The Contributions of SGM Glen E. Morrell To the Noncommissioned Officer Corps

By SGM Nathaniel J. Bartee

Military History Briefing SGM Murphy 3 March 2006

OUTLINE FORMAT

I. Introduction.

A. Greeting: Good morning SGM Murphy and Group R06. My name is SGM Nathaniel J. Bartee and for the next 15 minutes I will present an unclassified Information Briefing on the 7th Sergeant Major of the Army, SMA Glen E. Morrell. Throughout military history the contributions of officers have been highlighted in various forums, often times over-shadowing the major contributions of noncommissioned officers (NCOs). NCO history is rich in tradition and supports the foundation of the military structure. The purpose of this briefing is to introduce you to the contributions and achievements of Sergeant Major of the Army Morrell, a Noncommissioned Officer, who earned the prestigious positions as the i h Sergeant Major of the Army.

B. I researched many sources and they all tell the story of SMA Morrell in a remarkable way. I selected the reference listed below to get the story as told by SMA Morrell. Morrell, Glen E. What Soldiering is all about? Army magazine 36, October 1986., Mark Gillespie, Glen R. Hawkins, Michael B. Kelly, and Preston E. Pierce. The Sergeants Major of the Army. Washington, D.C., 1995.

II. Body.

A. History of the Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army

B. Humble Beginnings: Childhood and military life.

C. USAEREC CSMIFORSCOM (policies in the field).

D. Selection as Sergeant Major of the Army.

E. Ranger Hall of Fame Inductee.

F. Trip to China.

G. SMA Morrell awards.

III. Closing.

A. Summary: For the last fifteen minutes, I briefed you on the contributions and achievements of "SMA Glen E. Morrell a true American, who rose from humble origins in Normantown, West Virginia to hold the highest office for the Noncommissioned Officer Corps."

B. Questions: What are your questions?

C. Closing statement: SMA Morrell lived the Creed of the Noncommissioned Officers. Particularly focusing on the following statement: "American Soldiers has been trained and has the desire to be the best that there is at whatever their job might be. They'll go the extra mile time and time again if they are trained and provided excellent leadership".

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USA SMA CLASS #56 R06 SGM Nathaniel J. Bartee

The contributions of Sergeant Major of the Army Glen E. Morrell to the

Noncommissioned Officer Corps (NCO). Throughout military history the contributions of

Officers or highlighted in various forums, often times over-shadowed the major contributions of

noncommissioned officers. NCO history is rich in tradition and supports the foundation of the

military structure. The purpose of this paper is to notate the contributions and achievements of

Sergeant Major of the Army Glen E. Morrell, a noncommissioned officer who earned and held

the prestigious position as the i h Sergeant Major of the Army. Sergeant Major of the Army

Morrell ' s story starts with his humble beginnings in Stumptown, West Virginia, which shaped

his childhood and military life.

He was born 26 May 1936. His father worked for the Natural Gas Company, which is

now part of Exxon. His mother was a stay at home housewife. Sergeant Major Morrell was the

youngest of seven, four sisters and two brothers. Sergeant Major Morrell remembered whipping

as the standards punishment to instill discipline in him and the others at a early age by his

parents. Coming from a small town Sergeant Major Morrell knew that respect for other people

and giving everybody a chance were the hallmark of growing up in a tiny town of Stumptown

(Gillespie 129).

Sergeant Major Morrell grow up in the rural town of Stumptown, W.V. , however

he attended a public school in Normantown, W.V., an seven mile bus ride from Stumptown,

W.V. During his school years he attended every grade in the same building to include high

school. He was luck to be able to attend the only school in the area that had a gymnasium.

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Basketball was the only sporting event in the local area. Sergeant Major Morrell family never

owned a television until after he joined the United States Army. While attending high school his

best subjects were math, science, and history. His teachers were very strict, some served in

World War II and still carried that air of military discipline with them. During those days people

took schooling seriously.

During the early years Sergeant Major Morrell worked several part time jobs. He worked

on local farms earning $1.50 for a day' s wage, but Sergeant Major Morrell worked especially

hard and eventually earned up to $2.00 over the daily average. Work back in the rural towns was

not that great so after high school Sergeant Major Morrell decided to join the United States

Army. Sergeant Major Morrell enlisted in the fall of 1954; he completed his basic training at

Camp Gordon, Georgia. Sergeant Major Morrell recalled that during those days there was no

Discipline problems, recruits have respect for the drill instructors, that the food ration was small

and that he ate lots of C-rations even in the mess hall. After his training he was assigned to

Battery A, 319th Field Artillary, 82nd Airborne Division as a forward observer.

In 1996 Sergeant Major Morrell was assigned to the 8th Special Forces Group in Panama.

During that time Sergeant Major Morrell attended the Jungle Operation Training Center, and the

MACV Reconnaissance Commando (Recondo) school. Sergeant Major Morrell attended Ranger

School at Fort Benning, Ga., at the age of forty-one and earned Distinguished Honor Graduate in

his class. Sergeant Major Morrell spent a huge amount of his career in Rangers and Special

Forces units. Sergeant Major Morrell took part in several Special Forces mission in Vietnam.

His Special Forces group was a close knit group that always looked out for one another.

Sergeant Major Morrell served two tours in Vietnam with the Special Forces were he learned

that his team was like his family. In 1973, Sergeant Major Morrell was selected to attend the

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new Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas. Eighteen other Special Forces Soldiers also

attended, which was great for Sergeant Major Morrell. They worked and studied well together

Sergeant Major Morrell quoted that "We probably had a leg up on a lot of people that didn' t have

such a close-knit group". While at the Academy Sergeant Major Morrell enrolled in the college

night degree program and received his degree upon completion of the academy from El Paso

Community College.

In March of 1976, Sergeant Major Morrell was reassigned to the Reserve Officer

Training Corps (ROTC) at St. John's University in St. Cloud Minnesota. During his tour of duty

Morrell was promoted to Sergeant Major. Even though Sergeant Major Morrell considered the

Army ROTC Cadre to be outstanding, in his eyes it just wasn' t his cup of tea. The only positive

outlook on St. John' s University was that it gave him time to spend with the family and do some

fishing and hunting which he enjoyed. Sergeant Major Morrell only spent about a year at St.

John' s University, which provided him not to take part in any of the summer camps exercises.

Following his second tour in Germany, Sergeant Major Morrell was reassigned to

Headquarters, U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), Fort Sheridan, Illinois. At the time,

Morrell regretted an assignment that took him away from troops. However, he found recruiting

duty rewarding, and he learned a great deal. With no previous experience in this field to function

as the command sergeant major. However, the large number of combat veterans serving as

recruiter gave Sergeant Major Morrell a common frame of reference. He was pleased to find the

USAREC commander, General Howard G. Crowell, Jr. , interested in working with him to make

life a little bit better for recruiters. Good people recruit good people. He found that the

noncommissioned officers assigned to the Recruiting Command were excellent and highly

motivated Soldiers. In his new position, Morrell focused on Soldiers and family problems of the

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recruiters in the field. One critical task, he found, was to match areas of assignment with specific

recruiting sergeants. Morrell saw firsthand the problems with housing and medical care the

recruiters and their families faced when there were no military installations in the area. He also

had to work with the command to overcome the special difficulties recruiting offices faced in

high crime neighborhoods, while also working to secure better housing for recruiters, especially

in high cost areas. But he gave particular attention to Army pay and promotion policies that

caused a hardship for recruiters, since recruiting duty often diminished their promotion

prospects. He made several recommendations to the Recruiting Command regarding the issue,

including assigning fewer sergeants (E-5) to recruiting duty and providing retention incentives.

Although he achieved limited success in these areas, the experience at USAREC provided him

with important insights which he later used to the Army' s advantage as Sergeant Major at

FORSCOM and as Sergeant Major of the Army (Gillespie 138).

After leaving USAREC Command Sergeant Major Morrell was assigned to FORSCOM

as the new FORSCOM Sergeant Major. Sergeant Major Morrell again focused on training.

Moreover, he found that he had to spend a lot of time going out and really trying to find out

about the policies that were implemented by the Department of the Army and FORSCOM. He

sought to ascertain if they were actually workable in the field. And it was a big field, one that

included all divisional units in the continental United States (CONUS) as well as in Alaska and

Panama. In addition, it included all of the major National Guard and reserve commands.

At FORSCOM, Sergeant Major Morrell found a considerable number of problems to

solve. For example, it was difficult to find qualified people to man the readiness regions

established to assist the reserve components. The Soldiers who staffed those regions faced many

of the same difficulties as the recruiters. Morrell found that the reserves were good Soldiers who

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really wanted to do an outstanding job. The reason you find good units or some bad units

depended upon leadership, getting people qualified and resources. When the Guard and reserve

senior NCOs began attending the annual FORSCOM Command Sergeants Major Conference,

closer working relationships began to develop with the active force as well a s between the

Guard and reserve (Gillespie 139).

In 1983, Sergeant Major was selected and appointed as the i h Sergeant Major of the

Army. General Wickham performed the Oath of office in his own office with family and friends

of Sergeant Major Morrell. The new Sergeant Major of the Army was charged with the care and

training of all Soldiers. During his four year tour as Sergeant Major of the Army, Morrell spent

about 25 percent of his time in the office and 75 percent in the field talking to Leaders and

Soldiers. Sergeant Major of the Army Morrell often testified to Congress on issues like quality of

life, the needs of service families, and related financial matters. At times Sergeant Major of the

Army Morrell also gave briefing to general staff, to Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh, Jr. ,

and to Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger. Sergeant Major of the Army Morrell also goes

on to state that Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger "was interested in Soldiers; ... interested

in families ; and ... interested in the services."

Sergeant Major of the Army Morrell focused on the development of the

Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) that he believed was vital to establishing

a strong and solid corps ofNCOs. Other initiatives included the improvement of enlisted

quarters, and reducing the time an NCO could remain on active duty after refusing an assignment

or attendance at the Sergeants Major Academy. SMA Morrell remembered few goals that he did

not achieve, at least in part while he was Sergeant Major of the Army.

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The highlight of Morrell ' s tenure as Sergeant Major of the Army was his ten-day trip to

the People' s Republic of China in the fall of 1986. The first major visit by Army personnel since

General George C. Marshall was Secretary of State, it reestablished an American military

presence there. Incidentally, its purpose was to enlist the support of the Chinese for talks with

North Korea. Sergeant Major Morrell and his wife accompanied Army Chief of Staff Wickham

and his wife, as did Col. John Shalikashvili. A Medical Corps Officer, a political affairs officer,

and others. The Chinese arranged a special program for the wives while their military officials

arranged tours and meetings for the military staff.

The demonstration of a Chinese division on the attack impressed Morrell. He inspected

their equipment, which he found obsolete, and talked to Chinese Soldiers who showed little

reluctance to speak their minds. Morrell conducted briefings on the role of the noncommissioned

officer in the U.S. Army. He also visited a Chinese military academy, a field artillery school,

several ships, and an air force base. He noted wryly that it was difficult to figure out who was in

charge in Chinese military formations. They appeared to have no pattern of control, although the

performance of Chinese counterterrorist teams impressed him greatly. Visits to the Great Wall

and the Forbidden City added interest to the trip and a perspective on the Chinese culture

(Gillespie 141).

Sergeant Major Morrell retired from active duty service on 30 June 1987. The Old Guard

honored Sergeant Major Morrell by conducting a review in his honor. General Wickham

attended the retirement ceremony at Fort Myer.

Works Cited

Morrell, Glen E. What Soldiering is all about? Army Magazine 36, October 1986.

Gillespie, Mark, Hawkins, Glen, Kelly, Michael, and Pierce, Preston. The Sergeants

Major of the Army Washington D.C.)995.