The primary mission of the NCO Heritage and Education Center remained unchanged: to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret historically significant property related to the history of the US Army Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) from 1775 to the present. The NCO Heritage Center supports training, tours and education, conducts research, stimulates esprit de corps and morale, and informs the Army and the public of the NCO’s service to the nation. Though functionally tied to The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence, the Center serves the greater Army, Ft Bliss and the 1st Armored Division. AR 870-20 governs this mission.
The last six months of 2017 have seen several exhibit upgrades and modifications at the NCO Heritage and Education Center. The Museum staff of two civilians and one military personnel have been hard at work constructing new exhibits and revitalizing and improving existing exhibits.
We have rebuilt or installed new exhibits for Buffalo Soldier, Apache Scouts, Punitive Expedition/Columbus, Signal Office c1888, 1880s Chevrons, Revolutionary War (Valley Forge), Pioneer Exhibit, Vietnam, Rations and Civil War (Fleetwood). In addition, we have rebuilt the Desert Storm exhibit at The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence along with installing two new exhibits on WW1.
In addition to the renovating and upgrading of exhibits we have taken time to conduct several unit tours and the facility has been available and has been used by numerous Fort Bliss units for NCO inductions, and promotion ceremonies, reenlistments, NCO professional development classes, team building exercises, unit reunions and foreign dignitary tours.
We are currently conducting tours for all Sgt. Maj. Academy students including non-residents as well as Commandants Pre-Command Course attendees. We are working to have military student tours added formally to the POIs for the Battle Staff and Commandant’s Pre-Command Course. In-support of this, we are also working with The NCOLCoE Command Communications Section to create a Virtual Tour.
We are working with the Academy Historian and SMC students to complete a (re)write of the NCOLCoE “History of the NCO” book. This task is scheduled for completion in mid 2018.
Read the History of the NCO.