In related stories, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, commander of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) through which we report as a part of Initial Military Training (IMT), has been nominated by the Secretary of Defense to be the next Chief of Staff of the Army.
Many of us from the legacy 108th Division served under Dempsey when he was the commanding general, Multi National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I). I can te1l you that from that experience and as a direct reporting command under Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling and IMT that Dempsey is well aware of the contributions members of the 108th and its down trace units have and continue to make in his formations both here in the United States and abroad in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
Speaking of Hertling, he has been selected to be the new commanding general, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army. Both Dempsey and Hertling have had a major influence in changing the landscape of IMT. We wish them both well in their new assignments and appreciate their leadership and guidance as they move on to higher responsibilities.
Congratulations to Col. (promotable) Arlen R. Royalty. Royalty, currently serves as the G-3 of the 108th Training Command, and has been selected for promotion to brigadier general and as the next commander of the 95th Training Division (IET). I have worked with Royalty for a number of years to include being deployed with him in Iraq. I know that he will do a fine job in his new assignment.
Also, congratulations to Command Sgt. Maj. Grady Blue, 3rd Brigade, 98th Training Division (IET) for being selected from a field of several highly qualified candidates to be the new command sergeant major of the 98th Training Division (IET).
To all of my Noncommissioned Officer Corps, I really need your help for two taskers. Both have to do with taking care of Soldiers.
Late noncommissioned officer evaluation reports or NCOERS across the command are becoming a real issue. Minus the ones that have been sent to Human Resources Command to be permed and NCOERs that are external to our command, that still leaves a significant number of NCOERS that we have total control of that are not being addressed in a timely manner.
And specifically for the two training divisions, keeping track of your drill sergeant candidates and getting them to drill sergeant school in a timely manner. Our drill sergeant numbers are starting to decline for the first time in several years.
The number one reason is taking specialists out of the mix of drill sergeant candidates. But we also have had a number of drill sergeants to transfer outside the command for other assignments, get promoted out of drill sergeant status or just retire. Our graduation rate has fallen below our attrition rate again.
According to our records there are more than enough candidates on the books to fill drill sergeant classes for the next year. If they are qualified we need to get them into class. If they are not qualified you need to get them qualified. If we cannot get them qualified we need to find other opportunities for them.
In keeping with the Army Reserves “Shaping the Force” philosophy, I need to make you aware of plans to implement a Sergeants Major tenure / rotation policy.
With this new policy tenure and rotation will be added for sergeants major for a length of three years with a maximum five years by extension with approval of the first general officer in the chain of command. Within the 108th Training Command (IET), the final approver will be the commanding general, Maj. Gen. Robert Stall. Any extension beyond five years will need to be approved by USARC.
Hopefully, by the time this of this release the new policy will be published.
When the policy will take effect will be dependant of what the Chief of the Army Reserve determines the date will be. Implementation of this new policy will be based on current assignment. That is the clock did not reset on January 1st and time already served in any position will be taken into account. There are currently about 39 sergeant major positions across the command.
As always thank all of you for the contributions you make and helping the 95th Training Division (IET) the 98th Training Division (IET) and the 104th Training Division (LT) as part of the 108th Training Command (IET) and the Army Reserve to be a force multiplier in the mission of keeping this great county free and secure. I’ll see you on the trail.