Photo By Terrance Bell | Sgt. Maj. Hector Perez, Reserve Affairs Proponency SGM; SGM Tommie L. Jones II,...... read more read more
FOR LEE, Va. (Oct. 15, 2019) -- Three new senior enlisted leaders have joined the ranks of the Transportation Corps here as it pushes forward in support of the Army’s future war-fighting vision focused on largescale combat operations.
Sgt. Maj. Tommie L. Jones II, Transportation School SGM; SGM Hector Perez, Reserve Affairs Proponency SGM; and Sgt. Maj. Kwame Pettus, Proponency SGM are recent additions to the staff responsible for executing the command team’s strategic objectives.
Jones, with nearly 30 years of service, said his new assignment opens the door of possibilities that may affect thousands of transporters either embarking upon their careers or seeking to sharpen their skills.
“I’m excited because it’s an opportunity to give back to the Transportation Corps,” said the Middletown, Ohio, native. “I get to share all my experiences and can hopefully provide a different perspective for Soldiers and leaders in helping to move the corps forward in a positive way.”
The Trans. School – with training locations at Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. – graduated 7,627 active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve students last year.
Prior to this assignment, Jones was the G4 SGM for the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. He has spent large portions of his career on the transporter frontlines of operational units. He has never been assigned to Fort Lee.
While still in the process of fully grasping his mission here, Jones said one thing is certain about how he intends to approach his new duties – schoolhouse instructors will be competent in the conduct of their duties.
“My priority starts with ensuring instructors are capable of providing the results the commander wants,” he said. “So, my perspective is to first counsel, advise and manage my instructors to ensure they understand their roles as training facilitators and the expectations of a noncommissioned officer. They also need to ensure they are presenting themselves and their products in a professional manner and reflective of what a transporter noncommissioned officer should be.”
Undoubtedly, Jones said some of his experiences with subordinate Soldiers and leaders are driving his intentions here. He said he has been able to glean from past assignments the need to provide transporters with a broader view of the Army’s sustainment warfighter function.
“Most transporters I’ve seen in the operational Army are capable on a specific aspect of their military occupational specialty,” he said, “but they don’t have an understanding of the bigger piece of transportation and then the even larger piece of logistics.
“My whole focus here is to be an example of how transporters can develop into pure logisticians, bringing to the table their transportation experiences, and then becoming an effective part of the Army’s logistics and sustainment community.”
No programs of instruction changes are necessary to support the intended changes, Jones noted, only a strong will and strategic approach.
“All you have to do is introduce experiences,” he said. “We can’t turn the ship overnight, but we can absolutely put information into Soldier’s and leader’s minds that generates broader ideas instead of thinking about the one thing they think they’re good at.”
Jones said there is no major overhaul planned for the schoolhouse. His first order of business is to evaluate instructors, determine their capabilities and then develop a full comprehension of the POIs.
“I do not see any major problems for the time being,” he said. “I’m excited about that.”
When his tenure concludes in two or three years, Jones said the schoolhouse will function on a higher level.
“It will be led by even greater professionals, and we absolutely will live up to the expectation of what an 88 (series) noncommissioned officer should be,” he said.
As the reserve affairs proponency advisor, Perez said his mission is to act as a filter concerning the implementation of actions, policies and plans related to training matters.
“We are here to convey how things could affect the reserve components, whether it is positive or negative,” he said. “Also, we function to support integration, working together with the active component to make sure there is no separation between us and that we support the commander’s intent.”
The Army Reserve and National Guard comprise two thirds of the total force, Perez emphasized. One issue facing them is physical fitness readiness.
“Reserve Soldiers don’t train as often as active duty Soldiers do,” he said. “It is necessary for them to have their own training schedule to fulfill the requirements due to their civilian jobs. It’s a bit more challenging.”
Perez, whose last assignment was with the Reserve Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., said his office expounds to Army Logistics University students on the need for individualized physical fitness.
“We emphasize to them they have to train on their own time to make sure they’re ready for the fight,” said the active Reservist.
As one might imagine, implementation of the ACFT for the reserve component is considerably more challenging compared to the active Army. In addition to frequency of training, Perez noted, there is a resource issue concerning the equipment required to perform the test.
“For example, if a major command acquires the needed equipment, it may support units in several states,” he said. “We cannot bring Soldiers to one state to test. It is necessary to make arrangements with local units (whether active duty or reserve component) to test Soldiers.”
The third enlisted leader, Pettus, also reported here from Fort Bragg. He said he’s adjusting to the institutional Army that is Fort Lee, noting the world moves slower in the Field Artillery Corps where he was assigned.
“All you learn in the artillery world is artillery,” he said. “You have to immerse yourself in their business and demonstrate your relevancy to artillery support. In the meantime, the Army is evolving. When I returned to the Transportation Corps, I had to immerse myself in its doctrine. I’m pleasantly surprised many things have changed for the better.”
Pettus hopes the pride he feels as a transporter has a transparent quality as he advocates for the corps and acts as a liaison to units to support their transportation needs.
“I have an 88M (motor transport operator) background, but for the last few days I was sitting with 88Ks (watercraft operators) and reviewing their critical task listing,” he said. “I knew nothing about the kilos and 88Ls (watercraft engineer). That really intrigues me.”
Watercraft operators and engineers comprise the lesser-known but important mariner component of the Trans. Corps. Training is centered at JBLE. The relatively obscure mariner community is an example of why he needs to be a strong voice for all of the corps, he said.
“I am an advocate,” said Pettus, who reports to the Chief of Transportation. “I protect our best interests. I advise the COT on things supporting our relevancy and effectiveness; what needs to be streamlined; what’s required to be a competent transporter; and how we grow the corps to meet future needs.”
CSM Terrence T. Scarborough, the Trans. Corps. CSM, said the new trio of enlisted leaders are fully aligned with the command’s ambitions, and he looks forward to working with them in moving the corps forward.
“As members of the team and staff, we truly believe in full autonomy,” he said. “They have the flexibility to make decisions in terms of supporting the various TC initiatives. The Chief of Transportation priorities are priorities of mine and my priorities are priorities of theirs. We are completely nested. That’s how we’re looking to proceed.”
Scarborough also said the three will bolster his efforts to grow transporters into multi-functional logisticians.
“My whole focus here is to be an example of how transporters can develop into competent logisticians," he said, "bringing to the table their transportation experiences, and then becoming an effective part of the Army’s logistics and sustainment community.”
The Transportation Corps, headquartered at Fort Lee, is comprised of more than 60,000 active and reserve component Soldiers worldwide. It’s mission is to “train, educate and deliver battle-focused multifunctional sustainers with functional transportation expertise; and develop doctrine, concepts, capabilities, materiel and force structure enabling deployment and distribution for Army, Joint and coalition forces during contested multi-domain operations against the pacing threat,” according to its website.
| Date Taken: | 10.15.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.15.2019 13:56 |
| Story ID: | 347738 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 491 |
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