What is the difference between a Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL) and a Senior Enlisted Advisor (SEA) in the military?

CSM Eric Olsen — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:16:07 -0500

I have my suspicions but can someone provide any kind of doctrinal reference? I am gratefully working with partnered countries in the Atlantic Resolve footprint and each country uses different terms for their senior NCOs.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 25 at 2018 6:22 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:22:18 -0500

I'm not finding anything doctrinal, and what I am finding is that the names are basically synonymous with each other, but then what I am finding isn't from actual military related sites. The best place I even found an answer was Wikipedia, but we all know how "accurate" that site can be.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Jan 25 at 2018 7:01 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:01:49 -0500

SEL: Senior Enlisted Personnel in a Leadership Position
SEA: Senior Enlisted Personnel in an advisory, non leadership Position.

I don't know that doctrinally it really gets more complicated that that...

Response by CSM Eric Olsen made Jan 26 at 2018 8:05 AM

CSM Eric Olsen — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 08:05:17 -0500

Thanks for the effort! Wikipedia is not always the enemy!

Response by SFC Vernon McNabb made Jan 26 at 2018 9:23 AM

SFC Vernon McNabb — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 09:23:35 -0500

The way I see it, CSM Eric Olsen, is that the SEL is also an advisor to his/her counterpart (i.e. 1SG to Company Commander, BN CSM to BN Commander, etc). An SEA would be more in line with the relationship between an Ops NCO (MSG) to the S-3 (MAJ) at the BN level. The Ops NCO would also advise the CSM in the BN. The line between SEL and SEA is somewhat gray, but this is how I would delineate between them. As far as there being something doctrinal, I am unaware.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2018 10:35 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:35:06 -0500

CSM Eric Olsen, when I worked for a DoD Agency in DC I served as the SEA for a civilian Director. Each Directorate had a SEA to manage the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines scattered around the globe. Now that I'm in NATO, we have a CSEL who is a foreign senior NCO to the Commander of our Joint Forces. He is responsible for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines of all 29 NATO nations.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 2 at 2018 1:50 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 13:50:26 -0400

Some great answers here. In my opinion I think all Senior NCOs are Senior Enlisted Leaders. We done have consultants in the Army, so why use the term “Advisor”. Officers advise as well, yet we only have two titles; Commander or Staff Officer. Yet we all advise the Commander and support them in managing the mission and the unit. I really do prefer the term Senior Enlisted Leader, because at the end of the day all NCO are leaders of Soldiers. Great question CSM, good luck with your training mission.