ULM, Germany - The new Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) of the Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), Command Sergeant Major Torsten Steinberger, is now on the job for five months. His first impressions in the NATO Headquarters at the Wilhelmsburg Barracks in Ulm are intense and colourful.
It was important for me to understand the Command and its tasks quickly
Torsten Steinberger, who overtook the position as CSEL from Warrant Officer Henry Sanday in July 2023, knew that the first weeks in a new position and a new environment are always challenging in different ways. But not this time, not at the Joint Support and Enabling Command in Ulm: “Everybody who was involved to get me into the position, city or house was working hard and with a lot of passion to make it as smooth as possible”, CSM Steinberger looks back to his first steps in the Wilhelmsburg Barracks. The Commander of JSEC, Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank had the german army soldier selected as CSEL and therewith given him the chance to contribute to the development of the Headquarter and NATO as a whole.
CSM Steinberger at his handover with Commander LTG Alexander Sollfrank and former CSEL, WO1 Henry Sanday. (OR-4 Gina Seegert)
The Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) is attending High Level visits at JSEC. (OR-4 Gina Seegert)
Command Sergeant Major Torsten Steinberger is now five months serving as the CSEL of JSEC. (OR-4 Gina Seegert)
CSM Torsten Steinberger with JSEC's DCOS Plans, Major General Gerry Ewart-Brookes. (OR-4 Gina Seegert)
One reason for this was the fact, that CSM Steinberger is part of the NATO Family since 2016 and appreciates the international environment of the work at JSEC. “This fosters the multinational awareness and shows what soldiers and civilians in NATO, arriving with different cultural backgrounds can achieve when they are fighting together for a bigger aim”, CSM Steinberger explains.
In his first four weeks the family father included a lot of meetings with regards to JSEC`s task and even more personal side talks with JSEC`s staff, which gave him the first impression how the Headquarter and its staff works and thinks. “As the new CSEL in a Command it was important for me to understand the Command and its tasks quickly. Knowing that the upcoming months will become a major period of exercises and high level visits guiding the Command into the future, adaptation to the workflow was my priority number one.”
He was very impressed how fast this Command was and is adapting to the multiple tasks and events JSEC has been facing during the second half of the year 2023. “I was especially impressed of our big step forward during Exercise Steadfast Jupiter 2023, where JSEC proofed that it is capable to contribute in a valuable way to NATO`s mission”, he says, and emphasizes: “This fact shows me that I am at the right place at the right time to get my personal footprint into the Headquarters as well.”