of direct human interaction.
“Being able to read body language and see them face-to-face when talking about issues is a huge care factor and shows we want them to be successful,” said Chaplin. We also get a better engagement from them for more in-depth questions that they’re having.”
Looking to the future, this collaborative strategy increases opportunities for reciprocal cross-training and a greater frequency of subject matter expert exchanges.
“What we want to do now is more subject matter expert exchanges,” said Chaplin. “We want to bring some of their NCOs to Hawaii or Washington state so they can actually see our programs and our NCO corps.”
During their visit, the Washington National Guard team had the opportunity to observe their Malaysian and Thai counterparts executing a range of essential military skills. This included observing weapons training, hand-to-hand combat drills, practical survival training exercises, instructor development programs, and ceremonial marching demonstrations.
These observations provided critical insights into the current training standards and operational procedures of their partner forces.
“They’re fantastic. They have a natural ability to want to learn and progress within their NCO corps,” said Chaplin. “It’s refreshing to see they want to progress their NCO corps at all levels.”
As the State Partnership Program continues its upward trajectory of growth and as the strategic planning for the next five years continues, the ultimate goal remains the same: provide meaningful and sustainable support to the Royal Thai and Malaysian Armed Forces in their efforts to strengthen their enlisted core and build stronger bonds of trust and mutual respect between their commissioned and noncommissioned officer corps.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2025 09:20 |
| Story ID: | 498537 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Roadmap for Success: Washington National Guard senior enlisted team visits Malaysia, Thailand to talk NCO development, by SFC Nicolas A. Cloward, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
