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4A The Scout FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015
Dempsey emphasizes trust at West Point graduation
By Jim Garamone generally is given to an NCO who influ- D. MYLES CULLEN, DOD
enced and prepared an officer for com- Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivers the commencement address
DOD News, Defense Media Activity mand. It is a symbolic passing of the at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Saturday.
torch by the NCO, who transitions from
WEST POINT, N.Y. — The chair- mentor to subordinate. Another thread got a package in the mail containing a wanted to deliver one important mes-
man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reversed in the tradition says new officers “buy” framed dollar bill that he had signed sage to them: “We trust you.”
the first-salute tradition for new officers their first salute and then earn all others and a note that read, “Dear General
during the Class of 2015’s U.S. Military through their duty performance. Dempsey, I told you I would return this “We trust you to win our nation’s
Academy commencement Saturday. to you when you made general. Sorry it wars, to be leaders of character and
The first salute “is symbolic of the took me so long to send it back to you. competence and consequence,” he said.
Military tradition is that newly com- respect and trust that exist between Sincerely, Bernie Henderson.” “We trust you to leave our profession
missioned officers give a dollar to the leader and led within our profession,” better than you found it.
noncommissioned officers, or NCOs, Dempsey said. “In return, you will give “That was his way of letting me know
who render them their first salute. But the individual, who salutes you a dollar, I had earned his trust,” the general said. “As I shake your hand on this stage
today, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey gave indicating that they can count on you to “Among the many awards and citations today,” he continued, “I’ll give you each
each of the 994 new second lieutenants earn their trust, not just today, but every I’ve received throughout my career, it is a dollar bill that I’ve signed. In the years
an autographed dollar bill to signify his day throughout your career.” one of my most treasured possessions. ahead, as you confront the challenges
trust in them. ahead, I hope you remember not who
Dempsey’s first salute 41 years ago Dempsey told the graduates that he gave it to you, but what it means.”
It was a fitting tribute from one end was from Army Master Sgt. Bernie
of “the Long Gray Line” to the other. Henderson, an NCO in the Military
Dempsey, the military’s highest-ranking Academy’s department of military in-
officer, graduated from the U.S. Mili- struction. Dempsey had met him during
tary Academy in 1974. He retires later training on Fort Knox, Kentucky, and
this year. throughout his cadet career, the sergeant
was someone he could turn to when he
According to a Defense Department had questions about how to relate to the
handbook titled, “The Armed Forces Of- NCO Corps.
ficer,” the first-salute tradition goes back
to the founding of the U.S. Army during “He took my first salute,” the general
the Revolutionary War. At that time, of- told the graduates. “I signed a dollar bill
ficers paid NCOs to mentor them as they and handed it to him. We went our sepa-
learned the profession of a Soldier. rate ways.”
Giving an NCO a dollar for the first About a year ago, Dempsey said, he
salute is a throwback to that tradition. It
