Central Command Welcomes Chairman's Advisor

By Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Coon, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Nov. 22, 2005 - Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited U.S. Central Command headquarters here last week as part of his tour to meet the senior enlisted leaders of the combatant commands.

Gainey is the first senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and took office Oct. 1.

"I've been on the job for 44 days; I have learned a lot about the global focus on what the different services and combatant commands are doing," said Gainey on Nov. 14.

During the sergeant major's visit at CENTCOM, he received briefings on the command's missions not only from the joint staff, but also from the senior enlisted leaders of the coalition countries serving alongside the U.S. forces in the command's area of responsibility.

"I have seen the overall mission of CENTCOM; I am just overwhelmed," he said. "I mean, they have more peas in the kettle than most people that I have seen, and I am very impressed with what the men and women of CENTCOM accomplish," said Gainey.

Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Curtis L. Brownhill, CENTCOM's senior enlisted leader, said he found Gainey's visit helpful and informative. "I liked the way Sergeant Major Gainey laid this down," he said. "The first combatant command he went to visit was (U.S. Northern Command), defense of the homeland, the regional command that is North America. He then came immediately to the combatant command that is the center of gravity right now in the global war on terror.

"So it was important for us to explain the command to him, and get him knowledgeable in certain areas that will lay the foundation to get him started in his duties," Brownhill added.

Gainey worked prior to this assignment as the command sergeant major for Multinational Corps Iraq, so he brings to this job an understanding of the joint environment and its challenges, he said. "The challenge is to get everyone to speak to each other," the sergeant major said. "You have the (combatant command) senior enlisted leaders and the services' senior enlisted leaders. One of the challenges I have is to try and get them talking to each other, realizing when we all work together ... all the services benefit," said Gainey.

Biography:

Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, USA [http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_gainey.html]

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