Noncommissioned officer inductions reinforce Army traditions in Afghanistan

News: Noncommissioned officer inductions reinforce Army traditions in Afghanistan

82nd Combat Aviation Brigade

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Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon

Command Sgt. Maj. Kirk Inniss of Brooklyn, N.Y., dumps a canteen cup full of water over Sgt. Billy Johnston of Moltenboro, N.H., during a non-commissioned officer induction ceremony on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, June 13. The water is used to "weather the rank" of newly-promoted non-commissioned officers so no one leaves the ceremony with shine on newly-acquired rank. Task Force Wolfpack, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, has held monthly non-commissioned officer inductions ceremonies since deploying to Afghanistan nine months ago to re-invigorate Army tradition and motivate soldiers toward a rite of passage in their military careers.

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan (June 19, 2012) – Aside from the day he enlisted, June 13, 2012, was the most important day of Sgt. Marcus Calderon’s three-year, nine-month Army career.

“It meant that I was going to be looked at differently,” said Calderon, of the Bronx, N.Y. “I was going to be respected more. That I was going to be in charge of things.”

Calderon joined a few other junior 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan in a non-commissioned officer induction ceremony- a tradition formally recognizing the transition from follower to leader.

“It allows you to stand up tall in front of your seniors, peers and subordinates, and you’re proud to be there,” said Sgt. Billy Johnston, of Moltenboro, N.H. “I’ve never seen a true induction ceremony like what we’ve done on this deployment. You’re proud to go through the ceremony, and you’re proud to see the smiles on everyone’s face you work with. It’s a proud moment, and ceremonies like this bring back a sort of charisma to the NCO corps.”

NCO induction ceremonies aren’t common in deployed situations. Monthly induction ceremonies are even less common. Task Force Wolfpack Command Sgt. Maj. Kirk Inniss said he’s trying to represent the NCO corps, the “backbone of the Army,” through demonstrating to his soldiers how important it is to re-enforce these traditions with regularity.

“If a soldier gets promoted this month,” said Inniss, of Brooklyn, N.Y., “and you wait six or nine months to do an NCO induction, it takes away from the tradition itself, because you’ve already been telling yourself ‘I’m an NCO’ all that time. A year later, that soldier could be going to a promotion board to become a staff sergeant. That’s when you’re going to finally welcome that person? I find it simple and natural having a system where we do it every month. “

Because of the challenges of maintaining a constant 24/7 aerial presence in the skies over eastern Afghanistan, the monthly ceremonies seemed like an unnecessary burden at first, but have become a tradition of their own in the aviation task force.

“At first, I have to be honest, I was against doing NCO inductions every month.” said 1st Sgt. Michael Muller, of Seattle, Wash. “But then it began to make a lot of sense. A lot of traditions get lost the less we do them in the Army. A lot of things us senior people learned as privates have disappeared over time, but because we’ve done this monthly, and Command Sgt. Maj. Inniss has enforced that, it’s becoming ingrained now. It’s more natural and it just kind of happens.”

With nonstop deployments and the heavy training schedule that involves, traditions since the beginning of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have taken a back seat to soldier readiness, said 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Larry Farmer.

One night in June, Farmer gathered a group of soldiers to present coins on behalf of the brigade commander for achievements during the 2011-2012 deployment. First, he asked a question.

“Does anyone know what the tradition is behind the challenge coin? What’s it for?” asked Farmer.

The room was silent. A few senior soldiers smiled because they knew the answer, but junior soldiers, those that had joined long after 9/11, stared back at him, expressionless.

“The Sergeant Major of the Army has asked all Command Sergeants Major to start bringing that [tradition] back so soldiers understand it, and understand what traditions and customs and courtesies are all about,” said Farmer, of San Diego, Calif. “I think the challenge coin and induction ceremony are just examples of many old traditions you’ll see come back in to the force.”

“Yeah, some traditions have been lost,” said Muller. “If we didn’t do this monthly, we’d get to busy in the second month, then the third month, and so on. By the time we leave [Afghanistan], we’ll have done 10 inductions. It reinforces the tradition with every ceremony- more and more people come, either because they’ve never seen one before, or want to come support their buddies. It gives soldiers something to look forward to, because they know they’ll be recognized for their hard work and for moving from being a Soldier to an NCO.”

Field Manual 7-22.7, Appendix F, which provides guidelines for the ceremony, says “…recognizing the transition from ‘just one of the guys or gals’ to a non commissioned officer should be shared among the superiors, peers, and soldiers of the newly-promoted. The induction ceremony should be held separate and to serve as an extension of the promotion ceremony.”

The manual also allows the ceremony to be tailored to the individual unit, allowing the borrowing and exclusion of parts to make the ceremony unique. TF Wolfpack took the parts they found most important- reading the NCO history, signing the NCO creed, weathering of the rank, and Soldiers’ requests.

“An important part of the ceremony is soldiers’ requests, where they stood up and requested ‘feed me sergeant,’ and ‘train me sergeant,’” said Muller. “These people have to understand the difference between specialist and sergeant. It’s a huge step from being a specialist to becoming a sergeant, because you can make a whole lot of mistakes as a specialist you can’t make as a sergeant.”

Instead of slapping stripes on a soldier’s chest and expecting him to suddently act different, a series of steps draw a line between the young Soldier and the matured NCO.

“I think it lets the NCO know they’re part of a corps that now has a responsibility to take care of soldiers,” said Farmer. “It starts with the Corps welcoming new non commissioned officers appropriately, so they understand the level of responsibility they’re undertaking.”

The intended effect is to change the mindsets of young NCOs and set them off from their former peers.

“It’s not just myself I have to take care of and working with the team; I have to take charge of soldiers now and care for their well-being,” said Johnston. “I was pinned the rank today, but earning the rank is never done. You never stop earning to be a non-commissioned officer.”