NDU Press to publish first ever NCO/PO Handbook Published Dec. 12, 2013 By Tech. Sgt. David Whitecar 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The National Defense University Press plans to publish the inaugural edition of "The Noncommissioned Officer and Petty Officer: Backbone of the Armed Forces" December 17. Written by a team of active, reserve and retired senior enlisted officers from all service branches, this book is a multi-service reference for NCOs/POs that defines how they fit into their organization, centers them in the Profession of Arms, exposes their international engagement and explains their dual roles of complementing the officer and enabling the force. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, hosts the inaugural release December 17th at 10 a.m. in the Pentagon Auditorium where the first book will be autographed and then delivered to the Library of Congress where it will reside for historical preservation. Keynote speaker at the event will be Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who writes in his foreword to the book "We know the noncommissioned officers and petty officers to have exceptional competence, professional character, and soldierly grit-they are exemplars of our Profession of Arms." This forward compliments the book itself which strives to prepare young men and women to become NCOs/POs, re-inspires serving enlisted leaders and simulates reflection by those who have retired from or left active service. Electronic copies of the handbook can be found after noon Eastern on the NDU Press site at www.ndu.edu/press/nco.html, the Joint Electronic Library at www.dtic.mil/doctrine/nco.htm, and JDEIS at http://jdeis.js.smil.mil/jdeis/index.jsp?pindex=97.
