Each year Quantico Sergeants Course instructors train 800 sergeants to lead Marines on installations across the Corps. Although they only directly affect several hundred Marines, the ripple effect of their influence reaches thousands.  On Thursday, the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy, aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, kicked off another seven-week course for the Corps’ rising leaders.

Instructors teach the leadership, warfighting, administrative and communication skills needed to lead Marines at a squad level. Their mentorship plays an integral role in the way Marines are shaped, said Master Sgt. Weinburg Allen, Sergeants Course senior noncommissioned officer in charge.

“There are some officers out there, battalion command and below, who don’t get the opportunity to influence that many Marines, so I tell instructors to continually impress upon themselves that they’re going to leave a legacy to the Marine Corps for years to come,” Allen said.

Yet, with great power, comes even greater responsibility. Since an instructor’s role impacts how leaders lead, Allen said faculty advisors must stay a cut above the rest. They are expected to set Marine Corps leadership standards, work and think independently, take direction, be flexible and remain competitive.

“When students come to the academy, they look at us as a role model,” said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Helker, academy faculty advisor. “If you’re not proactive in personal growth, proficiency and with your job [as a whole,] you’re painting a negative picture for the junior marines who are coming up in the ranks and our future faculty members.”

Helker, who has taught nearly a dozen courses, brings a wealth of experience to the academy. He has deployed six times as an infantryman, including four tours in Iraq and one each in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. He also served as a combat instructor at The Basic School from 2004-2007.

Although the combat-tested Marine has spent a good portion of his career training and fighting in the field, he said the classroom is where the Corps’ future is shaped.

“You have an influence on Marines who change the Marine Corps,” Helker said. “The footprint that you leave here at the academy as an instructor at Sergeants Course is a lot bigger than what people can see, and that’s what motivates me to stay on top of my game.”

With thousands of troops returning from a decade of war, Staff Sgt. Mitchell Fury, first-year faculty advisor at the SNCOA, said it’s critical for instructors to re-establish standards and morals.

“The things we stress here are leadership, morals and ethics, which is the baseline that everyone needs to be a good leader,” Fury said. “There are a lot of Marines who [joined] to fight a war and now that the war is over, the [Corps] is going to have the wrong people in the rear if they don’t have that baseline.”

Helker agrees, but said combat should never be an excuse for subpar performance or behavior. He teaches Marines that serving with excellence during combat and peacetime comes with the job.

“There’s no such thing as a garrison and field Marine,” Helker said. “There’s a well-rounded Marine Corps that encompasses looking your best in uniform and performing your best on the battlefield — they go hand in hand.”

As the Marine Corps environment continues to change, Allen said their overall goal is to help NCOs understand the importance of personal growth and leading Marines with excellence.

“If you’re not doing the things that you need to do, you won’t succeed and you won’t be the Marine that we need to assist other Marines in their success,” Allen said. “Your personal success is Marine Corps’ success.”

Writer: afelton@quanticosentryonline.com