Airmen meet with senior enlisted advisor

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Airmen of the 178th Wing met with Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a base visit, July 9.

Battaglia is the senior non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Armed Forces and serves as the principal military advisor to the Chairman and the Secretary of Defense on all matters involving joint and combined total force integration, utilization, health of the force and joint development for enlisted personnel.

During his visit, Battaglia met with senior leadership, visited various offices, met one-on-one with Airmen, and hosted a town hall where he expanded on multiple topics of concern for the enlisted force while answering questions from Airmen.

"Visiting the bases gives me a realistic feedback when making decisions," said Battaglia. "And the presentations I received on the type of work the Airmen of the 178th Wing perform were very impressive."

During his town hall presentation, Battaglia covered the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's four priorities:

1. Achieve our national objectives in current conflicts
2. Develop Joint Force 2020
3. Keeping faith with our military family
4. Renew our commitment to the profession of arms

"Achieving the first goal is truly dependent on achieving the other three," said Battaglia.

Battaglia then highlighted navigating joint forces as a key part to a successful career for military members.

"There has been a difference in synergy in regards to total force integration since I joined the military," said Battaglia. "The changing scope in technology and intelligence has meant it is more important than ever to rely on different capabilities each service contributes to the fight."

A tool he recommends for understanding and interacting with other enlisted members from other services is the DoD book, 'The Noncommissioned Officer and Petty Officer: Backbone of the Armed Forces.'

"The book's research and writing was done by NCO's, it is free, and contains great information for understanding NCO history and how other services are structured," said Battaglia.

Additionally, he addressed three working groups reviewing 15 Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization recommendations that include retirement, survivor benefit plan, financial literacy and military student identifier.

"There can be an expectation of having a member who is separating to concentrate solely on performing their job and out processing, but if we want to help end veteran unemployment and homelessness, we have to invest in making sure military members successfully transition into civilian life," said Battaglia.

An important topic considering that unemployment claims from separated members are paid through their branch of service.

In line with this, he also discussed the importance of financial literacy, the options available to members and TSP.

"With only 19-21% of the force actual reaching full retirement, we want to position folks to have a successful transition," said Battaglia.

The presentation ended with applause as individual Airmen were recognized and coined for their success.