HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The first four senior NCOs in the Defense Department are attending Joint Professional Military Education Two (JPME II) at the Joint and Combined Warfighting School in Washington D.C. – a program that was previously open to only field grade officers.

The first to attend from Air Force Special Operations Command is Chief Master Sgt. Kristopher Kendall, 21st Special Tactics Squadron chief enlisted manager at Pope Army Airfield, N.C.

“It has been an honor to represent my service and fellow warriors here at the National Defense University,” Kendall said. “We are actualizing Gen. [David] Goldfein’s second big rock ‘Strengthen Joint Leaders and Teams’ in order to create joint warfighting excellence.”

Command Sgt. Maj. John Troxell, the senior enlisted advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was key to integrating senior NCOs into JPME II, and plans to make it a recurring event, Kendall said.

JPME II is a 10-week program designed to critically analyze the complexities of leading a combined warfighting team as an operational-level planner. Each seminar is diversified as much as possible. Each service is represented, some with an international student.

“Providing my unique perspective to the mission has generated positive reviews to this culture change and replicates the true warfighting environment of a senior commander and an equivalent senior enlisted advisor,” Kendall said.

This educational opportunity widens the aperture and allows our senior enlisted leaders the opportunity to understand the operational and strategic levels of war, said Chief Master Sgt. Greg Smith, AFSOC command chief.

“My office is working very closely with our Air Force and United States Special Operations Command senior enlisted leaders to identify the right leaders to attend,” Smith said. “Everyone in AFSOC is an Air Commando. It doesn’t matter if they are an operator, mechanic, personnelist or medic, we are building joint leaders of tomorrow, regardless of career field. It is about talent and aptitude, not rank or background.”

AFSOC is the smartest, most experienced and most agile force it has ever been, according to Smith.

“Education plus training plus experience equals wisdom,” he said. “And, that’s what we provide when we council and give best military advice to senior leaders.”

Kendall said he would recommend JPME II to any Senior NCO who will be on staff at a Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC).

“So far, I am very pleased with my experience in the course,” he said. “It has helped me really strengthened my operational planning skills since my time in the J-35 shop (Contingency Plans) at Special Operations Command-Europe (SOCEUR).”