Senior NCO Symposium Workshop discussions

Army Communicator,  Winter, 2003  by Michael A. Terry

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My fellow Signal Noncommissioned Officers and Soldiers, it is with great pleasure that I write this article for the Winter Army Communicator concerning the events during the 31th Signal Symposium.

This year's Signal Symposium was by far the greatest I have ever had the pleasure of attending or being involved with from any perspective.

The pride I have right now from this tremendous event comes from the Soldiers involved in the opening ceremony to the closing hours where we could gathered as a Regiment to celebrate successes and plan for the future. Even as we spoke and planned, technology was changing the very shape of our business, providing communications to the greatest military force in the world!

The Senior NCO Corps Workshop saw a multitude of units represented. It was with a great sense of pride that I acted as the master of ceremonies for the entire Senior NCO Workshop session.

In keeping with the Army's new vision, "Our Army at War, Relevant and Ready", we received the latest news from the Senior NCO leadership concerning: 11th Signal Brigade, CSM Oliver Forbes; 22nd Signal Brigade, CSM Ray Lane; 35th Signal Brigade, CSM James Jordan; CECOM, CSM Calvin Jones; Joint Communications Support Element, CSM Sylvester Curry; Network Command; and we received a briefing from the Visual Information unit for the Army, 55th Combat Camera, SFC Freddy Gruwell where we learned of the exploits and accomplishments of our own VI folks.

We received information from the Army Materiel Command and of the great things they are doing and providing to the Soldiers in the field. These briefings provided the leadership present with the latest information on lessons learned and identified the Soldiers around the world who are making things happen when the going gets tough. I must say that our Signal Soldiers are providing vital support to the ongoing efforts in Operations Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In an effort to understand the changes surrounding us, we conducted three Senior NCO workgroups. CSM McKinley Curtis III broke the Senior NCOs present into workgroups to discuss various topics in detail.

First workgroup: Realign MOS 31C/25C

One of the workgroups, led by SFC Todd Grisso, discussed a proposal to realign MOS 31C/25C so that it caps with MOS 31U/25U rather than MOS 31W/25W, and after two lively days of discussion here is just a snippet of the avenues they explored:

Based upon new requirements, the workgroup determined the need to change the training methodology. Signal Soldiers who are trained on more theory, principles and concepts rather than physical boxes will better serve the Future Force.

The 31C/25C is predominantly trained on radio transmission fundamentals and very little on tactical automation; the 31U/25U is predominantly trained on tactical automation. MOS 31C/25C is a healthy and viable MOS in its current state, but 31C/25C NCOs experience a drastic learning curve when they cap into 31W/25W at sergeant first class. Capping 31C/25C with 31U/ 25U may reduce, but would not eliminate this problem.

The Office Chief of Signal will need to conduct a thorough study to determine the feasibility of consolidating all transmission systems operator functions into a single "Transport" MOS. The training would be based primarily on theory, principles and concepts which can be applied to any transmission medium (current or future), rather than individual systems. Finally the workgroup indicated a desire for MOS 31U/25U to retain the Retrans operator function (at least within the maneuver units).

Second workgroup: ASI D9, Battlefield Spectrum Manager

SFC Bruce Nixon, Senior Career Manager for 31W and the Battle Field Spectrum Management Additional Skill Identifier, D9, opened the discussion workgroup concerning a review of ASI D9, Battlefield Spectrum Manager, the topics of discussion were:

Inexperienced spectrum managers at Joint Task Force and Coalition Command levels. One solution explored was to look at making the D9 course available at the sergeant (P) level with a prerequisite that the NCO have successfully graduated Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course.

Another concern identified by the workgroup was that ASI management does not provide pin point tracking for progressive levels of experience. The group's recommendation was to explore a means to improve management and indicate varying levels of experience through the use of Skill Qualification Indicator.

The group identified a need for a web based exportable package for refresher training to assist the Spectrum Soldier population.

A final topic was that NCOs who complete the course are not assured they will be assigned as spectrum managers (we have met the enemy and he is us). The Army spectrum management office offered to assume responsibility for the management of these Soldiers, but much detailwould have to be worked out with Human Resource Command for that to occur.

Third workgroup: Data Packages

A third workgroup discussed the topic of Data Packages and it was led by Curtis from the NCO Academy. The workgroup came up with the following: