Command Sergeant Major Dave Pendry in his excellent book, The Three-Meter Zone, is doing what noncommissioned officers have been doing forever: teaching, coaching, and mentoring soldiers and other noncommissioned officers. What sets this book apart is that we are provided the opportunity to "sit in" on a counseling session. This makes us all beneficiaries of Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Pendry's wisdom.

All readers, soldiers, NCOs and officers are getting advice from their units' senior NCO, with no appointment necessary. This counseling session is conducted in a non-threatening environment and absolutely of the record: it gets no better than this.

Thee Three-Meter Zone doesn't hesitate to expose common lapses in judgement among NCOs. Pendry gives us examples of what we do correctly, while balancing these with other examples of what not to do. Whether or not we agree with his views, his words are always thought provoking.

Command Sergeant Major Pendry manages to simplify complex concepts and put them into words we all can understand and profit by. His use of examples and diagrams makes it easy to follow. When he adds a few theories of his own, they help to clarify and compliment the more difficult concepts. The end result is a splendid and at times humorous book that once started is hard to put down.

Noncommissioned officers are, at this very moment around the world, leading, training, and caring for soldiers. That's what we expect of them and it's been that way for more than 200 years. Most, if not all, of the sage advice from NCOs goes unrecorded, lost to all but a few who pass it on to the next generations of corporals and sergeants. Command Sergeant Major Pendry has corrected this problem by providing The Three-Meter Zone for our future guidance. I hope the book inspires other NCOs to record their own leadership lessons, making it the first of many such publications.

The Three-Meter Zone was written by one of the NCO Corps best and brightest noncommissioned officers. He discusses army values in "user friendly" terms. It is well written with important messages for army leaders, past present, and future.

I highly recommend that all NCOs, both active and reserve component, read The Three-Meter Zone and make it a permanent part of their personal professional libraries.

Command Sergeant Major Jimmie Spencer, USA (Ret), Director of Enlisted Affairs, Association of the United States Army