thedrifter
04-30-07, 07:31 AM
PME for senior NCOs tops Kent’s agenda
By John Hoellwarth - jhoellwarth@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 07, 2007
It’s not about being the 16th sergeant major of the Marine Corps, it’s about being in a position to support the war fighter, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent said in an April 27 interview, just two days after becoming the Corps’ senior enlisted Marine.
For Kent, that means building a schoolhouse for senior enlisted Marines, giving recruiters all the “fire support” his office can bring to bear and breaking down some of the walls that have historically separated sergeants major and master gunnery sergeants.
“There is friction sometimes” between sergeants major and master gunnery sergeants, but Kent has never gotten involved in that.
“I respect master gunnery sergeants to the utmost,” he said, bragging about the professionalism of the master gunnery sergeants at his last command, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“Those master gunnery sergeants have a lot of knowledge and experience. They do great things, and they’re a team,” Kent said. “So this year at the sergeants major symposium, I will bring master gunnery sergeants in to brief us on certain issues, and they will be part of the symposium.”
Kent anticipates that giving master gunnery sergeants a voice at the symposium “might not be popular among some sergeants major, but that’s OK,” he said.
He said he wants senior enlisted representatives from the Corps’ larger occupational specialties to weigh in on the topics sergeants major plan to pitch to the commandant this year, because those recommendations are supposed to reflect the concerns of all Marines, not just those who went the first sergeant route.
If the Corps’ entire senior enlisted community can come together and speak with one voice, “I can tell you, that’s a powerful thing,” Kent said.
But it’s not enough to put the Corps’ senior enlisted Marines in a room and hope for the best, which is why Kent said he’ll make a top priority of revamping the professional military education requirement for master sergeants, master gunnery sergeants, first sergeants and sergeants major by building a senior enlisted academy, “or whatever we end up calling it,” Kent said.
Kent called himself “lucky” among the Corps’ enlisted leaders because he was given the chance to attend the Army’s sergeant major academy in 1993. Though the Navy and Air Force also have similar schools for their senior enlisted, the Marine Corps has yet to get one off the ground, despite efforts to initiate some momentum for the project by Kent’s predecessor, Sgt. Maj. John Estrada.
With a whole four-year tour ahead of him, Kent is 100 percent certain a senior staff noncommissioned officer academy will materialize on his watch.
“We will get this thing off the ground,” he said. “The key thing is we need to give them the education they need. They learn by on-the-job training when they get up in the senior ranks. We need to help them by sending them to some kind of senior enlisted school.”
Kent said the idea is to get these Marines a forum where they “can sit in there and discuss issues.”
“I’m not talking about the tactical-level issues, either,” he said. “I’m talking about educating them to talk about the operational level and above. It won’t be a one-week school. It will be intense.”
Kent said Training and Education Command in Quantico, Va., is already working on the curriculum and that he’s looking forward to receiving a progress report from the Marines who have taken the project’s lead.
Kent said he knows Commandant Gen. James Conway “very well,” having served combat tours as his enlisted adviser in the past, and that Conway is “all for enlisted professional military education.”
With that kind of endorsement, “all we have to do is get the ball rolling,” Kent said.
Kent said Conway’s stance on loosening standards, which matches his own, is consistent across a wide range of issues from recruiting to grooming regulations. Standards are made to be raised, not lowered, he said.
Kent said he’s looking into ways to help recruiters meet their mission in what he calls “the toughest duty in the Marine Corps other than combat,” but at two days on the job, it’s too early to tell what exactly should be done to give recruiters the “fire support” they need, Kent said.
Kent said he likes to parachute into recruiting stations unannounced just to watch the Marines do their thing because the atmosphere there is “motivated.” He said recruiters all over the country can expect the unexpected visit.
“They’re going to see a lot of me,” he said.
And by “they,” Kent isn’t just talking about the enlisted ranks. He said he considers himself the representative and advocate for the entire Corps.
“I’m not just the sergeant major for enlisted Marines,” he said. “I’m the sergeant major for every Marine.”
Ellie
By John Hoellwarth - jhoellwarth@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 07, 2007
It’s not about being the 16th sergeant major of the Marine Corps, it’s about being in a position to support the war fighter, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent said in an April 27 interview, just two days after becoming the Corps’ senior enlisted Marine.
For Kent, that means building a schoolhouse for senior enlisted Marines, giving recruiters all the “fire support” his office can bring to bear and breaking down some of the walls that have historically separated sergeants major and master gunnery sergeants.
“There is friction sometimes” between sergeants major and master gunnery sergeants, but Kent has never gotten involved in that.
“I respect master gunnery sergeants to the utmost,” he said, bragging about the professionalism of the master gunnery sergeants at his last command, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“Those master gunnery sergeants have a lot of knowledge and experience. They do great things, and they’re a team,” Kent said. “So this year at the sergeants major symposium, I will bring master gunnery sergeants in to brief us on certain issues, and they will be part of the symposium.”
Kent anticipates that giving master gunnery sergeants a voice at the symposium “might not be popular among some sergeants major, but that’s OK,” he said.
He said he wants senior enlisted representatives from the Corps’ larger occupational specialties to weigh in on the topics sergeants major plan to pitch to the commandant this year, because those recommendations are supposed to reflect the concerns of all Marines, not just those who went the first sergeant route.
If the Corps’ entire senior enlisted community can come together and speak with one voice, “I can tell you, that’s a powerful thing,” Kent said.
But it’s not enough to put the Corps’ senior enlisted Marines in a room and hope for the best, which is why Kent said he’ll make a top priority of revamping the professional military education requirement for master sergeants, master gunnery sergeants, first sergeants and sergeants major by building a senior enlisted academy, “or whatever we end up calling it,” Kent said.
Kent called himself “lucky” among the Corps’ enlisted leaders because he was given the chance to attend the Army’s sergeant major academy in 1993. Though the Navy and Air Force also have similar schools for their senior enlisted, the Marine Corps has yet to get one off the ground, despite efforts to initiate some momentum for the project by Kent’s predecessor, Sgt. Maj. John Estrada.
With a whole four-year tour ahead of him, Kent is 100 percent certain a senior staff noncommissioned officer academy will materialize on his watch.
“We will get this thing off the ground,” he said. “The key thing is we need to give them the education they need. They learn by on-the-job training when they get up in the senior ranks. We need to help them by sending them to some kind of senior enlisted school.”
Kent said the idea is to get these Marines a forum where they “can sit in there and discuss issues.”
“I’m not talking about the tactical-level issues, either,” he said. “I’m talking about educating them to talk about the operational level and above. It won’t be a one-week school. It will be intense.”
Kent said Training and Education Command in Quantico, Va., is already working on the curriculum and that he’s looking forward to receiving a progress report from the Marines who have taken the project’s lead.
Kent said he knows Commandant Gen. James Conway “very well,” having served combat tours as his enlisted adviser in the past, and that Conway is “all for enlisted professional military education.”
With that kind of endorsement, “all we have to do is get the ball rolling,” Kent said.
Kent said Conway’s stance on loosening standards, which matches his own, is consistent across a wide range of issues from recruiting to grooming regulations. Standards are made to be raised, not lowered, he said.
Kent said he’s looking into ways to help recruiters meet their mission in what he calls “the toughest duty in the Marine Corps other than combat,” but at two days on the job, it’s too early to tell what exactly should be done to give recruiters the “fire support” they need, Kent said.
Kent said he likes to parachute into recruiting stations unannounced just to watch the Marines do their thing because the atmosphere there is “motivated.” He said recruiters all over the country can expect the unexpected visit.
“They’re going to see a lot of me,” he said.
And by “they,” Kent isn’t just talking about the enlisted ranks. He said he considers himself the representative and advocate for the entire Corps.
“I’m not just the sergeant major for enlisted Marines,” he said. “I’m the sergeant major for every Marine.”
Ellie