Photo By Lance Cpl. Braydon Rogers | U.S. Marine Corps students with the National Capital Regions Staff Sergeant Transition...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – In response to the Secretary of Defense’s emphasis on enhancing the warfighting capabilities of the U.S. Military, the Marine Corps has designed a program for those Marines selected for the rank of staff sergeant to meet those goals: The National Capital Region Staff Sergeant Transition Symposium. The first class was conducted here at Marine Corps University on Aug. 4-8.
Comprised of the Marine Corps’ fiscal year 2025 staff sergeant selectees, the five-day course was created to equip sergeants selected to become staff non-commissioned officers with the tactical and influential capabilities to lead Marines into the conflicts of tomorrow.
“We are looking at those SNCOs to use their experiences and things they’ve been exposed to in order to give advisement to their unit,” said Sgt. Maj. Michael Croft, Command Senior Enlisted Leader of Headquarters and Service Battalion, Headquarters Marine Corps Henderson Hall. “Instead of just a small level of platoon or squad, we are starting to look bigger,” he explained referencing how staff sergeants make impacts beyond their unit and possibly beyond the enterprise of the Marine Corps.
This symposium challenges attendees to harness the values, expectations, and responsibilities central to the SNCO ethos and deliberately invest in the ethical, intellectual, and operational development as they assume roles of greater leadership and institutional trust.
“It is our responsibility [as senior SNCOs] to continue to mold, grow, and mentor our (SNCO) corps,” said Croft. “Understand what they are teaching at our academies, see where there are gaps, and then we fill those gaps—that is our role.”
The students were briefed by members of Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, United States Cyber Command, United States Space Command, Joint Interagency Task Force South, and Joint Task Force North, exposing them to strategic-level briefs intended to elevate their understanding of operations.
Amidst this, they were challenged in force preservation and warrior readiness, which included the Marine Corps Total Fitness framework. This framework helps leaders comprehend and implement individual risk and resiliency assessments across the physical, mental, social and spiritual spectrum regarding human performance and behavior.
Warrior Athletes Readiness and Resilience partnered with the Staff Sergeant Symposium to help bring awareness and give a better understanding of the fitness framework to Marines by leveraging and integrating capabilities across the social, spiritual, mental, and physical domains of fitness.
Through this approach, Marines are better equipped to develop and maintain an optimized warfighting mindset—both for themselves and for those under their leadership, said Croft.
“This is more of an experiential education, where they are learning how a training session should be run, rather than a random event they pulled out of a bag the night before,” said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Stich, a force fitness instructor trainer with Training Command.
As part of the physical human performance training, students learned how to instruct and plan workouts through demonstration and practical application, gaining knowledge of resources along the way.
These resources consisted of WARR, Force Fitness, Semper Fit, physical trainers, and nutrition specialists.
“We use the term ‘concurrent training’ where the Marines are exposed to many different types of training, many different adaptations,” said Stich, “which is a really good way to get the Marines what they need—a wide range of physical capabilities, rather than pigeonholing them into one type of training.”
By the end of the course, the selectees walked away with a clearer understanding of more ethically grounded leadership roles, confidence in their knowledge, and readiness to lead Marines in challenging and everchanging environments, something Croft emphasized.
“As a staff non-commissioned officer, it’s not about you,” he said. “It says it right in the (SNCO) creed…”
From the Marine Corps SNCO Creed, “I am bound by duty to God, Country, and my fellow Marines to execute the demands of my position to and beyond what I believe to be the limits of my capabilities.”
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2025 09:20 |
| Story ID: | 545358 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 92 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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