Command Sergeant Major
Jimmie W. Spencer, USA, Ret.
Director, Noncommissioned Officer
and Soldier Programs

"In spite of everything that’s happened, noncommissioned officer education remains at the heart of what the Army is trying to do.”

With those introductory words, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., president of the Association of the United States Army, addressed Class 56 (aka Team 56) at the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, Texas.

Gen. Sullivan’s annual visit with academy students included a professional development presentation and an invitation from AUSA to attend the Association’s annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium and Exhibition.

The symposium is a professional development forum held in December at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center in El Paso.

The students attending the symposium have an opportunity to hear subject matter experts speak and participate in panel discussions on space and missile defense issues and programs.

The theme of this year’s symposium was “Global Air and Missile Defense – the Joint Approach.” This forum is one of many symposia sponsored by AUSA throughout the year.

An aviation symposium is held in Washington, D.C., a medical symposium in San Antonio, Texas, and a logistics symposium in Richmond, Va.

An Army installations symposium in Kansas City, Mo., and a winter symposium and exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are also all annual events leading up to the grandfather of them all – the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition held every October in the Washington Convention Center.

AUSA sponsors these professional forums to give the participants an opportunity to learn from each other and to add to their body of knowledge on subjects vital to America’s national defense, our Army and the men and women who serve.

The purpose of these events is to share information and ideas and open lines of communication with everyone involved in the process of ensuring that America’s Army remains the best trained, best equipped and most technologically advanced Army in the world.

And it’s important that noncommissioned officers participate in this process from conception to practical application on the battlefield.

Our great NCOs are shouldering an increasingly larger share of the responsibility for shaping the Army’s future.

The Noncommissioned Officer Corps is the Army’s “not so secret” weapon. Our sergeants are the envy of armies around the world, both our friends and foes alike.

They are the heart, soul and backbone of America’s Army.

Nothing we do as an Army is more important than our commitment to the training and development of our future leaders. That’s why Gen. Sullivan’s point that, in spite of everything – homeland security, disaster relief and the war on terrorism – we are committed to training and educating our Noncommissioned Officer Corps at every level.

We have invested much in our Noncommissioned Officer Corps. To those that much is given, much is expected. And, the good news is: America’s Army Noncommissioned Officer Corps is proving every day – all over the world – that it is up to the challenge.

Still Serving!