MAGAZINE
SACEUR Commanders ’ Conference At the operational level , CSELs met in a breakout session at this year ’ s SACEUR Commanders ’ Conference hosted by NATO Allied Land Command ( LANDCOM ) in Izmir , Turkey . Here CSELs from throughout the NATO Command structure ( NCS ) gathered to tackle the most pressing issues pertaining
Spain ( NRDC-ESP ), NRDC Turkey ( NRDC- TUR ), and NRDC Italy ( NRDC-ITA ) attended . We were also very fortunate to have the British Army Sergeant Major Gavin Paton , MARCOM CSEL Warrant Officer First Class Lee Carr , and ACO CSEL Command Sergeant Major Siim Saliste in attendance .
SPRING 2020
Key Take Aways Placement matters . We quickly discovered one of the most important issues for us all was getting the right people for the right job at the right time . That consensus was easily reached . But the problem had to be reverse engineered for us to view holistically what that actually meant at our level . We decided that the best place to start was to properly and precisely define what it is we needed our NCOs to do for the NFS . Of course , NCOs must to be aligned with our commander ’ s intent of interoperability , readiness , and lethality . But the question remained , how does this boil down to manning ? After much discussion and input from all in attendance , it was decided the best place to start was rewriting NCO job descriptions . to NCO manning , recognition of excellence , and professional development . During this session the team agreed we all had to look closely at the organisations we represent and do our best to define the successes and challenges in the three areas listed above .
NATO Force Structure ( NFS ) CSEL Conference Armed with the outcomes from two high level working groups , the final key event was my 3rd Annual NFS CSEL Conference held February 4-5 , 2020 at NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Greece ( NRDC-GR ). Surrounded in history at the home of NRDC-GR , Thessaloniki was the ideal backdrop for the pursuit of professionalism by sharing ideas and best practices through discussion and presentations . In addition to our host CSEL from NRDC-GR , CSELs from Multinational Corps Northeast ( MNC-NE ), Multinational Division Northeast ( MND- NE ), Multinational Division North ( MND-N ), Multinational Division Southeast ( MND- SE ), Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ), Rapid Reaction Corps France ( RRC-FR ), Eurocorps , NATO Rapid Deployable Corps
Opening Discussions Day one focused on sharing challenges and successes from each of the NFS Divisions and Corps throughout the land domain . The Commander of NRDC- GR , Lieutenant General Konstantinos Koutras , opened the event emphasizing his respect and reliance on the NCOs in the Alliance for their honest advice and experience , citing his own reliance on his CSEL , Warrant Officer Ionnais Charisiadis . Each of the CSELs bring their own regional knowledge and strengths to the fight for deterrence and defense of the Alliance but , in my opinion , it ’ s the similarities of the team that are arguably the biggest asset to the Alliance . When a diverse team of senior leaders put their heads together to tackle real world issues related to the people that we all represent , the result is extraordinary , and the collaboration is intuitive and innovative . The common bond for the Alliance is our dependence on people and their enduring professionalism .
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Defining leadership as a focus area . While there were a multitude of activities geared at interoperability and readiness discussed during these key events , leadership was pervasive throughout . There are currently a number of positions over simplified by title and frankly underwhelmed by description . Today ’ s soldiers are highly educated and trained , and their capabilities are extraordinary . Simply put , we have a responsibility to ask for more from them . Young leaders want autonomy and intrinsic motivation . We agreed to take a closer look at the CSEL level , in collaboration with the G-1 , to better define and recruit people for positions consistent to what they can bring to the job and not necessarily what rank they bring to the job . Command Sergeant Major Saliste supported our efforts by reminding us that SACEUR has stated that he sees NCOs as a capability and , as such , we have a responsibility to continuously work on upholding and improving this capability .
Summary CSELs represent the soldiers of the Alliance . We are working diligently to deepen the professionalism of NCOs across the NFS to ensure our Backbone at all levels is equipped , staffed , and ready to support the command intent . As guardians of future NCO leader expectations , we will continually plan and seize opportunities to improve NCO leadership development . LC