103rd Public Affairs Detachment
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Roger Dey
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Roger Dey
06.28.2010 CAMP VICTORY, Iraq – Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston, the Army’s top non-commissioned officer, visited United States service members during a two-day trip to Iraq June 24-25.
During his stop at Camp Victory, Preston gave a big-picture perspective on Army strength and dwell times and explained the important role Comprehensive Soldier Fitness plays in keeping Soldiers strong and resilient to about 65 United States Forces-Iraq and III Corps service members.
Much of the discussion focused on unit rotations and stateside dwell times.
Preston pointed out that there are currently about 251,000 Soldiers forward deployed around the world today, more than there were at the height of the surge in 2007.
The turn-around time for units has a direct impact on Soldiers and their families, and it’s something Preston said he has discussed with the president.
“I talked to him about what I called ‘stress on the force.’ I said Soldiers are deployed for 12 months, they’re back for 12 months of dwell, and they’re deployed again for another 12 months,” he said.
“I said, ‘Mister President, that 12 months of dwell is not 12 months of sitting at home, watching TV,
During his stop at Camp Victory, Preston gave a big-picture perspective on Army strength and dwell times and explained the important role Comprehensive Soldier Fitness plays in keeping Soldiers strong and resilient to about 65 United States Forces-Iraq and III Corps service members.
Much of the discussion focused on unit rotations and stateside dwell times.
Preston pointed out that there are currently about 251,000 Soldiers forward deployed around the world today, more than there were at the height of the surge in 2007.
The turn-around time for units has a direct impact on Soldiers and their families, and it’s something Preston said he has discussed with the president.
“I talked to him about what I called ‘stress on the force.’ I said Soldiers are deployed for 12 months, they’re back for 12 months of dwell, and they’re deployed again for another 12 months,” he said.
“I said, ‘Mister President, that 12 months of dwell is not 12 months of sitting at home, watching TV,
eating popcorn with the family,’” Preston said, adding that he outlined for the president the cycle of reintegration, reorganization, and train-up that has to be accomplished in that time.
He also talked about the goals for extending those times.
“For the active component, at a minimum, we want to be at a one-to-two ratio, where you’re deployed for a year, you’ve got a minimum 24 months of dwell time back at home.”
Preston was asked about changes to the Army’s promotion system, which some Soldiers feel penalizes them for deploying under the current unit rotational schedule. With only a 90-day window between the time Soldiers have to reintegrate with their families, and the start of training for the next deployment, many Soldiers have a difficult time getting to professional development schools.
“Under the old select, train, promote [system], who’s going to school?” Preston asked. “It’s the people who didn’t deploy, so what happens is you get the wrong people getting promoted.”
He pointed out that battlefield promotions can help qualified Soldiers get conditionally promoted while deployed, despite not attending school.
Preston went on to talk about how deployments have driven changes to NCO schools like the Warrior Leader Course.
“You’ve got sergeants out there serving as squad leaders and by the time they finish their deployment and they get back, they’re going to the warrior leader course to learn how to be a team leader when they’ve already served as a squad leader,” he said. “What we want to do is move the leadership attributes we’d taught at the schools down one level. We’re taking a lot of the leadership attributes that were taught in the old BNCOC (Basic Non-commissioned Officer Course) and moving it down to the Warrior Leader Course so it really is a warrior leader course.”
Staff Sgt Herinah Asaah, a III Corps chaplain’s assistant, asked Preston about the steps being taken to help Soldiers who have a tough time dealing with the challenges of deployment and consider suicide.
“I believe we’ve made progress,” he replied. “I just believe we have a lot of hard work yet to do.”
Preston pointed to the need to overcome the stigma attached to asking for help.
“There should be no doubt in their minds that if they’re having a tough time and they need some help, that they’re going to get it and we’re not going to hold it against them,” he said.
For Preston, helping Soldiers and families deal with stress was key, and he talked about the program designed to help them build resiliency.
“We’ve been working very, very hard on Comprehensive Soldier Fitness,” Preston said. “When Soldiers are faced with adversity, whether it is in a deployed theater or back home in a garrison environment … we want Soldiers to come out stronger than what they were before they had the challenge.”
The program is designed to help Soldiers and their families build physical, emotional, social and spiritual resiliency, he said, adding that resiliency training will be part of the Army culture and will be part of a Soldier’s professional development beginning with basic training.
Staff Sgt. Megan Mutchler, NCO in charge of the 387th Human Resources Company casualty liaison office, was impressed by the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program and the amount of effort the Army is putting into making it successful.
“There is a lot more to it than I was aware of,” she said.
Mutchler, an Army reservist from Iowa, found Preston’s well-rounded, in-depth knowledge impressive. She felt that meeting Preston while deployed on active duty made it more relevant than if she’d met him stateside, but said that would have been just as meaningful.
“I thought it was an honor. It’s not an opportunity we get very often at all,” she said.
He also talked about the goals for extending those times.
“For the active component, at a minimum, we want to be at a one-to-two ratio, where you’re deployed for a year, you’ve got a minimum 24 months of dwell time back at home.”
Preston was asked about changes to the Army’s promotion system, which some Soldiers feel penalizes them for deploying under the current unit rotational schedule. With only a 90-day window between the time Soldiers have to reintegrate with their families, and the start of training for the next deployment, many Soldiers have a difficult time getting to professional development schools.
“Under the old select, train, promote [system], who’s going to school?” Preston asked. “It’s the people who didn’t deploy, so what happens is you get the wrong people getting promoted.”
He pointed out that battlefield promotions can help qualified Soldiers get conditionally promoted while deployed, despite not attending school.
Preston went on to talk about how deployments have driven changes to NCO schools like the Warrior Leader Course.
“You’ve got sergeants out there serving as squad leaders and by the time they finish their deployment and they get back, they’re going to the warrior leader course to learn how to be a team leader when they’ve already served as a squad leader,” he said. “What we want to do is move the leadership attributes we’d taught at the schools down one level. We’re taking a lot of the leadership attributes that were taught in the old BNCOC (Basic Non-commissioned Officer Course) and moving it down to the Warrior Leader Course so it really is a warrior leader course.”
Staff Sgt Herinah Asaah, a III Corps chaplain’s assistant, asked Preston about the steps being taken to help Soldiers who have a tough time dealing with the challenges of deployment and consider suicide.
“I believe we’ve made progress,” he replied. “I just believe we have a lot of hard work yet to do.”
Preston pointed to the need to overcome the stigma attached to asking for help.
“There should be no doubt in their minds that if they’re having a tough time and they need some help, that they’re going to get it and we’re not going to hold it against them,” he said.
For Preston, helping Soldiers and families deal with stress was key, and he talked about the program designed to help them build resiliency.
“We’ve been working very, very hard on Comprehensive Soldier Fitness,” Preston said. “When Soldiers are faced with adversity, whether it is in a deployed theater or back home in a garrison environment … we want Soldiers to come out stronger than what they were before they had the challenge.”
The program is designed to help Soldiers and their families build physical, emotional, social and spiritual resiliency, he said, adding that resiliency training will be part of the Army culture and will be part of a Soldier’s professional development beginning with basic training.
Staff Sgt. Megan Mutchler, NCO in charge of the 387th Human Resources Company casualty liaison office, was impressed by the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program and the amount of effort the Army is putting into making it successful.
“There is a lot more to it than I was aware of,” she said.
Mutchler, an Army reservist from Iowa, found Preston’s well-rounded, in-depth knowledge impressive. She felt that meeting Preston while deployed on active duty made it more relevant than if she’d met him stateside, but said that would have been just as meaningful.
“I thought it was an honor. It’s not an opportunity we get very often at all,” she said.
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