Hopefully someone can shed some light on a story I've heard a few times. During a professional military education program (Airman Leadership School) we were told that after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there was a sort of student exchange program for military members of Russia and the US. When the Russian officers observed US officers, they found that by and large, they had very similar characteristics. However, when observing the US NCO Corps, they commented that they were leaps and bounds ahead of their Soviet counterparts in terms of training and experience .
I always suspected that this was an exercise in stroking our egos and I can't find any information to show me otherwise.
State Partnership Programs certainly existed and still do, but there is nothing on this particular story.
Was there such a disparity in the NCOs of both militaries? One that can be supported in terms of available training and other resources I mean.
This is actually a real thing. The Soviets had a conscript military, and their "senior NCOs" tended simply to be conscripts who were nearing the end of their term. There were very, very few enlisted lifers in the Soviet military; as a result, the competence, professionalism, and breadth of experience displayed by senior NCOs in the American armed forces was simply not a part of the Soviet system.
In fact, Soviet NCOs didn't even necessarily set the tone for day-to-day life in a unit. Service time often mattered more than rank -- a first-year sergeant who tried to throw his weight around with third-year conscripts would soon come to regret it.
So yes, Soviet NCOs really were very different creatures. I can easily believe American NCOs would make a strong impression on Russian officers.
Source: "The Collapse of the Soviet Military" by William Odom, which has a great chapter about barracks life in the Soviet Union. It's about $5 used on Amazon if you're interested.
(Disclaimer: I'm not a professional historian. If someone posts a reply saying "No, no, this guy has it all wrong," bear my lack of credentials in mind when evaluating who's right. :) )