GRINSTON'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS: SMA Says He and the Army Must Change the Service's Culture

摘要

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston has taken on a unique mission, trying to convince an Army built on uniformity, drills and common procedure to embrace its many differences. The 53-year-old native of Jasper, Alabama, who became the 16th sergeant major of the Army in August 2019, seeks to change Army culture in a move he believes will create stronger and more cohesive teams, from the squad level on up. In an interview, Grinston acknowledged the undertaking may be difficult, but the task isn't hard to understand. The Army needs to define the culture it finds acceptable, then stick to it, he said. That means acting when something happens outside the cultural norm. "When my children go to school and the teacher tells them [they] didn't bring their homework, do I say, 'I guess you should do your homework,' or do I call the teacher and say it is the teacher's fault?" he said as an example. "That is the culture I'm trying to get back, where we're responsible not just as an individual, but as a group."