Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Pena | Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, SEA to the chief of the National Guard Bureau,...... read more read more
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STARKE, Fla. – Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony L. Whitehead, the National Guard’s top enlisted leader, paid a visit to Florida Guardsmen April 21-23, 2023, to check in with troops, meet with senior military leaders, and observe training over the weekend drill.
The Florida National Guard has approximately 10,000 Soldiers and 2,000 Airmen, with approximately 450 state civilian employees. During the visit, Whitehead met with various units, including troops assigned to the 211th Regional Training Institute, Camp Blanding, conducting reclassification training to become qualified air and missile defense crewmembers.
"We have SEA Whitehead here, and he is visiting our live fire lane, observing the execution of our students moving as a team and bounding down the lane to engage targets," said Florida Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sean Lee, infantry instructor assigned to the 2-211th.
Whitehead, who advises the chief, National Guard Bureau, on all enlisted matters affecting training, utilization, and the force's health, routinely visits Guardsmen across 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia to check the pulse of morale and readiness.
Currently there are more than 43,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen on duty around the globe and here at home. Bases, like Camp Blanding, are pivotal to retaining troops who want the opportunity to train and maintain the force's overall readiness.
"When we talk about our National Defense Strategy and how we need engaged, ready Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force service members across the board,” said Whitehead. “Our Guardsmen here in the Florida National Guard get after the training important to readiness as an individual and a team."
Whitehead had the opportunity to hear from a motivated senior instructor on what drives him to lead students who have chosen to cross-train into the infantryman military occupation specialty, one of the military's main land combat force roles.
"The way I like to put it, when you are a kid, you play soldier, and when you play soldier, you are essentially pretending to be an infantryman. So, to me, the infantry is the backbone of the Army," said Lee. "I am privileged to train and mentor young soldiers to develop into non-commissioned officers themselves to better the Army and the force for America."
With every visit, the SEA encourages leaders to live by his three efforts, educate, empower, and execute. As he reflects on his time in the state, he is assured that senior leaders are developing Soldiers to the best of their abilities.
"I believe in leading by example and not by exception, and that is what I have seen here at Camp Blanding. So, what it tells me is that we have got engaged leadership,” Whitehead added.
One of Whitehead's top charges to the enlisted force is to create a secure and safe environment for younger generations to seek to join, stay in, and develop into career-driven future leaders.
"Here in the Florida Guard, we have 19-year-olds coming in, looking at the jobs they have decided they want to be a part of,” said Whitehead. “It is the senior non-commissioned officers that are training them. Not only are they leading from the front with technical competence, but they are doing it with emotional intelligence. I got to hear them talk about the training they received, the confidence they developed, and the caliber of the instructors."
For Whitehead, being in the presence of Guardsmen is one of his favorite moments as the senior enlisted advisor. It is his opportunity to hear from service members on why they chose to serve in the National Guard and encourage them to share those journeys with others who may be motivated to follow similar paths.
Whitehead elaborated, "When we go out into the field, whether it be me, Gen. Dan Hokanson, chief, National Guard Bureau, or any of the NGB leaders, we hear stories from our Soldiers and Airmen about why they joined. We must understand the uniqueness of their stories. There is a connection we can utilize to reach folks in our communities and recruit them into our force. Those stories remind you of where we [leaders] were that many years ago."
During his visit, Whitehead, also attended a change of command and retirement ceremony where Maj. Gen. John D. Haas assumed command of the Florida National Guard as the incoming adjutant general.
Maj. Gen. James O. Eifert relinquished his command as he retired following over four decades of dedicated military service and four years as the state's highest-ranking military official.
"I am so grateful to visit with the Soldiers and Airmen in the great state of Florida and, adding to that, an opportunity to witness a time-honored tradition of a change of command and the retirement of a leader, a personal mentor of mine, Maj. Gen. James O. Eifert," said Whitehead.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2023 18:38 |
| Story ID: | 444206 |
| Location: | STARKE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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