I take a lot of pride in being a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. I love being in front of soldiers training and leading and setting an example. So often in the Army we come across many NCOs that shouldn’t be allowed to be in front of soldiers. Some of us work so hard to learn as much as we can so that we can progress and pass down knowledge. In my opinion, the system that the Army had was flawed. I’ve heard many people say it’s about who you know when it comes to getting promoted at the centralized level. I personally believe that some NCO’s do what they are supposed to do in accordance with the regulations but are being promoted without being fully qualified.
In January 2016, the Army expanded the standard for promotion across the board using the systemic program designed to enforce promotion standards called the S.T.E.P. (Select, Train, Educate, Promote) program. The S.T.E.P. program is designed to educate Soldiers before promoting them. Soldiers are selected based upon potential but once you are promoted, you are expected to have a specific amount of knowledge for that skill level. S.T.E.P ensures that this will happen.
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program is very beneficial to the overall growth and professional development of the Army. Before the S.T.E.P. program, we had leaders being promoted to the next rank without completing the Non Commissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) for that level of promotion. These schools are designed to promote the Army’s greatest leaders. How do we have Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, and Sergeants First Class failing NCOES after having been promoted to that next level? They were promoted without being evaluated by the Army standards. How can they train their soldiers to be ready for the next level when clearly they were not? This program has put a stop to just being promoted off of the point
The United States Army has been a leader in military prowess on the world stage since its inception in 1775, and with such a record, it is reasonably assumed that there must be solid foundation within the organization working to maintain the high level of performance. The Noncommissioned Officer Corps is one institution within the Army that serves as a large portion of this foundation that makes it the fighting force that it has always been, and the noncommissioned officers have been an integral piece since the very inception of the Army. The Prussian General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, organizer of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps, encapsulated this idea when he coined the noncommissioned officer (NCO) as the backbone of the Army. (Arms, 1991) In an Army that is continuously adjusting to world around it while maintaining its status as the military leader to all other nations, the Noncommissioned Officer Corps has always provided the platform for continuity through a growing rank system based on its original core, an evolving training program to develop effective leaders, and a creed that moves us forward while remembering the rich history of the corps that came before us.
All cadets can be found to be more responsible and dependable than most others. They have little area for horseplay and no room for negligence or error. Every “real world” op that Civil Air Patrol does can have a negative result if all parties are not giving it their full effort. Every operation that Civil Air Patrol does, whether it is training or not, has to be executed with discipline and ultimate control to receive the best outcome available.
We can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
When I joined the U.S Army I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. Once I arrived at Fort Benning, GA for Basic Training, I noticed that most of the NCO’s were just yelling a lot. As an eighteen year old Private (PVT) straight out of high school, I didn’t know how a good leader was supposed to act. After Basic Training, I went to Schofield Barrack, HI, which was my first duty station and I expected the yelling to continue. The first person I met upon my arrival was a Sergeant (SGT) Buchan. SGT Buchan was very helpful in getting me settled into a barracks room and explaining to me what I needed to do. SGT Buchan was not what I was expecting after arriving. My first impression of SGT Buchan was that she was very nice and seemed to actually be interested in who I was and what my future goals were.
As our forefathers before us stated, ‘‘No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of soldiers. As a Noncommissioned Officer, I realize that I am a member of a time honored corps, which is known as “The Backbone of the Army (“The NCO Creed writing by SFC Earle Brigham and Jimmie Jakes Sr”). These words to Noncommissioned Officer should inspire us to the fullest with pride, honor, and integrity. The NCO creed should mean much more than just words whenever we attend a NCO’s school. For most of us this is what our creed has become because we learn to narrate or recite. The military from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard has an overabundance of NCOs who fall under their pay grade of E-5, E-6 and etc. Yet somehow there still not enough leaders. I believe that the largest problem afflicting the military today is our lack of competent leaders, ineffective leader development, and how we influence our subordinates under us who are becoming leaders.
My leadership can expect a top tier performer who strives to be one of the most competent Non-commissioned Officer’s within the unit. I will do this by adhering to the regulations, unit sop’s and any other guidance which governs my section. I will ensure my soldiers do the same, holding them to strict but attainable standards and expecting nothing less. I will teach, coach, counsel, and mentor these soldiers-teaching them what a leader is and grooming them to be leaders also.
The role of the Warrant Officer in the United States Army is not difficult to define, but I believe it hard to see because we were always the quiet professional behind the scenes. The Army defines a Warrant Officer as “a self-aware and adaptive technical expert, combat leader, trainer and advisor. Through progressive levels of expertise in assignments, training and education, the warrant officer administers, manages, maintains, operates, and integrates Army systems and equipment across the full spectrum of army operations. Warrant officers are innovative integrators of emerging technologies, dynamic teachers, confident warfighters and developers of specialized teams of Soldiers.” (Commissioned Officer Professional
I joined the U.S. Army as a private, during basic training and my first duty station would influence my thoughts and shape my mind of the knowledge a Noncommissioned Officer should possess. As a Noncommissioned Officer you will place the needs of your soldiers above your own, just as it is stated in the Noncommissioned Officer’s Creed. Some junior leaders are incompetent by not knowing how to take care of their soldiers and do not live by the very creed that should help define and shape us as competent and trustworthy Noncommissioned Officers. Regardless of the rank, from command sergeant major to a corporal, they should all strive to know their soldiers, place their soldier needs before their own, and lead from the front.
Webster’s dictionary defines the word profession as a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill. Many Soldiers would not consider the Army as a profession but a way of life. Some think the word profession belongs to everyday jobs like a plumber, mechanic, or doctor. Dr. Don M. Snider stated “the Army is a profession because of the expert work it produces, because the people in the Army develop themselves to be professionals, and because the Army certifies them as such” (Snider, D. M. 2008). In October 2010, the Secretary of the Army directed the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to lead an Army wide assessment of the state of the Army Profession. We have been at war as a Country for over a decade and the Army wanted to know how to shape the future of the Army as a profession and the effects the past decade had on our profession.
...issue, it will create a psychological and an emotional gap between the victim and the NCO. In addition, it will produce a hostile unit environment, especially if the NCO took the offender’s side. NCOs must take full responsibility for their own actions and mistakes. Denying problems or pretending they did not exist when confronted, will result in a negative reaction, which will worsen the situation. In addition, NCOs must recognize how prejudice are their decision making processes, be aware of other Soldiers feelings when making decisions or taking any additional actions. NCOs must identify how their behavior and performance affect others, especially their subordinates. Finally, if all NCOs followed and lived the NCO creed and the Army values, they will success and achieve the military goals by creating a positive equal opportunity climate in their place of duty.
Army Regulation 600-20, Paragraph 2-18b (3), Army Command Policy, states "NCOs are assistants to commanders in administering minor nonpunitive corrective actions." Note nonpunitive measures are not the same as nonjudicial punishment, which only may be directed by commanding officers.
In the NAVY, initially our technical rate training utilized more of the Behaviorist learning theory. As learners our teachers were focused on changing our behaviors and modifying them from the civilian way of thinking to building a solid military foundation from which to build upon. It was John B. Watson an American psychologist who codified and publicized behaviorism that said, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I 'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and the race of his ancestors” (Mcleod, S. 2008). This is exactly what was taking in place in boot camp, we were those infants. After mastering those basic skills and learning from all the trial and errors we transitioned into the progressive learning philosophy. The Progressive philosophy enabled us to pass on the knowledge learned from all our trial and errors to others. We started solving problems, as our equipment broke down we started trouble shooting and repairing the equipment ensuring our submarine was able to stay underway and complete the mission. With the downsizing of our military our leaders were constantly looking for new ways to do our jobs with fewer personnel more ...
Non-Commissioned Officers are deficient in vital areas of leadership due to a lack of training. This leads to inexperienced Soldiers becoming inexperienced leaders. The NCO corps needs to develop and enforce comprehensive interactive training that will challenge the next generation to achieve a functional level of communication skills before advancing to leadership positions. This will generate leaders who can write effectively, speak meritoriously and teach adaptively while training others to do the same.
In the United States Army, there are two categories of rank structure, the enlisted corps and the commissioned corps. The enlisted corps within itself contains leaders, who are referred to as Noncommissioned Officers, or NCOs. These individuals, whose ranks range from Sergeant to Sergeant Major, are responsible implementing the guidance and command policies provided by the Commissioned Officers and commanders in their units. NCOs are also responsible for the welfare and training of junior personnel. The US Army provides regulations and manuals with step by step guidance for the most trivial of tasks, but it fails to spell out specific and concrete information on how to be an NCO. There are publications, such as “The Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer” and regulations on leadership, but they lack specificity and objective instruction for how to accomplish the aforementioned responsibilities of an NCO. The knowledge and skills of an NCO are instead acquired through training and experience, the products of which are NCOs of varying quality. A good NCO is one who knows and fulfills the written laws and regulations of Army doctrine, has the character of a good soldier and leader, and is able to strike a balance between written law and doing what is right even if the two seem to contradict one another.
...the AFP to maintain or to convince personnel with technical skills to stay in the service. PQF deals with package of competence, defining a particular function or job role, it covers the work activities required to undertake a particular job, and therefore it will address job skills mismatch. In addition, soldiers who choose to remain in the AFP will be having a high sense of nationalism and patriotism. In the AFP’s education and training system, this will enhance the competencies of trainers or instructors within the standard of the national education sector.