Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
El Paso Times
April 14, 2007
By Chris Roberts, El Paso Times
One hundred fifteen soldiers received their Sergeants Major Academy diplomas a month early on Friday so they can more quickly join the fight against terrorism, providing needed resilience to an Army increasingly engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Command Sgt. Maj. John Kurak, from Washington, D.C., one of the graduates from the Army's highest-level course for noncommissioned officers, is headed to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment at Fort Carson, Colo. "The unit I'm being assigned to is scheduled to deploy in support of the surge (into Baghdad) sometime in early September," Kurak said.
The early graduation is "related to (President Bush's) increase in troops," said academy Command Sgt. Maj. James E. Dale. "There are a lot of supply soldiers, for all the obvious reasons, and there are a lot of combat arms soldiers."
Although the soldiers will miss a command post exercise, most of them already have 20 or more years of experience, and both Dale and academy commandant Lt. Col. Stanford Wayne Suits say they were ready for duty.
"They've completed all the required classwork, but they will not have the opportunity to combine all that training into one exercise," Suits said. "They're guys whose skills are pretty badly needed right now."
Demands on the Army have been increasing, and about 40 soldiers graduated early last year. The early graduates are part of a class of about 650 soldiers, the rest of whom will graduate on May 22. The class members have already donated about 6,000 hours of community service mentoring, tutoring, coaching and, soon after their arrival last year, assisting flood victims, Suits said.
"At the same time, many of them are balancing family and school," Dale said.
Friday night's graduates, although leaving early, managed to earn four master's degrees, 21 bachelor's degrees and 19 associate degrees, Suits said.
And they will serve in a variety of positions.
"I am the primary adviser to the commander on all enlisted matters, and I oversee the training of the soldiers," Kurak said. He and the other command sergeants major are also responsible for ensuring that their soldiers are properly equipped and that the equipment is properly maintained.
That has become more of a challenge as the Army continues to extend itself. But Kurak has a typically stoic reaction to those potential obstacles.
"We have new missions and new challenges," he said. "We have to continue to adjust and become more innovative and more creative."
Because of the increasing pace of deployments, training received at the academy becomes even more important, Suits said. The soldiers share problems they have encountered and solutions that typically aren't found in the books.
"Most of the stuff we learned here comes from sharing experiences with others in the class," said Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Mayo, from New Mexico, whose new responsibilities will include standing up a new Styker brigade at Fort Lewis, Wash.
He said the new brigade is part of the Army's planned growth and will have about a year-and-a-half to train before heading to Iraq.
"We are a nation at war on many fronts, and we will be for many years to come as we eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the face of this Earth," said guest speaker Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon Jr., commander of Division West, First Army, and Fort Carson, Colo. "Along with our allies, we are winning the global war on terror."
April 14, 2007
By Chris Roberts, El Paso Times
One hundred fifteen soldiers received their Sergeants Major Academy diplomas a month early on Friday so they can more quickly join the fight against terrorism, providing needed resilience to an Army increasingly engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Command Sgt. Maj. John Kurak, from Washington, D.C., one of the graduates from the Army's highest-level course for noncommissioned officers, is headed to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment at Fort Carson, Colo. "The unit I'm being assigned to is scheduled to deploy in support of the surge (into Baghdad) sometime in early September," Kurak said.
The early graduation is "related to (President Bush's) increase in troops," said academy Command Sgt. Maj. James E. Dale. "There are a lot of supply soldiers, for all the obvious reasons, and there are a lot of combat arms soldiers."
Although the soldiers will miss a command post exercise, most of them already have 20 or more years of experience, and both Dale and academy commandant Lt. Col. Stanford Wayne Suits say they were ready for duty.
"They've completed all the required classwork, but they will not have the opportunity to combine all that training into one exercise," Suits said. "They're guys whose skills are pretty badly needed right now."
Demands on the Army have been increasing, and about 40 soldiers graduated early last year. The early graduates are part of a class of about 650 soldiers, the rest of whom will graduate on May 22. The class members have already donated about 6,000 hours of community service mentoring, tutoring, coaching and, soon after their arrival last year, assisting flood victims, Suits said.
"At the same time, many of them are balancing family and school," Dale said.
Friday night's graduates, although leaving early, managed to earn four master's degrees, 21 bachelor's degrees and 19 associate degrees, Suits said.
And they will serve in a variety of positions.
"I am the primary adviser to the commander on all enlisted matters, and I oversee the training of the soldiers," Kurak said. He and the other command sergeants major are also responsible for ensuring that their soldiers are properly equipped and that the equipment is properly maintained.
That has become more of a challenge as the Army continues to extend itself. But Kurak has a typically stoic reaction to those potential obstacles.
"We have new missions and new challenges," he said. "We have to continue to adjust and become more innovative and more creative."
Because of the increasing pace of deployments, training received at the academy becomes even more important, Suits said. The soldiers share problems they have encountered and solutions that typically aren't found in the books.
"Most of the stuff we learned here comes from sharing experiences with others in the class," said Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Mayo, from New Mexico, whose new responsibilities will include standing up a new Styker brigade at Fort Lewis, Wash.
He said the new brigade is part of the Army's planned growth and will have about a year-and-a-half to train before heading to Iraq.
"We are a nation at war on many fronts, and we will be for many years to come as we eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the face of this Earth," said guest speaker Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon Jr., commander of Division West, First Army, and Fort Carson, Colo. "Along with our allies, we are winning the global war on terror."