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NCOs cut school short to support Iraq surge

FORT BLISS, Texas — About 100 senior NCOs will be released early from the nine-month resident Sergeants Major Course to support the troop surge in Iraq.

Col. David J. Abramowitz, commandant of the Sergeants Major Academy, said graduation ceremonies will be held April 13 for sergeants major designated for immediate deployment to Iraq. The rest of the 649-member Class #57 that began studies late last summer will graduate May 22, the regularly scheduled date.

Abramowitz, who leaves here Friday to become chief of staff for the Iraq Assistance Group, said the soldiers designated for early graduation will not participate in the course’s culminating command post exercise. He said the academy is working closely with the Human Resources Command to insure that soldiers who graduate early are indeed going to high-priority jobs related to the troop surge.

The academy only conducts one resident Sergeants Major Course annually, although officials here have developed contingency plans to increase the frequency if requested by Army headquarters. “The Army has not asked us to do that, but we could,” Abramowitz said. The Command and General Staff College, which conducts the 10-month Intermediate Level Education course for majors and promotable captains, will conduct two courses this year to accommodate the operational demands of the war on terrorism.

Abramowitz noted that classroom space here restricts the student population for the Sergeants Major Course to 720 senior NCOs.

Fort Bliss’ Web site