February 16, 2017 –
CAMP BUERHING, Kuwait - The 863rd Engineer Battalion honored and recognized 100 Soldiers in the rank of Sergeant across their formation during a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Induction Ceremony held at Camp Buerhing, Kuwait, Dec. 8, 2016.
The ceremony signifies the transition from lower enlisted Soldier to the rank of Sergeant.
“I charge NCO’s today, to live the NCO creed each and every day. Join the profession of the best non-commissioned officer rank in the world with honor and integrity,” said Guest Speaker Command Sgt. Maj. Phillip C. Hollifield, Senior Enlisted Advisor of the 526th Brigade Support Battalion.
The ceremony included readings from the NCO Creed and an overview of the Army Values.
One-by-one, NCO’s walked on stage holding a piece of paper with an alphabetical letter representing each of the seven Army Values while another Soldier recited the meaning of each value.
“What makes the Army better is having good leadership in the Sergeant rank,” said Senior Enlisted Advisor of the 863rd Engineer Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Samuel E. Carr and native of Waukesha, Wis.
“I hope this ceremony helps the sergeants understand that the NCO creed is not just words; I hope that they are able to break it down and understand what each part of it means and that they are able to take it forward and prepare their E4’s and below,” said Carr.
The ceremony included representation from all engineer companies assigned to the 863rd En. Bn.
“This ceremony showed me that a lot of NCO’s care; it showed their support for us and that our time and effort has gone noticed; now that I’m an NCO I want to give my Soldiers the leadership that they deserve”, said Sgt. Savannah R. Salazar, horizontal construction engineer, 282nd Engineer Company and native of Denver, Colo.
Although the ceremony was held in the deployed environment some Soldiers felt that having family support is also vital to making good NCO’s.
“This ceremony meant something to me,” said Sgt. Greg J. Scales, plumber, 176th Engineer Company of the Washington National Guard and native of Abingdon, Va.
“If my mom were here she would’ve cried; my family would be proud I come from a military family and they were all NCO’s,” said Scales.
The 836rd Engineer Battalion is a U.S. Army Reserve unit based out of Darien, Ill. The battalion recently wrapped up a nine-month deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield. They were assigned to the Texas National Guard’s 176th Engineer Brigade (Task Force Chaos) while deployed.