The U.S. Army is our Nation’s most versatile and elite force, capable of prevailing against any foe to prevent conflict, shape the strategic environment and win our Nation’s wars.Your Army is a team of the finest Leaders ever assembled, molding and shaping the finest Soldiers.This team has met the needs of our Nation for over 239 years and continues to answer her call in an ever-changing, complex and uncertain world. I’m humbled and honored to serve as the 15th Sergeant Major of the Army.The world is a dangerous and unpredictable place, and it requires a new mindset on how we prepare our Nation’s sons and daughters, America’s finest, to fight in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment.If our first and most desirable course is to prevent war, we must ensure our adversaries know that we are an Army of Preparation – trained and ready when called, and fully capable of dominance in combat.That’s why we’re investing in leader development through an overhaul of our professional military education system by looking at who we train, when and how we train them, and what we are training them for.Collectively, these efforts are known as NCO 2020, which looks at training from the operational, institutional and self-development perspectives.In the operational domain, it is time we harness a decade-plus of proficiency in combat.We will pass it on to the next generation of Soldiers through creative training and renewed focus on unit readiness. Squad leaders and platoon sergeants will be critical to this transfer of knowledge.The insights these professionals have reaped from over 13 years of combat need to be shared, retained and cultivated.Some of the most exciting improvements will occur in the institutional domain within the NCO Education System (NCOES). We’re in the process of developing new courses for senior NCOs as well as restructuring courses for junior leaders.Some of the changes in the works include the addition of a course to boost the critical thinking skills of our master sergeants, as well as additional courses after the Sergeants Major Academy.We are conducting a pilot course now called the Executive Leader Course for command sergeants major selected to lead at one- or two-star commands. This new course will produce NCOs with enhanced capabilities as advisors who can offer creative solutions to commanders.Finally, in the self-development domain, Soldiers at all levels must embrace the expectation that developing their individual leadership skills, traits and attributes is a personal responsibility.NCO 2020 builds structured self-development (SSD) into each level of NCOES. The self-development domain also encourages Soldiers to use the Tuition Assistance Program and other earned incentives to enhance personal educational and career goals.The need for a professional NCO Corps that can meet the requirements of training the Nation’s best and brightest to fight and win in this landscape has never been more critical.I see this uncertainty as an opportunity to improve the enlisted force as well as the NCO Corps, the backbone of the Army.We owe it to our Nation and to our Soldiers to maintain the best trained, best led, and best equipped force in the world.This We’ll Defend!