Fort Bliss Monitor

SMA nominative conference
Senior leadership meet, speak to USASMA Soldiers

Dustin Perry
Assistant Editor

Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey speaks at the annual Sergeant Major of the Army Nomina-tive Command Sergeants Major Conference.

Senior Army noncommissioned officers got the chance to meet with members of their branch’s senior leadership at the annual Sergeant Major of the Army’s Nominative Command Sergeants Major Conference, which began here Jan. 8 and ended today.

Attendees included Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker and Sgt Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston.

During the conference, topics of discussion included the current state and future outlook of the Army, the transition of Brigade Combat Teams, the Army Safety Campaign and a speech from Harvey outlining his seven priorities as the new Secretary of the Army.

In an interview, Harvey also spoke about his thoughts on the conference, among other topics such as challenges facing the Army, plans for developing future leaders and his expectations of NCOs
“It’s a great pleasure to be here; it gives me an opportunity to talk to [Soldiers], meet them, and get their input. Probably the most enjoyable part of the conference was taking questions after my speech and getting their points of view,” said Harvey. “I also had the opportunity to communicate my priorities and tell them what’s important to me and what I expect of them.”

Harvey continued, saying the U.S. Army was the best in the world because of “the bravery and pride of our Soldiers” and “the confidence of our NCOs, particularly our sergeants major and our command sergeants major.”

When asked what he thought some of the pressing challenges facing the Army, Harvey said there is a dual challenge of jointly fighting the global war on terrorism and at the same time, building the Army of the future through transformation.

“There are really two sides of transformation. One is the force transformation … the other is the business transformation,” said Harvey. “The main transformation initiative is called modularity. That basically involves a total redesign of the operational Army into a more powerful, a more flexible and a more deployable force.”

To lay out a plan to develop leaders during his tenure, Harvey said he has tasked his transition team. The team will outline and develop the attributes needed for the Army’s leaders in a security environment Harvey says is characterized by “ambiguity” and “uncertainty.”

“We know a lot of things about this environment in which we live in. We know it’s totally different that the 20th century,” said Harvey. “Our leaders have to be good at the basic proficiency and competency of fighting the war, but they’ve also got to be good at winning the peace and living in situations where it’s not clear who the enemy is.

“I’m hopeful that this transition team will define those attributes and then we’ll use schools like we have here to start developing the skills and the attributes and abilities so that we can have the most effective leaders across the spectrum of the Army for the 21st century,” he added.

Harvey stated his expectations for NCOs in the Army, saying they should be proficient in their fields and the tactical side of their jobs. He also expects them to be mentors and models for Soldiers and to really focus on preparing and training them to function in the 21st century security environment.

“I hope they go out in their communities and help us recruit and retain our Soldiers because we have very challenging times in recruitment and we need all the help we can get,” he said. “I encourage them to go out in the community and the schools and interest young people in having a career in this great institution of the Army.”

One of the things that will remain relatively the same for Soldiers during this period of transition, according to Harvey, is their operational tempo. He says he’s trying to ensure they retain predictability in their lives. Harvey concluded by conveying a twofold message to the Fort Bliss community.

“First, winning the global war on terrorism is absolutely essential to this country, and the Soldiers and families at Fort Bliss have a very important role to play in that. The nation is depending on the Army jointly fighting with out sister services to win this war,” said Harvey. “I think I can speak for a lot of people in this country that they greatly value that service and sacrifice that the Soldiers and families are providing.

“My second message is to reiterate again what I said this morning, and that is Soldiers and their families are my number one priority. You can be assured that I’m going to work hard to make sure that the Soldiers get the right equipment, the right training, that the units they’re a part of are the most effective that they can be.”



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	January 13, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	SMA nominative conference Senior leadership meet, speak to USASMA Soldiers Dustin Perry Assistant Editor Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey speaks at the annual Sergeant Major of the Army Nomina-tive Command Sergeants Major Conference. Senior Army noncommissioned officers got the chance to meet with members of their branch’s senior leadership at the annual Sergeant Major of the Army’s Nominative Command Sergeants Major Conference, which began here Jan. 8 and ended today. Attendees included Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker and Sgt Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston. During the conference, topics of discussion included the current state and future outlook of the Army, the transition of Brigade Combat Teams, the Army Safety Campaign and a speech from Harvey outlining his seven priorities as the new Secretary of the Army. In an interview, Harvey also spoke about his thoughts on the conference, among other topics such as challenges facing the Army, plans for developing future leaders and his expectations of NCOs “It’s a great pleasure to be here; it gives me an opportunity to talk to [Soldiers], meet them, and get their input. Probably the most enjoyable part of the conference was taking questions after my speech and getting their points of view,” said Harvey. “I also had the opportunity to communicate my priorities and tell them what’s important to me and what I expect of them.” Harvey continued, saying the U.S. Army was the best in the world because of “the bravery and pride of our Soldiers” and “the confidence of our NCOs, particularly our sergeants major and our command sergeants major.” When asked what he thought some of the pressing challenges facing the Army, Harvey said there is a dual challenge of jointly fighting the global war on terrorism and at the same time, building the Army of the future through transformation. “There are really two sides of transformation. One is the force transformation … the other is the business transformation,” said Harvey. “The main transformation initiative is called modularity. That basically involves a total redesign of the operational Army into a more powerful, a more flexible and a more deployable force.” To lay out a plan to develop leaders during his tenure, Harvey said he has tasked his transition team. The team will outline and develop the attributes needed for the Army’s leaders in a security environment Harvey says is characterized by “ambiguity” and “uncertainty.” “We know a lot of things about this environment in which we live in. We know it’s totally different that the 20th century,” said Harvey. “Our leaders have to be good at the basic proficiency and competency of fighting the war, but they’ve also got to be good at winning the peace and living in situations where it’s not clear who the enemy is. “I’m hopeful that this transition team will define those attributes and then we’ll use schools like we have here to start developing the skills and the attributes and abilities so that we can have the most effective leaders across the spectrum of the Army for the 21st century,” he added. Harvey stated his expectations for NCOs in the Army, saying they should be proficient in their fields and the tactical side of their jobs. He also expects them to be mentors and models for Soldiers and to really focus on preparing and training them to function in the 21st century security environment. “I hope they go out in their communities and help us recruit and retain our Soldiers because we have very challenging times in recruitment and we need all the help we can get,” he said. “I encourage them to go out in the community and the schools and interest young people in having a career in this great institution of the Army.” One of the things that will remain relatively the same for Soldiers during this period of transition, according to Harvey, is their operational tempo. He says he’s trying to ensure they retain predictability in their lives. Harvey concluded by conveying a twofold message to the Fort Bliss community. “First, winning the global war on terrorism is absolutely essential to this country, and the Soldiers and families at Fort Bliss have a very important role to play in that. The nation is depending on the Army jointly fighting with out sister services to win this war,” said Harvey. “I think I can speak for a lot of people in this country that they greatly value that service and sacrifice that the Soldiers and families are providing. “My second message is to reiterate again what I said this morning, and that is Soldiers and their families are my number one priority. You can be assured that I’m going to work hard to make sure that the Soldiers get the right equipment, the right training, that the units they’re a part of are the most effective that they can be.”