The first class began around the first of August 1967. The Infantry Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Class Number One graduated from the United State Infantry School at Ft. Benning on November 25, 1967. Major General John M. Wright, Jr. gave the introduction speech at the ceremony and Sergeant Major Wooldridge addressed the newly appointed noncommissioned officers.

To quote Sergeant Major Wooldridge, “at first there was opposition far and wide. The mail and phone calls were hot and heavy. In late August I had to prepare a message in the Army Digest giving my view on the course and responding to the major concern of NCOs in the field regarding promotion.”  Wooldridge went on the say ,”that Army leaders had great regard for the promise of the course and they were never disappointed with their results.”

In time, the Army concluded that their NCOC program not only looked good on paper, but also worked well in practice. The graduates, with their advanced training, were far better qualified to inherit a squad than the privates, who had served by default, during a firefight. Once their training was completed and they were deployed, these newly trained sergeants provided considerable relief to rifle companies in Vietnam. There were a few bad apples in the group, to be sure (as there are officers in the military services or managers in the civilian workforce), but most of the graduates responded to the philosophy at the root of their training: Make men believe they are leaders and they will become leaders.

"Follow me"

Little did we know at the time  how true this call was, we would learn later on the combat field.