Command Sergeant Major Ludek Kolesa

Army of the Czech Republic

Headquarters Allied Command Transformation

Senior Enlisted Advisor

Command Sgt. Maj. Ludek Kolesa was born in Litomerice, Czech Republic, on Dec. 14, 1961. During his university years at the Charles University in Prague he completed a two-year course for infantry platoon leaders.

He served as an enlisted Soldier from 1985 to 1987 before being employed as a Ministry of Defence (MoD) civilian until 1994.

In April 1994 he re-joined the Army of the Czech Republic as a private first class and was deployed with the United Nations Guard Contingent in Iraq (UNGCI) until May 1995 serving as a mobile team leader and later operations officer of Erbil Sector.

From 1995 till 2000 he served at the MoD Foreign Liaison Office as an executive assistant to the director, and later as a liaison officer. Between 2000 and 2003 he served at NATO HQ Brussels as an aide-de-camp of the military representative of the Czech Republic to the NATO Military Committee.

On 1 August 2003 he was appointed as the first-ever Command Sergeant Major of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. He then designed and executed the re-vitalization of his military’s NCO Corps during a period of intense transformation and reform. This reform was based on the U.S. Army NCO Corps structure.

CSM Kolesa graduated from the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Class 54, graduating in the top 20 percent of his class, and was awarded the “International Leadership Award.” In 2005 Kolesa graduated from the British Military Advisory and Training Team Senior Sergeant Majors Course.

In 2007 he was selected as Senior Enlisted Leader, NATO Supreme Allied Command Transformation.

His accomplishments also include serving as the Officer of primary Responsibility for the Senior NCO Orientation Course at the NATO school, traveling with the Supreme Allied Commander through three Partnership for Peace countries — Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — providing insights to help grow their respective NCO Corps.

CSM Kolesa is the primary mover in promoting the significant contributions that NCOs make to their service, Nation and NATO. With his vision and persistence, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation have come together to construct a charter that will serve as the guideline for expectations of NATO’s senior enlisted leaders. This charter focuses on the concepts of leadership, standards, proficiency and training.