 Sergeant Major of the Armies, Army Birthday Town Hall. Today, we'll be taking questions from around the world, social media, and from our studio audience. I'm Sergeant Audrey Santana, and I'll be your host. Joining me in the studio today is Sergeant Major of the Army, Daniel Daly. Sergeant Major, thank you so much for being here, and welcome. Thank you. Sergeant Santana, I just want to say thank you for giving me this great opportunity to be here and talk to soldiers, not just here in the studio, but across the Army. And it's a great venue that I hope to do, often in the future, to be able to reach out, talk to our great soldiers of our great Army, especially that very soon is gonna be our Army birthday. In just a few short days, we're gonna celebrate 240 years of history, and each and every one of you should know that you're part of that. You're part of making that history, and you're part of that legacy. The other opportunity before we get started, I'd like to talk about is my great new initiative. I know that some soldiers may have heard of it. It's called Not My Squad, and it is a grassroots initiative, and you haven't heard much about it so far, and that's intentional, because we're bringing non-commissioned officers in to advise us and build this from the bottom up. It's a program that needs to be built by non-commissioned officers, be led by non-commissioned officers, who can make a difference. And Not My Squad is just that. It's non-commissioned officers leading from the bottom up, getting at the tough, hard things that we're faced in our Army every day, things like sexual assault, sexual harassment, indiscipline, and bullying. I know that our non-commissioned officers have the ability to do that. They've proven that over the last 12 to 13 years of war, they have led and won on the battlefield on their own, and I have the utmost confidence that they can tackle this challenge as well. Thank you, Sergeant Santana. Well, are we gonna get a little sneak peek, Sergeant Major? We are, so I got a great video. Everybody loves a video, so we got a great video that introduces this, and you're the first ones in the United States Army to see it. So I got the Chief of Staff of the Army, as well as some great soldiers and the Secretary of the Army out just to show you how important it is in this initiative. All right, let's take a look. Not in my team. Not in my squad. Not in my platoon. So what do you think? All right, so who's signing up? Not my squad, right? Not my squad, not in our Army. And I think, like I said, it's putting responsibility where it belongs in our hands, your hands and mine, non-commissioned officers and soldiers that live, build, and win for the United States of America every single day. Sergeant Santana, thanks again. Sergeant Major, can you tell me a little bit about how that initiative got started? Yeah, I sure can. So when I first came on as a Sergeant Major of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Secretary of the Army challenged me, said, Sergeant Major, we need you to tackle the hard problems the Army faces. With all the other things going around in the world and readiness being our number one priority as soldiers, we also have some problems within our ranks. So we put together a sharp conference for the United States Army. And at that conference, I saw the cadets of the United States Military Academy talk about how they went after the problems that they had in their own ranks. And they built the students against sexual assault and sexual harassment. It was the cadets that said, this is our problem. We're in the position to fix it and we're in the place that can make a difference. So they took it on themselves. And since they've done that, they made a great change up there at the Military Academy and they have a bright future ahead of them because they've sought responsibility and they're taking responsibility for their own actions. Fantastic. Well, if you're ready, we're ready. I'm ready. We're gonna start with our first question that actually comes from social media, Sergeant Major. And it kinda, I think relates back to the video we just watched. Commence our Major Daily. I'm not sure if you saw a recent video that went viral of a captain who fell but got up and finished a road march at an EFMB event. What would you say first off to the captain that finished something many don't, but also to those who made fun of her because she happened to fall at the end? Well, I did have the opportunity to see that video. And what I would tell that captain is, first and foremost, exactly what she just said is that you finished. Not many people achieved that great honor and that's the EFMB, just like the EIB. That just held sacred by many soldiers. Many soldiers in the past have attempted and many have not achieved and she did. And for soldiers making fun of those soldiers because they fell or they embarrassed themselves or they feeling different, I think that I go back to my original policy is what I used to tell my young soldiers when I was a squad leader is that we don't steal from each other and that's not just physical items. That's everything. We don't take honor from each other. All right, we don't take anybody's wallet. We don't take their bicycle. We don't take their pride. We don't do that because we're your team and we gotta count each other both in Garrison and in the battlefield. So I tell those soldiers that you're trying to steal something from that captain that she earned. She earned the right to wear the EFMB. She earned it proudly and you should support her because that's your fellow teammate. Hello, Sergeant Major. Our next question is a video question from Korea and it's about benefits. Let's take a look at the monitor. Hi, I'm Sergeant Kevin Spence. Under the new tri-care system, will I have to pay if my family has to cancel an appointment? Sergeant Spence, that is a great question. There is currently no initiative to make soldiers or family members pay for missed appointments. What do I tell you though is we need your help because there is a cost to us when that happens and that's you and me and as well as the taxpayers of America. Just like in the civilian world, when you don't make an appointment that doctor loses an opportunity and has the right to charge you for a missed appointment and it's our responsibility. If you ever went to the doctor and realized it's so hard to get an appointment because much of that ladies and gentlemen is because we miss those appointments and we waste that time. So I need your help because in the future that's something that we don't wanna do but we may have to do to help us enforce the standards. Make sure that both you and your family members keep your promise. Your promise not only to that doctor that you're gonna be there on time but to the rest of the soldiers and family members in the Army to make sure you're not wasting their time in the available slot that they could take. All right, well we actually have a video question and then we'll go over to our audience and this one comes from Wiesbaden, Germany, Sergeant Major. Hi, my name is Sergeant First Class, Clifford Martin with HAC-5 Signal Command in Wiesbaden, Germany and my question is are we gonna have to manage our own retirement accounts in the future? Well Sergeant Martin that's another great question. You know in the news today is a big topic about military compensation and reform and we're working very hard right now in the Department of the Army along with the other services and the Chief of Staff of the Army and the other Chiefs as well as the Chairman and the Joint Chief and the Secretary of Defense to make sure that we do what's right for our service members. We're still working on that now and our great civil leadership, I know and I have the confidence in them that we're gonna make the right decisions. And I want you to know first and foremost we're doing this because we need reform and we have an old retirement system that is several years old and it only compensates those who stay 20 years. So what we're trying to do is make sure that we give compensation and a retirement system that can carry over to all soldiers. Whether they stay three years or 30 years they'll be able to put some in but yet take some out when they leave. And I can assure you that it is in first and foremost and myself and the Chief's personal responsibilities to make sure that our soldiers are appropriately compensated. And lastly those soldiers who have sworn to defend the United States of America to ensure that we as a nation uphold our promises to them. So we insist that we grandfather every soldier that is serving today so that you live upon the same promise that you were given by the great people that you've paid to defend, okay? Go ahead Sergeant. Good morning Sergeant Major. I'm Sergeant Marina DeVall with Bravo Company 742nd of my battalion. And my question is will the Affordable Care Act be adopted by the military? Great question and that's another discussion that's going on with our military paying compensation is our healthcare. First if I could I explain the growing concern of why we're talking about this and then I'll get to answer your question Sergeant DeVall. So we are very expensive. 51% of all the dollars we appropriate from Congress goes to not the tanks, not the great equipment we have, but you and I. And you are our most valuable asset but we continue to become more expensive every year. And we have to figure out how to save money and drive down those costs but yet maintain, sustain a very good trained and ready all volunteer force. So again, we're taking a look at how we can find efficiencies in our healthcare for both our soldier members and our families. Now I don't think in the foreseeable future from what I know right now that we'll be doing exactly that. I think that foreseeable future in the best interest of us and our soldiers and our families is to maintain healthcare within our military health system. Again, that's something that we're working very closely with with the chairman and joint chief of staff and the other service chiefs and service senior and listed advisors. And I can assure you that again, we're making sure they're paying very close attention to ensuring first and foremost the needs of our soldiers and our families are met. Okay. Thanks Sergeant Major. Hi Sergeant Major we have one from social media. What can civilians do to help support the brave men and women who volunteer on behalf of the people of the United States? So what can, can you repeat the question for me please? What can civilians do to help support the brave men and women who volunteer on behalf of the people of the United States? And that's a great question. And I tell soldiers, you don't also only have a responsibility to be a soldier inside the army but to the nation because that's what we do. And our great civilians out there have already done a lot and they have shown that dedication for the last 12 years of war. I bet you can't find a single soldier that has been thanked for their service. And what I think I need to tell our great civilians out there and our great civilian population that we are paid to protect is that that's all we asked. Is that when those soldiers come home, when they go off the foreign lands and they fight hard, it's just that's all we need. It's just to greet them, to thank them for their service and to continue to support them both home and abroad in the great fight that they have and that is protecting the people of the United States. So personally I'd like to say thank you to the civilian population for what they've done for my soldiers for the last 13 years. They have done just that. Welcome them home every single time. And I'll tell you, I can't go to a single airport, a bus station, or take a walk down the street without some great civilian, great person in America telling me thank you for your service and we're proud of what you've done. Go ahead Sergeant, we have one from the studio audience now. Good morning Sergeant, sorry Major. I'm Sergeant Woolif from HOC 742nd MI. My question is for new soldiers about to deploy, what advice would you have for them? Yeah, that's a great question, sorry Woolif and I appreciate it. First and foremost is be physically fit. You've heard me say that and that's critical because physical fitness is paramount. As an infantry leader, I've always said that if I have a physically fit, well-disciplined organization, I can fight and win every single war. Every single war that the America sends me out to face. Second is that you gotta do the basics. Now we talk about that, we say that, we use that term very loosely, but it is critical and that is you gotta be able to shoot, you gotta be able to move and you gotta be able to communicate. And then lastly is is you gotta listen to your great non-commissioned officers. Our non-commissioned officers are the most experienced non-commissioned officers that we have in history throughout the United States of America. We have spent 12 to 13 years of war and they have the knowledge, skills and attributes to be able to train and effectively lead you in combat. So that's my message to those young soldiers who have not yet deployed. Get physically fit, get mentally tough, be resilient and ready, prepare your family, listen to your non-commissioned officers, shoot your weapon straight and you'll do just fine. Thank you Sergeant Major. You got all that? All right. Our next question Sergeant Major is about the total force concept and it comes from social media. If we insist on the total force concept where the guard reserve and active army are used interchangeably to meet mission requirements, why is it that when it comes to transferring within the components, it becomes such an overwhelming problem? Yeah, and that's a great discussion and that's a great question and that's something that we're talking about now. So over the last 12 years of war and you've heard me say that many times since I've been here today, we have used our great national guard and reserve soldiers to fill those gaps and that's exactly what they're intended to do, to be ready to fight when their nation calls, okay? But we've also made our enlistment and our tenure of service separated. So what we'd like to do is we want to encourage those soldiers who do not stay on active duty to pursue a career in the reserves and national guard. And we're talking now about how we can maybe open it up so you can move in and out of the reserves and national guard more loosely in the future, if I may. So we're not there yet, it's initial discussion. There are some complexities that it's very difficult to manage the number of soldiers we have in the active force and the guard and reserve. There's a lot to do with regards to the duty locations of the national guard and the jobs that they must fulfill. But there is something that we're looking at and hopefully we can do in some measure in the future to give soldiers that option. But you do, as an active duty soldier, always have the option when you decide to separate from the service to join the national guard and reserves who are great organizations who have been by our side in every fight that we've faced for the last 12 years of war. Good morning, sir. I'm Reginald, special response from 742nd in my battalion. My question concerns the NCOER. With the current NCOER, we use phrases such as promote now or promote with peers. With the new NCOER, what are the phrases that the board will be looking for? So many changes have come with the new NCOER. And many of them are driven around the need to make sure that we counsel appropriately and we don't overinflate. So some of the terms you're speaking of are still gonna be just as credible as they were on the old NCOER. And it's always gonna be the chain of commands, responsibility to find the right things to ensure that they accurately depict a soldier's performance and potential for promotion in the future. So what we want non-commissioned officers and leaders to do in the future is counsel their soldiers on a regular basis in accordance with the new program and make sure that they do just that. Accurately depict without overinflation the performance and potential of their non-commissioned officers. Hey Sergeant Major, we have a big question from Graphenvere Germany. Sergeant Major, I'm Staff Sergeant Susan Francis at the Seventh Army NCO Academy in Graphenvere Germany. When can we expect the operational camouflage pattern uniform? So as you see, PFC French right here in the new uniform, okay? And you probably saw a message and hopefully you read your email because I sent a message out to over 900,000 soldiers across all three components on just this. It's the release of the new uniform. I know that many have been waiting anticipation for it to come, all right? But it's here, okay? We will release for distribution starting in July all the way through this year, okay? But one thing I want to make important and let everybody know is, okay? We don't all need to rush out and get the new uniform. This is not the iPhone 5, all right? And we don't have the ability to distribute them as quickly as Apple does, all right? So be patient. And the reason why I tell you why and this was very clear in my message to every soldier in the Army and I will lead from the front on this is that we pay you to replace your uniforms every year with your clothing allowance. Part of that clothing allowance builds up to the amount of uniforms that you have in your clothing bag and that's how we determine the wear out dates. So you have until one October, 2019. Now this year, it's 2015. That's four years to transition into this new uniform, okay? And I expect soldiers to use their clothing allowance to do that over time, okay? So we don't place a significant burden on our young soldiers and their families to have the financial responsibility to run out and grab that new iPhone 5, okay? All right? And we also do not have the stockage upfront to be able to do that. So we're gonna distribute this through commands based upon operational need. So those organizations that are deploying first because it's critical that they have these things because we design this, all right? The needs of the Army because it's a better camouflage pattern to protect you on the battlefield. So those organizations that are up there for deployment next, that's what we're gonna send those clothing and sales the uniforms first. And of course, we will continue to issue soldiers uniforms as they deploy. And in the beginning of next year, we will start issuing soldiers from basic training the new uniforms as well. But again, you don't need to rush out and buy them right away, okay? You're gonna see the Sergeant made in the Army wear this uniform sometime. And then you're gonna see a period where I'm wearing the new uniform sometimes and the old uniform sometimes, and that's okay, okay? Allow your clothing allowance dollars to work for you and allow that natural transition to occur. Now, what I've done to help you is I've also turned your chain of command the same thing, all right? So they're not to force you to go out and buy those things and that's okay. And if you go back and read my email, it says, I have the utmost confidence that even though we have different color belts and socks on for a few years, we're still gonna be the most lethal fighting force in America. Cool? Cool. Okay. Thank you. We're actually going to a video question now from Fort Stewart, Georgia, kind of transitioning back to the NCOA. Sergeant Major. My name is Staff Sergeant Christopher Lynn. Alpha Company 27 infantry, third ID, Fort Stewart, Georgia. My question, Sergeant Major is, when are we gonna get training on the new NCOA? The new NCOA, we are training all of our personalities right now. And it is gonna be coming to your installation if that hasn't already been at your installation. We're already out there doing that. Now what I can tell you, the original release date, we expected to release the new NCOA on one October. I've asked the team to go back and make some changes based upon some analysis we just recently done. The form is not gonna change. The training that soldiers have already received is still good, but we do have to make some changes to make sure that we get this right. Because this is a big deal. We're gonna affect every single non-commissioned officer in the Army when we do this and we have to make sure we get it right. So I asked the chief staff of the Army to delay it a few months. So it will go in effect, not this October, but just in the beginning of the new year of 2016. And you will make sure, and that gives us a better time to actually make sure we get everybody trained out in the organizations. So we've already held training for all your personalities down at Fort Knox, down at the HRC, and they are gonna go out and train the trainer throughout our Army. And I'm confident that we're gonna get this right. This is important. Our new NCOA had to be updated. Again, it was way out of date with regards to our doctrine. And it's gonna help us with one problem. That was overinflation. And we have to get at that. Because we have to make sure that our people that we asked to run our promotion boards have the full capability to understand and know who is the best for promotion. And this new NCOA is gonna help us do that. There's a follow-up question for that Sergeant Major via the monitor, and it's from Joint Base Lewis McCord. Okay. Staff Sergeant Ray Plowman, headquarters, 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis McCord. Sergeant Major, how is the new NCR system gonna ensure Raider Accountability? Well, thank you, Sergeant. Raider Accountability is important as well. So for years, our officers have what is called a rating profile system. And our new non-commissioned officer reporting system is gonna have the same thing. So our non-commissioned officers are used to just being raided by their non-commissioned officers. And really, everybody in the Army had the potential to get a number one block. And to be completely honest with you, in many cases, in most cases, to be exact, that's what happened. That doesn't do us any justice with regards to being able to select the most qualified for promotion, like I talked earlier on promotion boards. So now, with rating profiles, your Raider is gonna be limited on the total number of one blocks that they can give out. Okay, that means the highest rating, all right? The most qualified. And the reason why we need to do that is because the reality is that's how we need to be able to determine who the best for promotion is. Now, that's not gonna hurt you because the standard is gonna be fully qualified. That's the standard. Those who will only receive the highest marks, who are the highest caliber of non-commissioned officer, and those who are fully qualified will be fully qualified. And we're designing the system that you can get promoted. You will get promoted with a fully qualified rating if the rest of your records are consistent with the good order and discipline of the United States Army and the Army profession. Cool? Cool, okay. Go ahead, Sarin Jones. Good morning, Sergeant Major. I'm Staff Sergeant Jones from Bravo Company, 742nd in my battalion. My question is, what do you think about the congressional proposal to cut back BH for dual military couples and for troops who share housing with other service members? Sergeant Jones, that's a great question. So there's a lot of concerns about BH, and this is a question I get often when I travel around and something that we take very seriously. And it's something that I want you to know that when the chief of staff of the Army and the secretary of the Army make a decision on, they consult me, all right? And your interests are met by my ability to reach out to our senior Sergeant Majors. So BH has been a growing problem for the United States Army in the fact that we continue to grow BH, and even through a time of recession in the United States, we've continued to grow BH. When BH first came out, it was never designed to pay 100% of your full rent, okay? We grew it over time so it would, all right? And we're not saying we're going to cut BH. What we're saying is we're gonna slow the growth, and I'm gonna explain why. So when I raise your BH, what do the people that are renting apartments and homes do outside the installation? They raise the rent, okay? So if we slow the growth of BH, then it shouldn't be hurting the soldier, okay? And that's not our intent. But again, it's what I talked about earlier. We are the most expensive item in the United States Army, and we have a problem is we continue to be more expensive over time, and we can't become so expensive that our employers can no longer afford us. So we have to do things to find efficiencies in our system. So if not, what will happen is we'll become self-consuming, and we can't do that, all right? So what our mindset is, is our nation, they needed us the last 12 years of war. They've called upon us like they have for 240 years of history, all right? They're asking us to do something else. We're in financial dilemma in the United States of America. I hope you know that, and that's serious, because part of our might as a nation is also our financial ability, and it's also our jobs as soldiers to protect that, because without that, we are resource requirements. It means we need resources to survive. I need resources to take care of you, and therefore, it has to be our responsibility to help preserve and maintain those resources. Thanks, Queen. Thanks, our major. We have a question from Facebook. Why are soldiers like myself and others who perform their jobs above and beyond every day and had good PT scores out of the army because of a drawdown? Yet the service continues to recruit and enlist individuals who will cost the army millions more dollars to train. We are on a drawdown, and we are going to get smaller, and this is something we've done throughout history, and almost every post-war era, we draw down our army, because during war, our nation needs us to get bigger, to be able to fulfill our missions, but a large standing army is very expensive, as I explained earlier. So what are we doing to do a responsible drawdown? By managing our sessions, the number of people we bring in, so we can raise and lower that based upon the needs of the army, and it's important that we continue to do that. We have to continue to bring in young soldiers and new soldiers to fill those jobs. We can never stop doing that. The other thing we do is we manage our retention, so we lower bonuses, we raise bonuses, we open categories for retention, and then last, the one we don't want to do is quality management, so QSP or QMP, okay? What I tell soldiers, and what I remind them is, is that there is enough room in the army at 450,000. That's the number the chief of staff said that we're gonna go to by the end of 2019. There's enough room in the army at 450,000 for every soldier that wants to be a steward of the profession. There is, there's enough room. But there's also enough room for the chain of command to select those soldiers who have not, and that's just being truthful to you, because many soldiers have done things that are not in keeping with the army profession, and we have to make sure that we keep the faith of each other as well as the great people who employ us, and that's the American taxpayers, and that's why it's critical that we do this as leaders, is make sure that we keep those soldiers who want to stay and who have earned the right to stay in the United States Army and serve our great nation. Cool? Sergeant Major, we have a video question from Germany, and then we'll get to our studio audience. Hi there, Sergeant Major. I'm Specialist Erlana from Fort Steward, Georgia. I'm currently in Germany participating in Exercise Combined Resolve. I am in school, and for years I've heard the NCUES will be validated towards our degrees. Where are we at in the process? Well, Specialist, that is a great question, and it's something I'm very passionate about myself, having previously been the trade ox, our major before coming here. So hopefully some of you have heard about the initiative called Non-Commissioned Officer 2020. It's an ongoing study that's been going on for about two years, and it has identified just that, is that we need to get better at certifying our non-commissioned officers and our soldiers and credentialing them with regards to those things that translate well to civilian college credit and credentialing opportunities in the civilian sector. And how are we gonna do this? We're gonna adapt our non-commissioned officer education system. We're adding tough, rigorous, demanding, challenging training within it. We're adding levels of non-commissioned officers. So we're getting ready to add another level of NCUES, which is called the Master Leader's Course for our master sergeants. We've rewritten all the curriculum at the United States Army Sergeant Major Academy, and we're currently in the process of accrediting that academy at the master's level. Now, what have we done for our younger soldiers and non-commissioned officers? Again, we're gonna adapt the curriculum. We have worked very hard with our civilian counterparts to get you maximum amount of credit to the state, just the common core curriculum, not your specific MOS. From the time you start your first NCUES course to the time you graduate your last one is worth now 101 college credits. And that's the largest it's ever been throughout our history. But that's not enough. We're gonna continue to do that to make sure that we give you the valuable credit that you have earned. And that's our responsibility because we haven't done that for years, but we are getting better at it every day. And we bring Army University fully online, and that's the concept for the future. The intent is for us to be our own university and for us to accredit ourselves and give you equivalent credit for the things that you do. So you have that equivalent credit when you go out and be a soldier for life because everybody's gonna make a transition someday. And that's important. And that's what we have to recognize. It's our responsibility to train and ready you to be the best soldier you can. But we also have a responsibility to return you back to our great civilian sector because you're a citizen of the United States first and foremost, and we all have to go home someday. And that's how we're gonna take care of soldiers in the future. Good morning, Sergeant Major. I'm Sergeant Harrell from 50th Public Affairs Attachment out of Fort Bragg. And my question is, I've heard about the launch of the Army University. How's this going to benefit soldiers? Sergeant Harrell, that's a great question. I'm excited about the launch of the Army University. And it's one of the things, again, that I was deeply involved in when I was the trade ox, our major, and in great support of today. So some of that I just explained in the previous question, but again, the Army University for Soldiers is going to give opportunities that we have not had before. We have great teams working within the Army University now, as we build it up, that are focused on finding credentialing opportunities for our soldiers and what they do with regards to their military occupational skill in the Army today. The great success that we've had so far is that we've already equated that to 80 credentialing opportunities today that translate directly to civilian sector jobs in the future. But Army University's not gonna stop it just credentialing. It's also gonna start with regards to academic equivalency, to give you college credits, as I explained earlier, for the great work you do throughout your non-communist officer education courses. And Army University will also partner with civilian universities like it does today. So you can capitalize and still maintain use of your tuition assistance and partner with the university outside our gates and use your transcripts from Army University in the future to help build the degree that you personally wanna work on, which is part of the self-development domain. Thanks so much. Sir Major, we have a video question about promotions from Fort Drum. Sir Major, Army Daily. My name is Corporal Justin Wander, I'm stationed here at Fort Drum, part of 10th Mountain Division. I've been promotable for two and a half years. I have been at Corporal for almost two years now. How can we help specialists and corporals get to the rank of sergeant when the points seem to be unreachable? I've completed a number of classes, max PT tests, shot 40 out of 40, max my correspondence courses, have almost 50 college credits, still can't seem to get promoted. I feel like if we had an alternate way of getting promoted, that it might help the system. I understand the point system is the point system and it works, but I feel like if all the NCOs that work with you and around you and above you and to the side of you think that you should be a sergeant or the next level, that that should have some kind of play in whether you reached that level or not. Corporal, this is a very good question. I appreciate your question and climb the glory and thanks for what you do every day. So first I have to start off with explaining how our promotion system works. So our promotion system works based upon the needs and requirements of the United States Army. So the number of MOSs are determined based upon our TO&E, our table of organization and equipment structure. And we promote within MOSs. So if you have a number of MOSs, let's say I'll use one for example, I'll use my previous MOS, 11 Bravo. Let's say for example there's 100,000 11 Bravo's in the Army. And within that, 5,000 can be sergeants. Once we need a new sergeant, let's say there's 4,999, we will lower the promotion points to the lowest available, so whoever has the highest points to promote that individual. So we have to promote based upon need to fill slots. And it's important that we do that because we have to maintain a structure within the Army that's built to fulfill the requirements of defense of the United States. So most soldiers think that they're competing against every soldier in the Army for promotion at the ranks of sergeant and staff sergeant, but they're not. They're actually competing against those individuals within their MOS. And promotion points are lowered and raised based upon the available structure that we have to promote within that MOS. We're gonna go to the audience next. Go ahead, specialists. Good morning, Sergeant Major. I'm Specialist Scarlet from Bravo Company, 741st, ML Battalion. My question has to do with the new uniforms. With the current implementation of a new PT uniform as well as the upcoming change in the ACU. Is there any change slated for ASU or dress-lose? Mr. Scarlet, I know it's a concern of every soldier as it is mine. Because we've made a lot of transition lately, haven't we? And I know that comes at a cost to soldiers. Even when I told you earlier that we give you clothing allowance to compensate that, it is still a cost. And it's a concern of mine. So one of the things I promised the Chief of Staff the moment I first came in, as I said, I'm not going to be the uniform as Sergeant Major. So I'm okay. I think we need an era of stabilization right now for our soldiers and our uniform. I think the uniforms that we have right now were well-designed and they were at a time of need. I like our new dress blue ASU uniform. And I know that our civilian population likes it as well because I get complimented quite often. I love our new physical fitness training uniform. And it is absolutely what we need and then right on time. It is in keeping with the Go Army logo and the spirit of Army strong. So I don't see any new transition on the horizon. However, however, I am not the only person in the Army that makes those decisions or those recommendations. But I do, however, take recommendations from soldiers every day. And just to share with you, the most recent recommendation for uniform changes is that soldiers would like to now have black socks with the new black PT uniform. So can I have a show of hands of soldiers that would prefer black socks over white socks? Okay, oh my goodness gracious. But I already promised the chief I wasn't gonna change the uniform. That's right. All right, so what we will do is, so what I mean my promise is, is I'm not necessarily, I personally will not drive uniform changes but we will always meet the needs of soldiers and that's critical. So, and that has been a request and my senior list of counsel made up of your most senior serge majors in the Army have already been given that and other uniform changes that soldiers would like. And I want you to continue to make those recommendations. Okay, so I don't want to scare you away from uniform changes either because that's how we get better. We share information with each other and we make requests. So if you have a uniform request and change, we will take it very seriously. We will make a recommendation to the chief staff of the Army and the uniform board because ultimately decisions are made from the Army uniform board to the chief staff and the secretary. But thanks for the question special. Thank you specialist. So our major, we're gonna go to social media once again for another question and it's actually about Army single parents. Why does the Army have retreats for married couples and boss which caters to single soldiers without children, nothing for Army single parents? These soldiers have unique challenges that many are not aware of. I think a program for these incredible soldiers would offer support, resources and an understanding of the challenges that they face. Thanks Sergeant Santana. And this is another question that I'd like to use and clear up a misperception. So the boss program and our great married couples programs and all the other great programs that we offer on our installations are open to every soldier. They're actually open to every soldier. Now of course, we develop programs for specific audiences because single soldiers tend to hang around with other single soldiers and we have venues for them and married couples for them as well. But soldiers that are single parents and we have a number of them can take advantage of both utilizing the boss program and our married couples program. And I invite them to do that. And it's important because we have a lot of programs to help support our single parents as well. And one of the greatest ones that we'd like to talk about just briefly is our child development centers. We work very hard to provide world-class child care for all of our soldiers and their children. And it's something that we take near and dear to our heart to make sure that we provide care for the families and most importantly our children and the children of those single families. Thank you Sergeant Major. Turn your attention towards the monitors please. We have a question from Germany. Sorry Major, this is a specialist Mark Moore from Alpha Company 2.7 Infantry, third ID. I was wondering when is the Army going to speed up promotions? Yeah, I know, I want to make E-10. I really do. Actually I'm trying very hard to do that. That's a great question. It's something that soldiers always ask me. So one of the fears that I often hear as I travel around is that the Army gets smaller and there's gonna be less promotions. In some regards the total number that's true but the percentages it's the same. Because as I explained earlier is that the military structure is set. So there's a certain number of MOSs, there's a certain number of skill levels in each one of those MOSs and we will continue to promote to fill the needs and requirements of the Army. So as soldiers transition and as the need arises we will continue to promote in accordance with those needs. What I would tell you is is be persistent. Do your best. When I was a young soldier I had a great squall leader when I first joined the Army. And he said private daily if you wanna be successful. If you wanna be successful do your best every single day. When you go to school graduate in the top 10%. Don't go out at night, don't go downtown, stay home and study. And I did that throughout my entire career and I benefited from it. And that's something that you can too. We will continue and we have to continue to promote our soldiers who rise to the top. That's what we need to do. That's what we must do and that's what you would expect us to do. What I tell you is challenge yourself every day. It starts at six o'clock. You can make a difference as early as tomorrow morning. You can add promotion points to your promotion standing just by doing better at physical fitness training. One more pushup is one more point. One more sit up is one more point. Study hard. Do your SSD. I know, you don't like it. It's like going to the field but it's good for you. All right? But it's important, it's important. And the other thing is you take one day out of the month to take care of the most important person that takes care of you and that is you. Make sure you keep your records updated. Make sure you take the time to put those great awards in that your chain of command gives you into your records. Because later on in your career when you get evaluated by a board that's what your representation is, it's your file. And it's critically important that you represent yourself as well as you have done throughout your career. We're going, yes. Go ahead. Good morning, Sergeant Major. Private Rodriguez with Alpha Company, 741st in my battalion. And my question is how do you hope to affect the changes of the Army by the end of your tour, Sergeant Major, for the Army? Private Rodriguez, thanks. That's a great question. So there's lots of things I want to do. And I have hopes and dreams. First and foremost, my number one thing that I want to do is be able to maintain what we already have. And that is the respect of the American people. You are the most trusted organization in America. And I don't say that lightly. And I don't say that without extreme confidence of know what I'm talking about. You are the most trusted organization in America, the United States Army. And that has been told by us by the people of the United States of America itself. And it's critically important that we maintain that. And first and foremost, that's one thing I want to do. Because that's what we owe our people. And every time a soldier goes outside the profession and you know the things I'm talking about, that erodes that trust, don't think it doesn't. And all those hometowns in America of which you and I are both from, there's an expectation of the American people of what they expect of you. And it's our job to live up to that expectation because it's higher than the average American citizen as it should be. They should have that expectation of us. And we should be able to live above the common expectation of the American people. So that's first and foremost. I want to leave this army better than I found it. And not that it was bad, but I want that trust to always be maintained by the American people. So when you walk outside that gate and you're wearing that uniform, I want that person to walk up to you and say thank you for your service because you are the most trusted person they know and they don't even know your name. That's my goal. Thank you very much, Sir Major. Sir Major, we have a question from Graphenvere about WLC. Sir Major, my name is Staff Sergeant Martin Del Afonte here at 7th Army NCO Academy here on Graphenvere, Germany. My question to you is, when will the new WLC course take effect? So the new WLC course, so we have many changes to coming to non-commissioned officer education. So one thing that we're doing right now is we're going to maintain the course we have, but we are going to change one thing, and that's the name. Yes, so the Warrior Leader course, I know, sounds very cool, okay? One of the things that, and it is, as a matter of fact, and we just recently made drastic changes to the curriculum about 18 to 24 months ago, and we've synchronized it with your structure self-development as we are with every other level of non-commissioned officer education system. But one of the critical changes that's coming in the near future is we're going to change it to BLC, the basic leader course. And the reason why we're doing that is because the thing I talked about earlier, and it relates to soldier for life. So one of the things we did when we did the non-commissioned officer 2020 study was we went out to our civilian sector and we said, how do the things we do for our non-commissioned officers translate to the civilian sector? So now, picture this. You're a Walmart manager. You have no affiliation with the Army or any military service that you never have. And a young man or woman who is a graduate of WOC separates from the service on his or her own in good terms and wants to seek employment. They walk in and they read the resume and say, I am a graduate of the warrior leader course. Does a Walmart manager want a warrior running around the aisles of Walmart? Okay, that doesn't mean the knowledge, skills, and attributes of which we gave you in that course aren't very valuable to that corporation as it is to many corporations in America. But what we have to do is we have to do a better job at making sure it translates appropriately, okay? And that's some of the changes you're gonna see. Now, some of the things you're gonna see is that we're gonna raise academic standards. And that's important too, because we gotta have not just perceived value, but actual value to the things that we train and teach you. So you get that maximum credit at the end. So we find you that maximum equivalency. And the good news is you've already earned it. Historically, we've looked back at your graduation rates. And over 95% of the people that graduate our NCS courses graduate with a 90% or better. So we can raise the academic standards and it should have no effect on the current force because you're already demonstrating your potential to be able to achieve at a very high standard. But by doing so, by raising those academic standards and those academic requirements, we can get you the credit that you deserve. Go ahead, Sergeant. Good morning, Sergeant Major Staff Sergeant Torberg, U.S. Army Africa. With all the changes that you talked about already with Army University and accreditation for the soldiers, will anything do be available to help our spouses with their education? No, Torberg, first of all, I wanna thank you for your service. We have served together in the past in both garrison and combat. And I just wanna say hello, it's great to see you again. I hope you're doing well in U.S. Army Africa. It's a question I get quite often. And specifically, are we ever gonna have tuition assistance for family members? Are we ever gonna have some type of financial assistance for college or education for our family members? And the tough challenge with that, soldiers, is simply this, is that we have great gifts from the American taxpayer to our soldiers in the form of tuition assistance and your GI bill. That's something that is a greater gift than most employers in America give to their employees. And we've been given that gift by our taxpayers. And it's very difficult for me as your senior enlisted leader to go up on Capitol Hill and ask for more. Because the service that you provide, I honestly believe we are well compensated for. We have a lot of benefits and you have earned every single one of them, if not more. But it's hard to extend those benefits when our same civilian population don't receive them on an on basis. So there are programs that are state assisted that our Army Community Services work in partnerships with their states and private programs to help assist our family members. And we'll continue to support those through our installations and our garrisons. So I would tell them to please consult your Army Education Center because they are aware of those family programs that exist, but our primary focus and the funding and resourcing we have right now is focused on our soldiers. Thanks, Sergeant Major. Thank you, Sergeant. Sergeant Major, we have a question from Graf and Veer about the Army Operating Concept. Sergeant Major, my name is First Lieutenant Eric Obanda with the 4 through 19 Airborne Field Artillery Regiment in Graf and Veer, Germany. The Army Operating Concept uses a lot of strategic level ideas. How does it relate to me and my soldiers and what do I need to know about it? Ma'am, thank you for your question. And I'm glad that you've read our new Army Operating Concept because it is important, because it is new. And it is, in some terms, if you read it, very strategic and complex to soldiers. But what I want to share with you is the most simple form of it and exactly the title of it. And it's called Fight and Win in a Complex World. And what it's designed to do is encompass what we're supposed to do as an Army and bring all the doctrine together and really make it simplistic. We have worked very hard to reduce our doctoral manuals so they are understandable by every soldier in the Army. I challenge you to find one of our new doctrines that we publish, our Army Leadership Manual, our Army Operating Concept, and take a look at it. You'll be surprised, very understandable, and very able for you to be able to tie all the things together. Because it's important that you know that, even down to the lowest level, to take the time to read those manuals. Not just when you're getting ready for a promotion board. Not just to study the highlighted or bolded things, but read it. Because most of them are only 10 pages. So we've taken a lot of those documents and made them smaller because really we took out and only left in the key and essential things. And the reason why we did that is because we thrive on the capability of our commission officers and our great officers out there to be able to adapt on their own on the battlefield. So as long as we can give you the fundamental principles, we know that just like you've demonstrated in the past, that if you understand the fundamental principles only, your ability to be able to adapt to the environment will overcome on the battlefield and overcome any foe that we have. Okay, go ahead. Hi, Sergeant Major. I'm a specialist chaplain from Central 4th MI. And I was wondering, what does it mean to be regionally aligned? Regionally aligned is a concept that we've derived based upon the fact that we're now coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. And we've realized that we have to spend more time with our great combatant commands, maintaining our presence in areas of potential issue or could become potential issue or to deter potential issues. So we are gonna take organizations that used to traditionally be aligned on the force comm. So you belong the forces command and you will still belong the forces command, but you would just train and read yourselves in the United States or if you were stationed in Germany or Korea, Japan or in Hawaii. But now we're going to align you with a combatant command. And that means an area that is a combatant command like SENTCOM. So when you deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you were aligned with SENTCOM. But we only aligned you during time of war or time of conflict or time of deployment. Now we're gonna do it all the time. So those units that are in the West Coast predominantly and down in Texas will align you with the Pacific Command. And you'll continue to do your training operations in the Pacific realm and theater. So you build the knowledge, skills and attributes and the cultural awareness of those areas. And what it does is it helps us maintain partnerships with our alliances. Those people that are gonna fight by our side in the future building those international partnerships, building cultural understanding between you and them. So instead of just going to the National Training Center and stopping there and saying you're a certified unit after you go to the NTC, we'll send you to Korea. We'll send you to Japan. We'll send you to the Philippines and in Europe, maybe Croatia, maybe out to another country. And you'll continue your training and your exercise in your regionally aligned area. And your unit will continue to focus on those. So we're ready and trained in a more broader scope. And it gives our soldiers the great ability to be culturally aware of the organizations that they train with. Thank you. Sir Major, now we have a question from Korea. Hi, I'm Sergeant Stephen Dornbus. Does mission command mean I can now make decisions on the battlefield without having to call back to the talk for everything? No, mission command does not mean that. Mission command is the exercise of authority of command at every echelon. But that doesn't mean that somebody shouldn't be watching you or telling you what to do. And this is a common misperception that we hear often as a matter of fact. So mission command is about communicating up and down at all times. So mission command means that you understand the commander's intent. You understand the commander's mission. And he's given you the ability to exercise that authority under his command or her command out on the battlefield. But it's always your responsibility, whether you're on the battlefield or back in garrison to exercise that communication up and down. One of the things I always say is that you gotta talk to your soldiers every single day. If you have soldiers, if you have soldiers on your direct command and you don't take the opportunity, just talk to them every single day and shame on you. I mean, I still do that today as a Sergeant Major of the Army. I have about seven soldiers in my office right now. And they say I talk to them too much. I'm sorry. It's right because I don't have the ability to have thousands of soldiers that I had before. But you gotta do that. And communication up and down the lines, both in garrison and in combat is critically important. And that's part of mission command. Okay, we're gonna go to the audience for a question now Sergeant Major. Hello Sergeant Major. My name is Michael Sharp, specialist. Michael Sharp from 55th Signal Company combat camera. And you talked a little bit about great challenges before, but I was wondering what is one of your greatest challenges? But Sharp, that's a great question. So I've had several challenges throughout my career. I'll tell you that my spouse is here. She would tell you one of my greatest challenges is finding a balance between the United States Army and my family. And I know that many of you probably have that same challenge. And that is a challenge. And that's something that we all have to work on. I think one of my greatest challenges is even growing up as 11 Bravo and being a combat arm soldier, I didn't like conflict. So it was hard for me to overcome that as a leader. And especially as a young leader. So I didn't like personal conflict. So it was very tough for me when I was a young leader to tell people they're doing the wrong thing or you need to do better at this. And I knew I had to work at it. And I knew I identified it as a weakness. And I said to myself, okay, I cannot be a great military leader if I don't have the ability to look somebody in the face and say, there's a better way you can do this. You need to try harder and you need to work harder every single day. So I continued to build on it and it wasn't easy. And it's harder as you grow more responsibility and you grow echelons of scope of responsibility over greater numbers of people. You have to be able to remain cool, calm and collective but you still have to be able to get very clear guidance. And sometimes the time is limited and that guidance needs to be very concise. So that's something I had to work on throughout my career. And it's something that I still work on today. The one thing I take pride in the fact is I learned something from everybody every day. I have mentors in the United States Army that I outrank by two grades. Now some of them I don't tell them, they're my mentor. But they are my mentor, okay? And I communicate with soldiers and you can learn from someone every single day. So and you got to continue to remember that is that and you have to find a mentor. You have to find some of that you want to emulate. You have to find say, I like his or her leadership style and you got to emulate it. And that'll help you with your weaknesses and your challenges as well. You know, and like I always said, a 10 mile run will fix everything though. That's right. So if you're having a challenge, I promise you, I promise you try it, go out and do a 10 mile run and I bet you'll forget about the challenge that you're having. So we're your unit, that's right. Thanks, special sharp for the question. Sergeant Major, we have time for one more question. Time has just flown by. This one comes from social media and we have about two minutes for this question. It seems to me we should not be downsizing but increasing our strengths, better weapons, better protective gear, et cetera. So who is ultimately responsible for these changes and how are the changes impacting readiness? What would the Army like to have more of to help it succeed? That's a very good question actually. You have two minutes. Two minutes. I don't know if that might take me longer in two minutes. Why can I, well first and foremost, I can assure you is that we're spending the appropriate amount of time, energy and resource to make sure that we stay at the cutting edge of technology. That's something very difficult to do. Years ago, we had a very big gap. There was a very big gap between the United States and other countries with regards to our capabilities. That's not so much today. There's many countries out there today that have the technology, the resources and the intelligence to be able to maintain pace with the United States of America. So this is not an easy task. And making sure that we put the right resources in the right place for the future is very tough decisions that's made by the Chief Staff, the Secretary, our great staff and our great civil leaders. Well, let me assure you is that we are doing that. We are making sure that we are keeping pace with our adversaries staying in front of them. And we are providing you with the best equipment possible. I can tell you that being a young soldier back when I had just two ammo pouches, two canteens and a rifle. We have so much gear today. We can't even carry it all, right? That's right. And that is because of the great research analysis that we have done and the great, again, support we've had from our civil leaders and our taxpayers to provide you with the best equipment possible on the battlefield. And we will continue to do that. So we always have challenges that we always will, but we will fight through it. And I have the utmost confidence that we will continue to be able to provide you with what you need to fight and win our nation's wars. Thank you. Thank you, Sir Major. Sir Major, this being the Army Birthday Town Hall, could you please let us know what the Army birthday means to you? Absolutely. So you may or may not heard when I took over as your Sergeant of the Army, the most thing I was proud of was the fact that I was a soldier. And I mean that. That's all I ever wanted to be. And on the 240th birthday, I'm proud of the fact that there are so many soldiers that came before me that gave me this opportunity because don't take it for granted. It wasn't easy. The millions of soldiers who gave their lives is why you're sitting in this chair and wearing this uniform. And we can't forget that. That's what we can't forget, especially as recently as it is in our mind in our own history of the number of people who gave their service and their sacrifice and those families that waited at home for them, of which some did not return. It's why this birthday isn't so important. More important than my own birthday as an organization. 240 years of history. One year older than our nation itself. We are the oldest organization in America for which it stands. We will always endure. That's our job. We started before and we'll be there until the end. So 240 years isn't much. We got a long way to go. So your job and my job is to make sure that 240 years from now, when they're doing a broadcast from Saturn, all right, with the Sergeant Major of the Army, they will have the ability to say that someone walked before them, set the path, made the sacrifice, and endured forever. Oh. Oh. On that note, Sergeant Major, let's cut this cake. We're going to wheel it on out. We're going to bring some soldiers up to cut Cape List today. You have this young troop over here that's going to cut the cake. We're going to bring it out so we're going to get a good look at that. All right, so if you come up here, so who is our young soldier helping us today? Right here, this is PFC Gardner. PFC Gardner and where are you from? I'm from Florida. Florida? Just Florida, the whole state? Just, yes. Where? Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville, Florida. Who answers from Jacksonville, Florida? Okay. All right. All right. So before we cut cake, before we cut cake, I have this thing. So it's just my thing. But fortunately, you're subject to it now because I'm here today. So I'm not allowed to have sweets unless I earn them. So that's just my thing. So if we're going to have cake, we got to do some PT before we eat some cake. So if you can, we're going to back up a little bit. Go set your sword down. And we're all going to do some push-up before we eat some cake. Pull us, Sergeant Major. So I say we do 24 push-ups for 240 years. We'll multiply them by 10. We'll give a multiplier of 10 for push-up, 24 push-ups for 240 years of the Army birthday. Here we go. All right. And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, seven, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 42, 43, and 24. Oh! The good news is, if you eat that piece of cake and those 24 push-ups, you're only going to have to run five miles to burn off the rest of the calories. That's right. OK, so let's do this. All right, ready? Who else is joining us? Sergeant Washington, Sergeant Santana? You two, go ahead. All right, you ready? On count of three. Count it out. Three, two, one. Oh! Yeah! Sing our song. That's all for today. Thank you, Sergeant Major, for being here. Thank everyone who came. And thank you for watching. On behalf of the Defense Media Activity, I'm Sergeant Audrey Santana. And we'll see you next time. Thank you so much, Sergeant Major.