During my recent visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, with Lieutenant General Carlton Fulford, then-Commanding General of Marine Forces Pacific, a young Indonesian Marine officer saluted the general and announced the class and year he had attended the Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico Virginia. I could not help but see the young officer's pride at have being able to attend AWS and the looks of respect on the faces of his fellow officers. The general and the young officer talked about mutual acquaintances, and you could almost see the unique bonds of friendship that had developed at Quantico—friendships that would last a lifetime.
In Manila, during a visit with the Philippine Marine Corps in Manila, then Commandant Major General Ponciano S. Millena recalled that he and Lieutenant General Fulford had been classmates at the Command and Staff College.
The lasting bonds of friendship and respect forged between officers at these service schools are of incalculable benefit to our nation in the world at large. I think such benefits could only be enhanced if we, the staff noncommissioned officers (SNCOs) and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) of the Marine Corps, were to take a larger role in this program.
In the early 1990s, while I was the regimental sergeant major of the 5th Marines, the division sergeant major asked me to host two Australian Army sergeants major (actually Warrant Officers-Class One) who were visiting Camp Pendleton, California. I decided to show them around the regiment and let my Marines take it from there. They arrived on time, we broke the ice over coffee, and headed out—comparing notes on the similar leadership challenges we all faced and on the trials and tribulations of being a sergeant major. It was a good visit and I said farewell, never thinking that I would see either one of them again.
Lo and behold, nearly ten years later on a trip to Australia to explore new training opportunities for visiting Marine expeditionary units, who do I run into but one of my friends from that day at Pendleton—by then Warrant Officer Class One Mike Beinke, the sergeant major of Land Headquarters Command at the Victoria Barracks and a great help in influencing expanding of training opportunities for us in his country. Our brief encounter almost a decade earlier had made a vivid impression on both of us and went a long way in establishing rapport.
It is just this kind of brothers-in-arms relationship that I would like to see our staff noncommissioned Officers take a larger role in—and the Security Assistance Training Program can be the vehicle we need.
Granted that we SNCOs are not policy makers, it would be foolish to believe that we have no influence on those policies. The advantages of improving relations on the enlisted level, while perhaps not as far-reaching as those on the commissioned-officer level, nonetheless can be of significant importance in building good will.
The Marine Corps supports all aspects of security assistance as authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act. Training, a key element of security assistance, is furnished under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) Program and the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Training Program.
The IMET Program provides military education and training on a grant basis to students from allied and friendly nations. The FMS process provides training for a fee in response to specific requests from foreign governments or international organizations. The Marine Corps provides training under both of these programs.
The current Security Assistance Officer Desk Top Guide states that professional military education for enlisted Marines begins with the sergeants' course and continues to the advanced course. International military students with similar grade and experience levels may attend these courses, and enlisted personnel from other countries attend our Drill Instructor Schools located at Parris Island, South Carolina, and San Diego, California. Such schools are fine for building friendships and exchanging new ideas, but we should be doing more exchange training at the SNCO level of leadership.
Funding is tight, but if we were serious enough to see the benefits we would find the money.
As I travel the 100 million square miles and 43 countries in our area of responsibility, I meet face-to-face with men we may fight alongside some day. Giving them an opportunity to attend a U.S. school may well saving the lives of U.S. servicemen on some distant battlefield.
Based on my observations, few countries in our area encourage enlisted leadership to any great degree. Junior officers, for the most part, perform tasks that U.S. SNCOs and NCOs take for granted. By exposing more countries to the potentials of enlisted leadership, I believe we can multiply the military efficiency of our friends throughout the world.
I have never been accused of taking a back seat to anyone in promoting enlisted professional military education for our own Marines, nor will I be for recognizing the need to assist those nations who need our help. The generals and colonels may come up with the plan, but it is the corporals and sergeants who take and hold the ground.
Having the very best-trained enlisted leaders to complement the officer corps can do nothing but enhance the combat capabilities of any force. Making more of our staff noncommissioned officers aware of the IMET program should enable them to assume a larger role in urging the leadership to take part in this valuable program.
Sergeant Major Holub is the Force Sergeant Major for Marine Forces Pacific.