Fort Bliss, TX –
Interoperability exercises and conferences that build connections with allies and regional partners are a valuable asset to the U.S. military both in strengthening partnerships and creating stability abroad.
Programa Integral Para Subficiales de Alta Jerarquia (PISAJ) which translates to ‘Comprehensive Program for High Level Non-Commissioned Officers,’ is a biannual geo-strategic engagement focused on developing Colombian army senior NCOs and was established in 2014.
From Sept. 15 to 28, 52 international representatives took part in the 19th iteration of the PISAJ conference. The first week of the event was held on Fort Bliss with the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence (NCOLCoE) hosting most of the briefs and breakout discussion, covering Army National Guard operations, Security Forces Assistance Battalion mission, Army South exercises, intelligence sharing and question and answer sessions. They also saw weapons demonstrations on Fort Bliss and visited White Sands Missile Range. The latter half of the conference moves to San Diego, where the participants will be shown naval and marine capabilities.
Colombia determined that NCO development is one of the fundamental pillars of its overall army transformation program. The main objective of this conference is to discuss professional leader development opportunities covering a range of topics from strategic partnerships, interoperability, intelligence sharing, cyber threats and joint operations.
Colombian air force Sgt. Maj. Ferney Montealegre acted as the air force coordinator for the Colombian delegation, preparing his branches participants and selecting some of the topics covered in the briefs.
He said his nations interest in holding the conference was to learn the best practices in NCO training from the United States, who is considered a world leader in NCO development.
“One of the main goals for Colombia is growing and improving NCOs in all branches. Other nations in South America have seen us and now want to learn the American procedures.”
While the majority of the participants were from Colombia one participant was from Brazil. The participants were drawn from every service in the Colombian military army, navy, air force, and marines. The group was met with representatives from the U.S. Army who gave capabilities briefs and answered questions, including a brief from the NCOLCoE Deputy Commandant, Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Thomas who provided an overview of NCO training developed by the NCOLCoE and Sergeants Major Academy.
Sgt. Maj. Jose Melendez, Sergeant Major to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Army G2 was one of several presenters who spoke to the group. Melendez’s presentation focused on intelligence sharing and as a Spanish speaker himself he felt he made a deeper connection with those in attendance. “It was good to add a personal touch and having a common tongue makes it easier for everyone.”
His presentation covered the risks and potential conflicts that are building pressure around the world to highlight the importance of cooperating and intelligence sharing across the globe. “This event is tied with national defense strategy,” said Melendez. “The more capable we make our allies the less we have to defend. Look at Ukraine for a great example, U.S. training gave them what they needed to keep fighting.”
While the goal of the event was to help build the NCO corps of partner nations, the cooperation and common interests held by the participants on both sides of the exchange will hopefully go much further in building connections between nations and people.