Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, Md.  –   Twenty Soldiers raised their right hands, took the Noncommissioned (NCO) Charge, the Creed of the NCO, and were inducted into the NCO Corps during a ceremony on July 24 at Walter Reed.

“The Soldiers were recommended for promotion by a series of leaders, starting with their first-line supervisors, through their department senior enlisted leaders (SELs), first sergeants, and company commanders,” said Army Master Sgt. Michael Thomas, SEL of the Assistant Chief of Staff Directorate.

“These recommendations were based not only on [the Soldiers’] demonstrated skills and abilities, but also [they] having met the eligibility requirements for promotion, [and] their demonstrated protentional for greater service to the nation,” Thomas continued. “They have demonstrated their desire and ability to lead as noncommissioned officers at a level demanded by the NCO Corps,” he added.

Thomas shared that a promotion board of senior NCOs confirmed the recommendations of promotion for the Soldiers, “to ensure that [they] were up to this leadership challenge.” He added the Soldiers completed the Basic Leader Course (BSL) “to hone their skills and learn new ones to prepare them for challenges they may face as they perform as NCOs.”

Becoming an NCO is also demands “a change in mindset, that says, ‘I will be a professional at all times and in all ways. I will care for and train my Soldiers, whereas before, I was only concerned with my own training, welfare and mission accomplishment,” Thomas added.

Command Sgt. Maj. Gabriel Wright, guest speaker during the ceremony, echoed Thomas, adding that “NCOs make our Army great and different from the armies of other countries. Our NCOs are the ones who oversee and carry out training to prepare our organizations for their wartime missions. It’s the NCOs who carry on our traditions, instilling pride, professionalism and the discipline.”

“If there is nothing else that you remember from the words I impart upon you today, remember this snippet from the Army NCO Guide, ‘The counseling, training, and care sergeants provide will determine the success of the unit's mission and issues that develop….,” Wright, the SEL of the Army Medical Logistics Command, said to the inductees.

The CSM called the sergeant “arguably the most important rank of any leader in our Army. You spend the most time with Soldiers, and you have the most direct impact on them, as you are responsible for their health, welfare, safety, ensuring [they meet] standards, good order and [that] discipline is maintained. As the Charge of the NCO states, ‘You accept responsibility for their actions.’ These responsibilities are what it means to place people first, and why they are our number one priority.”

Wright encouraged the new NCOs to maintain good character, “doing what’s right, even when no one is watching, because that is never true. Someone is always watching, so be the example.”

He also encouraged the NCOs to be presence with their Soldiers. “Do not be absent. When your Soldiers are in the suck, be there, too…be there with them. Look the part, be the part, know the part, be genuine [because] your Soldiers know when you’re not.”

“Know and enforce standards. Correct deficiencies through inspections [and] be ready to make a decision at a moment’s notice but know the second and third order of effects when you do. Don’t let your emotions get in the way because they can sometimes trip us up. Also be aware that empathy plays a part in caring for people. Listen to the members of your team,” Wright said.

“We do not know everything, and the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” Wright added. “Know when to talk and know when to be quiet. And for the problems you will have, make sure communications is not one,” Wright added.

Also, during the ceremony, Soldiers lit red, white and blue candles. The red candle representing the valor, blood, sweat and the tears of Soldiers from the Revolutionary War to the present. The white candle signifying purity and innocence, as well as a peer spirit and camaraderie of Soldiers. And the blue candle denoting the perseverance and justice, along with the strength and mettle of the NCO Corps and its Soldiers’ refusal to compromise on standards.

The inductees also passed through an arch and two swords crossed at the tips to symbolize the chevrons they now wear as sergeants and their transition into the NCO corps and as new leaders. They then took the NCO Charge and the Creed of the NCO, stating, “No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of Soldiers. As a noncommissioned officer, I realize that I am a member of a time-honored corps, which is know as ‘The Backbone of the Army.’”

The ceremony concluded with the singing of “The Army Song.”