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Secretary of the Army Pete Geren declared 2009 the Year of the Non Commissioned Officer, and the 39th Transportation Battalion wasted no time kicking the year off with a ceremony focused on celebrating the history, traditions and accomplishments of the Army’s time-honored NCO Corps.
The battalion hosted an NCO induction ceremony Jan. 21 at the Ramstein Officers’ Club on Ramstein. During the ceremony, 20 newly-appointed NCOs from the 39th Trans. Bn. accepted the duties and responsibilities of an Army NCO.
Commonly known as “the backbone of the Army” the duties and responsibilities of the NCO Corps were developed by Baron Friedrich Von Steuben in “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States” during the long hard winter at Valley Forge.
The ceremony featured Soldiers in various historical uniforms who gave speeches on the different roles NCOs have played throughout the Army’s history. The ceremony, however, did not solely focus on the history of the NCO Corps, but also on the future.
“As our Army expands, so does the role of the NCO. We must be adaptive enough to grow and expand with it,” said guest speaker Master Sgt. Vincent Noble, the 16th Sustainment Brigade’s rear detachment command sergeant major.
After the guest speaker, the inductees took the Oath of the NCO and signed a Charge of the NCO, reaffirming their commitment to their Soldiers.
The inductees then walked under an arch of sabers and were welcomed into the NCO Corps by 39th Trans. Bn. Command Sgt. Major Charles Nash Jr.
After the ceremony, the new NCOs were congratulated by a distinguished audience of NCOs, which included Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph Beam, command sergeant major, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, and Command Sgt. Maj. David Wood, command sergeant major, 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
For Sgt. Malcom Webster, 635th Movement Control Team, 39th Trans. Bn., who was promoted Sept. 1, it was a celebration that had been delayed because of his deployment.
“I was in Iraq when I was promoted, so it felt good to be appreciated (at the NCO induction ceremony),” he said.
Sgt. Chadrick George, the operations sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 39th Trans. Bn., said he received plenty of advice from other NCOs since being promoted to sergeant.
“Always take care of the mission, and the way to do that is to take care of your Soldiers because they are always going to be the ones who get the task done,” Sergeant George said. “As a NCO, you really provide the direction for how to complete the task.”
Sergeant George went on to point out the significance of joining the NCO Corps.
“It is an elite corps. Not everyone has the opportunity or ability to say ‘I was a sergeant in the United States Army,’” Sergeant George said.
