Army, Air Force NCOs gather for mentorship session Published Nov. 27, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Jaeda Waffer 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- An Army senior enlisted leader hosted a Joint NCO Empowerment Session Nov. 22 at the base auditorium. The vision of Sgt. Maj. Charles Brainard, of the Defense Information Systems Agency, was to mentor the cyberspace senior NCOs of the future. Sgt. 1st Class Kenric Lynn, DISA information technology project manager, said, "It is important that we as NCOs come together, since the services and the way we fight are becoming more joint-oriented." The goal of the session was to introduce the senior NCOs in the communication information technology community to some of the basic concepts of cyber war-fighting. A future goal is for it to grow larger than just the communications community. "Joint war fighting is certainly the future," said Brainard, "In 2010, I did not know enough about the other branches to bring to the table, and they did not know enough about what we did, and we all had too little knowledge about what we were going to do to bring to the environment." Master Sgt. Jennifer Lyon, 375th Communication Support Squadron software verification flight chief, said, "We don't have different missions, it's just from a different perspective." According to Brainard, SNCOs must learn to understand how to manage what they are doing, which eventually affects those they are over. "The SNCO's provide the oil in the engine, if you will, to keep the engine running smoothly every day," he said. One of the key points mentioned was for the SNCOs to know who and what they are, whether it being mentors to both enlisted and officers, joint warriors and even collective and individual training managers. The sessions will be conducted quarterly every year, including one special session, with a different branch taking over the lead each time. "I want each of the E-7s and E-8s in this auditorium to one day surpass the E-9s," said Brainard. "My question to you is: Are you doing everything you can to make sure the next person up is ready to take the baton?"