Leadership Insight: Commander Sergeant Major Ralph C. Borja

Written by General James E. Cartwright

Command Sergeant Major Borja has served in the Army for more than 29 years in various Airborne Ranger and Light Infantry assignments in the United States and overseas. His previous assignment was as division command sergeant major with the 10th Mountain Division (LI) at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Borja is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management. His military education includes Basic Airborne Course, Small Arms Weapons Repair Course, Ranger School, Jump Master Course, Pathfinder Course, Air Assault Course, Jungle Operations Training Course, Special Operations Training Course, Battle Staff Course, Primary, Basic and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course, First Sergeant Course, United States Joint Forces Command Keystone Course and the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.

He has received numerous personal, unit and campaign awards, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He has earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Air Assault Badge, British and Canadian Foreign Airborne Wings, Order of Saint Maurice Medallion (Centurion), the coveted Ranger Tab and the Master Parachutist Badge with two combat jump stars.

Q: This is the Army’s Year of the NCO and the U.S. Strategic Command’s Year of the Enlisted Global Warfighter. With these efforts to honor enlisted leadership in mind, how have a soldier’s responsibilities changed over the past 200 years or more?

A: You don’t have to go back 200 years to see how a noncommissioned officer’s responsibilities have changed. You only need to compare the duties and responsibilities of an NCO when I first enlisted almost 30 years ago with those of today’s NCO to see a dramatic difference. Up through Desert Storm, an NCO’s primary responsibilities were to ensure good order and discipline within the enlisted ranks and to make sure the orders of the officers within the organization were carried out to the letter. Fast forward to today and you see NCOs carrying out duties and responsibilities that were assigned to company-grade officers just a generation ago.

Earlier this year, the USASMDC/ARSTRAT commander, Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, discussed the tremendous responsibilities we place upon our soldiers in this “Era of Persistent Conflict.” Lieutenant General Campbell noted that today’s battlefield “is a collage of factions, cultures, chaos and fleeting advantages … where NCOs and junior officers operate independently.” It is at the squad, platoon and company level where these wars are won.

His observations were right on. Long gone are the days when we expected our NCOs to blindly carry out detailed orders from higher headquarters. On the modern battlefield, we depend upon our platoon and squad leaders to think on their feet and to work independently in order to carry out the missions and objectives. I’d also like to point out that today’s NCOs are better educated— through the NCO education system—than at any other time in the history of the NCO Corps and that many of today’s NCOs either have or are actively working to obtain undergraduate college level or higher degrees.

Q: Please highlight several space and missile defense efforts to increase the mission readiness of soldiers.

A: One constant within the space and missile defense career fields is training and evaluation. Our soldiers receive highly specialized training designed to help assure their ability to carry out their assigned missions.

Soldiers assigned to the Joint Tactical Ground Station [JTAGS] receive training focused upon detecting and responding to a missile launch, while soldiers assigned to Ground-Based Missile Defense receive training focused on maintaining and launching ground-based interceptors. Soldiers assigned to the Defense Satellite Communications System or the Wideband Global Satellite Operations Centers receive training focused upon managing communications payloads. Other soldiers assigned to commercial exploitation teams or to Army space support teams are trained on the capabilities and uses of current space enablers. All have a common focus, providing the warfighter with the space and missile warning/defense tools needed to win on the modern battlefield.

Each soldier must pass rigorous evaluations to become certified as a crew member supporting his assigned unit. Once certified, our soldiers are tested constantly by numerous system-level exercises as well as by semi-annual evaluations during major exercises.

Beyond unique technical training, we also remain focused upon the fact that our soldiers are just that: soldiers. We maintain current training on warrior tasks and battle drills [e.g., marksman training, physical training, professional military education], and we provide our soldiers adequate time to focus upon professional development in addition to training on individual and collective tasks.

To assure the growth of our soldiers, we emphasize training and mentoring by our senior enlisted leaders during our annual Senior Enlisted Leader Training Conference, and we work hard at taking care of the soldier’s family so the soldier can focus on the mission.

Q: Why should a soldier consider a career in Army space or missile defense?

A: Our soldiers receive highly specialized training. This translates to soldiers who have learned the highly technical skills required to provide the warfighter with or educate the warfighter on space enablers. Virtually all of our soldiers have a detailed understanding of commercial and/or military satellite communications planning/ management, or space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or space-based wideband infrared data used to support missile warning and missile defense, or a host of other space enablers used in this era of persistent conflict.

This also means our soldiers have duties and responsibilities far greater than an individual organization or unit, affecting an entire region or area of operations. There is a great deal of job satisfaction that comes from knowing that you’re helping assure the safety of our nation and operational ground forces, while also contributing to their continued success on the battlefield.

Q: Your command operates with other DoD war fighting units. Does DoD provide adequate opportunities for senior enlisted personnel to learn and obtain joint war fighting competencies? To follow up, how can the department increase these opportunities?

A: Absolutely. Training begins with the Army NCO education system and continues through joint exercises like “Global Thunder” that bring all of the services supporting a combatant commander, in this case U.S. Strategic Command, together. Beyond formal exercises, conferences such as USASMDC/ARSTRAT’s Senior Enlisted Training Conference provide a forum for senior enlisted personnel from all of the services to come together and share viewpoints and experiences on issues associated with space and missile defense.

While these joint exercises and conferences provide great value to our senior enlisted personnel, in many cases the first opportunity our ground forces have to practice the “theory” of joint operations is when they are brought together on the battlefield. More training and educational opportunities with our sister services prior to arriving in the area of operations is essential for success on the battlefield.

Q: Please provide your top three “must have” programs that would most increase your soldiers’ readiness and quality of life.

A: The most important “must have” program is one that improves the overall quality of life of our soldiers and their families. Modern, clean, hospitable military quarters/ barracks are vitally important. Close behind are high quality support facilities: medical, dental, commissary, post exchange, child care, library, etc. Without these core capabilities, our soldiers are forced to spend far too much time worrying about quality of life issues for their families and themselves instead of focusing on the mission.

On the battlefield, timely and responsive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information is critical to success. Without it, our soldiers are essentially blinded. Systems focused upon obtaining from whatever the source—space, near space, unmanned aerial vehicles, ground scouts, intelligence, etc.—and sharing relevant information, in real or near real-time, with our warfighters are a “must have.”

My third “must have” for improving a soldier’s readiness is for the soldier to be trained on and certified in the use of the most modern space-based technologies and products available, including the latest friendly force tracking systems and the most current imagery data. Placing the “latest and greatest” space enablers directly into the hands of the warfighter at the tip of the spear, combined with our current weapons systems and training, make the American soldier virtually unbeatable. ♦

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