 Okay, move out. A half-century that has elapsed since World War I is little more than an instant when measured against the vast scale of recorded history. And yet warfare has changed so radically within those few decades that the tools of battle which were vital to the army of 1917 form incredibly crude images for contemporary eyes. Today's army bears little resemblance to these shadows of yesteryear. But there has been one exception to change. The courage, integrity and professionalism of our army's soldiers has remained constant. Their superior quality has been unchanging from the First World War through the Second and beyond to the complex challenges of the 50s and 60s. Today's army fights with materiel that was only dreamed of 50 years ago, but its basic element is still the soldier. He is still the major building block of which it is constructed, and he, more than any weapon or machine, makes our army great. No soldier deserves more credit for that greatness than does he who wears stripes on his sleeve, for he is one of those traditionally referred to as the backbone of the army. He is the senior soldier, the dedicated member of the non-commissioned officer corps, gives form to an army. What molds it into a smooth functioning team, men who can move and fight with unity and precision? The answer is leadership. The quality of an army is directly dependent upon the quality of the leadership it offers the men in its ranks. The commissioned officers who command the United States Army maintain the world's most powerful fighting machine. They provide leadership for millions of enlisted men who serve under them, but they cannot do the job alone. Supporting them are the non-commissioned officers, the senior soldiers who have risen to the upper echelons of the enlisted forces through experience and training, and by demonstrating intelligence and leadership capabilities. In today's modern army, the non-commissioned officer must be a man of many skills and many capabilities. Above all, he must be a leader, a man whose knowledge ability, self-confidence, and proud professionalism inspire emulation. He has responsibilities for the management and maintenance of the army's vast materiel needs. And in all areas where the army must depend upon the machine, he plays a vital technical role. Since operation, instruction, installation, and maintenance are sometimes all within his area of responsibility, he must meet the demands of many specialized jobs. He earns laurels, but does not rest on them. He stays in step with a constantly changing army through training programs that increase his capabilities, his value to the military, and his opportunities for advancement. Below is the seventh United States Army's non-commissioned officer academy in Germany. Here, as incomparable centers both within the United States and abroad, the army is maintaining one of its most critical supply lines, a supply line consisting not of materiel, but of manpower. In these centers, non-commissioned officers are given both initial instruction and refresher courses. The mission is training. The objective? A continuing replenishment and improvement of the army's supply of superior senior soldiers. For the officer, commissioned or non-commissioned, self-discipline is an important quality. The man who gives orders must first know how to take orders. Close order drill helps develop a sense of discipline, and the academy student is given such drill in large doses. In these sessions, the student plays a dual role, marching in response to orders and then, in turn, issuing them himself. At first, his commands may be awkward, but with continuing practice and constructive criticism from his instructors, there is steady improvement. Soon, he develops the ability to deliver clear, concise commands backed with vocal and psychological authority. These capabilities are also polished by classes in how to conduct physical training exercises. In the classrooms, a wide variety of subjects are taught. All such training centers do not offer identical programs, but there is a common stress on two skills considered essential to the well-qualified non-commissioned officer. First, he must know how to lead. Second, he must know how to instruct, for he may frequently be called upon not only to tell his men what to do, but also how to do it. If the classroom atmosphere, paperwork, and note-taking sometime give the trainee the feeling that he is back in high school, other subjects banish the illusion with realistic finality. The Army's business is a serious one. The knowledge he accumulates in subjects such as the safe way to handle enemy prisoners may well someday save his life, and the lives of the soldiers whose welfare will be part of his responsibilities. In addition to providing classroom instruction and practical training, the school also stimulates an awareness of the need for personal excellence, both of manner and uniform. Essential military skills such as compass and map reading are put to use under field conditions. The objective here is a skill learned and then perfected, and if repetitious practice is what it takes, then repetitious practice is what he gets. During the final stages of the course, students must demonstrate what they have learned. In a field training exercise conducted under simulated combat conditions, they serve in various capacities, designed to test not only the extent to which they have absorbed their training, but also their ability to utilize it. Does the student function as a leader? Does he effectively carry out the NCO duties to which he is assigned? Does he have the knowledge essential to his job, and does he apply this knowledge properly under conditions of stress? The standards are high, and rightly so, for the responsibilities of a non-commissioned officer are too great to be entrusted to any but the man who is completely qualified. The soldier who successfully completes an NCO training course can take pride in his accomplishment. He has proven that he has what it takes to handle one of the Army's most demanding jobs. The non-commissioned officer assigned to be an instructor, though possessing much practical experience in the subject matter he is to teach, faces still further training. Future drill sergeants, for example, must complete a drill sergeant training course, such as this one at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The classes are kept small to permit individual attention. Each student is observed and evaluated by a tactical non-commissioned officer, as well as his instructors and counselors. The seven-week course includes classes on Army drill, physical training, small arms operation, leadership, recruit handling, and other general military subjects. If he is to instruct, he must first become expert enough to stay ahead of his students. Students at all such schools are picked soldiers. The Army constantly scans its enlisted ranks, looking out the soldiers who show the intelligence and initiative, the aptitude and talent for leadership that will make them potential material for NCOs. Practical experience in actual teaching situations is a highlight of the drill sergeant training course. In these sessions, there can be no bluffing. Each student must clearly demonstrate instructional ability. His job will be to teach, and he must prove that he can do it. On the drill field, this same philosophy holds true, with emphasis on the proven techniques of teaching Army drill to recruits. Here, the student must demonstrate that he can achieve results not only on paper, but also with men. When he becomes an instructor, his subjects will cover a wide range, both mental and physical. He will teach his men the importance of standing fully erect, and then show them how to place an enemy flat on his back. The formal course in effective military instruction is considered to be the most important in the drill sergeant's program. For many men, it is the most difficult. Totalling 30 hours, the course is devoted to basic instruction techniques and lesson preparation. Each trainee is required to prepare the lesson plans and training aids for two class presentations. Then, he must satisfactorily deliver them and be graded on how well he does. If a student passes this subject, he will usually complete the remainder of the drill sergeant's course without difficulty. On graduation day, each man receives his campaign hat and graduation certificate. A feeling of pride and a sense of accomplishment are more than justified. He has been through a tough course of instruction and proven himself capable. And now at last, he is entitled to wear the distinctive hat of the drill sergeant. The job of the drill sergeant is a difficult one, of vital importance to the Army. His is the responsibility for turning raw recruits fresh from the undemanding ways of civilian life into soldiers. And in some cases, he accomplishes an even more significant transformation, converting boy into man. In the recruits' first weeks in the Army, the drill sergeant is his boss, teacher, critic, father and mother. He guides, instructs, counsels, cajoles, encourages and assists his men, helping them to adjust to the military way of life. He demands the best they have to give, and in so doing, equates them with their own capabilities. The drill sergeant teaches his men how to accept and obey orders, accurately and without hesitation, and how to work together as members of a well-trained team. He teaches them how to fire a rifle, how to perform guard duty, how to do a soldier's job in a soldier's way. This is the drill sergeant's task, making soldiers of civilians, and providing the Army with its most essential ingredient, trained men. He does his job well, and he stands as a fine example of the important role the non-commissioned officer fills in today's Army training program. The NCO also instructs in other subject areas on almost anything of use to the Army, from the operation of computers to the complexities of supply and logistical problems. He provides inexperienced trainees with a solid groundwork of knowledge about the working principles and inner construction of Army mechanical and electronic equipment. Then he follows up with practical experience under actual working conditions. Thus it is largely through his efforts that the Army has guaranteed a continuing supply of qualified technicians. He performs these same duties on occasion with the armed forces of our allies, training their personnel to operate and maintain equipment furnished them under our military assistance commitments. The sergeant major in Army units of all sizes is the commander's right-hand man on matters pertaining to enlisted personnel. It is his duty to advise his CO of developments within the enlisted ranks. He is concerned with promotions, reductions, assignments, performance, with the soldier's morale and all matters which might affect it. To look into any area which involves the enlisted man to either report problems to his commanding officer or correct them in his name, these steps are not only the right but also the obligation of the sergeant major. In the field, a sergeant major must keep his paperwork to a minimum and spend as much time as possible among his men, serving as the eyes and ears of his commander and, when necessary, acting on his behalf. Frequently, he will assist in coordinating the work of the staff sections, conferring with their officers or NCOs to help work out solutions to their problems. It is his job to see that the administrative procedures of the command operate smoothly, quickly and efficiently that peak performance is reached and maintained. The training of enlisted personnel is also within his domain. He must see that adequate preparation is made and correct training procedures observed. When necessary, he will recommend appropriate changes. His primary concern is always with the enlisted man. How is his morale? Is he being properly cared for? How is his food? Does he have ideas to offer? Does he have problems that need solving? Enlisted men will talk more readily and freely with him than they will with an officer, and therein lies much of his value. Security precautions are another matter for the sergeant major's attention. In the field, many sergeants major will personally visit their guard posts day and night to be certain that the commander's orders and desires regarding security measures are being properly observed. In brief, everything in which his commanding officer is interested, everything that happens or fails to happen within his command, is part of the interest and concern of his sergeant major. As do all non-commissioned officers at all levels of assignment, he meets a basic need in today's complex army. Without him, this mighty military machine could not function effectively. This is William O. Woolridge. The first sergeant major appointed by the highest non-commissioned officer position, Sergeant Major of the Army. His job is to act as advisor and consultant to the chief of staff on matters pertaining to the morale, training, pay, and promotion of the enlisted man. Although he has an office in the Pentagon, Woolridge spends much of his time in the field observing training, inspecting facilities, talking with enlisted personnel and seeking out their problems. Sergeant Major of the Army, Woolridge, is the enlisted soldier's man in the Pentagon. So successful has the newly created office been that our other armed services have set up comparable positions with an eye to facilitating their personnel management. A platoon sergeant is second in command to the platoon leader who is a commissioned officer. Within the platoon are squads, each led by a squad leader, like this sergeant. The non-commissioned officers of the platoon share responsibility for the discipline, training, morale, conduct, and well-being of their men. Their work is sometimes tedious and mundane, concerned with routine problems. But the paperwork can change suddenly from the form that must be filled, folded, and filed to the map, one of the essential tools of the combat soldier. This is a briefing for tomorrow's mission. The job they will do is a tough one, and they will move through hostile territory. But the squad leader is confident. He knows his men. He knows he can count on them. The briefing is thorough, professional. The plan of action viewed, and then reviewed. It is the next day. The mission is in progress. For each man, it is the ultimate test. For the squad leader, there is the additional weight of responsibility for himself in combat. The sergeants, seeing their platoon leaders fall in action, have taken command and distinguished themselves against the enemy. Many NCOs have been given battlefield commissions and become officers as a result of their conduct in action. But the future is given little thought at times like this. Only the present is pertinent, staying alert, and staying alive. Being ready for the ambush that may be waiting, that as a team. They have shown that they are polished professional soldiers, disciplined, well trained, and well motivated. With all these things, they have reflected credit on the leadership they have received, and they have paid particular tribute to their squad leader. Later, a distance from the battlefield further tribute is paid. Tribute acknowledging courage and integrity, and blood that has been shed in the service of the nation. This is a proud moment. He is a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army. And like all senior soldiers, he takes pride in the tradition of service and performance, which is his heritage. No matter where he may be assigned, the non-commissioned officer knows that he has been given an important job to do. And backed by training, understanding, and experience, he does his job for the very best of his ability. That is why our non-commissioned officers are called the backbone of the Army.