"I
am confident in Command Sergeant Major Saliste's leadership abilities and look
forward to having him join the ACO Command Team" said General
Scaparrotti. "His experience, knowledge,
and commitment to the service members and mission make him especially qualified
to assume this important duty, one that Command Sergeant Major Petek has honorably
served with distinction over the past three and a half years."
Command
Sergeant Major Saliste is
currently the Command Sergeant Major of the Estonian Defence Forces, the first
to hold the position, and is responsible for the readiness, the development and
training of the EDF Non-Commissioned Officers.
He is a combat
veteran who deployed multiple times in support of NATO operations including: as
the command senior enlisted leader of the NATO-led international peacekeeping
force, Kosovo Force in 1999; as a scout platoon sergeant in the NATO-led
Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and as the Situation Awareness Centre sergeant major in support of the NATO-led
security mission in Afghanistan, International Security Assistance Force. Additionally, Command Sergeant Major Saliste has also
served at Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg, Germany, now NATO's Allied Land Command, as the G7 sergeant major, sergeant major of the Situation Cell, and
operations sergeant major for the Joint Coordination Centre.
He will succeed Command Sergeant Major Davor Petek, who has served in
that position since June 2015, on April 30, 2019.
"Command Sergeant Major Saliste brings a wealth of experience and
passion to the job," said Command
Sergeant Major Petek. "The
position is demanding. The responsibility is great. And, I know, Command Sergeant Major Saliste is the right person to continue
improving the NATO noncommissioned officer corps."
Command
Sergeant Major Saliste is a
graduate of Class 57 of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
The Command Senior Enlisted Leader serves as the Supreme Allied
Commander Europe's personal adviser on matters affecting the enlisted force. CSEL
is responsible for mentoring the Alliance's enlisted force and representing
their needs to the leadership.
The CSEL ensures the NATO NCO Bi-Strategic Command Strategy and
NCO Guidelines are nested with SACEUR's command priorities; establishes
policies, procedures, and responsibilities for all organizations within Allied Command
Operations to plan and execute NCO and junior enlisted personnel development
programs; and works closely with Allied Command Transformation to ensure NATO
School's distance learning courses are current, relevant, and nested with the
resident curriculum.
Story by SHAPE
Public Affairs Office