A sign greets people at the entrance to the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Camp Normandy in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The academy, which is the oldest of its kind in the Army, held a ceremony Oct. 30, 2024, to celebrate its 75th anniversary. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — The U.S. Army’s oldest school for noncommissioned officers celebrated 75 years of molding young leaders, and its longtime German partners shared in the festivities Wednesday.
About 70 soldiers from the 7th Army Training Command’s NCO academy and their German army counterparts gathered at Camp Normandy to commemorate the institution’s diamond anniversary.
Sgt. 1st Class Judeth Nevins, a senior instructor at the academy, said it provides a forum for passing on institutional knowledge.
“The NCO is the backbone of the Army,” Nevins said. “We’re not going to stay in the Army (forever), so we have to train them how to be a leader. We’re proud every time students graduate.”
On Wednesday, dozens of NCOs entered Camp Normandy’s multipurpose building wearing their service uniforms. They watched a video presentation complete with news clippings and photos that recounted the academy’s storied history.
Originally called the U.S. Constabulary Noncommissioned Officer Academy, the school was launched Oct. 17, 1949, to beef up depleted NCO ranks following World War II and the reopening of the Grafenwoehr Training Area, deputy commandant 1st Sgt. Esequiel Moreno said Tuesday.
The name was changed to the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy in 1951.
Prior to the school’s founding, NCOs were trained on the job by more experienced leaders in what amounted to an apprentice system, Moreno said. The dedicated academy model was so successful that it was later adopted across the force, he added.
Today, the institution, with its boot camp atmosphere, offers a 22-day program with 169 academic hours focusing on soldiering and leadership skills.
The school also prepares NCOs to work alongside NATO partners by having frequent exchanges with a German NCO school in Delitzsch, about 15 miles north of Leipzig.
“This institution, a cornerstone of our military, has been instrumental in shaping the leaders who have defended our nation for generations,” commandant Command Sgt. Maj. Errol Brooks told the audience.
Following speeches by Brooks and Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Donaldson of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, attendees crossed the street to the camp’s dining facility for cake.
The academy conducts 10 courses per year and graduates about 2,500 soldiers annually, Moreno said. Approximately 1,500 NCOs from nations in Europe and Africa have also graduated since 2003.
A 75th anniversary ceremony for the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy is held at Camp Normandy in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Oct. 30, 2024. This NCO academy is the oldest in the Army. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Command Sgt. Maj. Errol Brooks, the commandant of the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy, speaks at the academy's 75th Anniversary ceremony held at Camp Normandy, in Grafenwoehr, Germany on Oct. 30, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Donaldson, the top noncommissioned officer at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, speaks as the guest of honor Oct. 30, 2024, at Camp Normandy, in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The occasion was the 75th anniversary of the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A ceremony for the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy is held Oct. 30, 2024, at Camp Normandy in Grafenwoehr, Germany, to mark the school's diamond anniversary. The facility in Bavaria is the Army's oldest NCO academy. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A ceremony to honor the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy on its 75th anniversary is held at Camp Normandy in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Oct. 30, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A dining facility worker at Camp Normandy in Grafenwoehr, Germany, cuts a cake Oct. 30, 2024, in honor of the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy's diamond anniversary. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
