Posted on Oct 20, 2014
Are Senior NCOs of today glorified social workers?
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We are soldiers. We also have a vast array of additional duties and responsibilities.
We take care of our soldiers and their families. We get the call at 3 am in the morning when Pvt Snuffy is arrested. Or when Sgt. Willie and her husband get in a fight. Or when....well, you get the point. Is it too much or too little?
We take care of our soldiers and their families. We get the call at 3 am in the morning when Pvt Snuffy is arrested. Or when Sgt. Willie and her husband get in a fight. Or when....well, you get the point. Is it too much or too little?
Leadership
Responsibility
Family
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
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Having read SGT Richard H. 's comment, and going off of my own intuition, I would say that on some level, it has been that way since the NCO creed was first penned. That being said, I would submit to you that with the every increasing sense of entitlement among the millennials currently in our ranks, it has and will continue to get worse as long as our culture and society breed apathy towards being dependent on the government and others. The "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality is gone.
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SGM (Join to see) , COL Jean (John) F. B. . SFC (Join to see) , SGT Richard H. , MSG Wade Huffman
COL Burleson and fellow NCOs, Not much to add here. I agree with all the comments. As a leader I accepted the calls at 0 Dark Thirty, the crisis intervention, and the inventive nature of Soldiers and dependents. I do think one important factor is: while doing this, you still have to take care of your family and resolve problems of your own.
A great CSM I worked for once looked me in the eye and said "SFC Finck, you do a great job of taking care of all of your Soldiers but one." I scratched my head and he said, "you, SFC Finck, you." Selfless service is a value we all seemingly took to heart, and the accomplishments I reflect on most are with regards to taking care of Soldiers.
This brings up another discussion about youth and promotions. I found that life experience is an important addition to NCOES and technical and tactical proficiency for NCOs and SNCOs. Most of what we are discussing here needs some life experience to provide advice.
Thank you all for a great discussion so far,
COL Burleson and fellow NCOs, Not much to add here. I agree with all the comments. As a leader I accepted the calls at 0 Dark Thirty, the crisis intervention, and the inventive nature of Soldiers and dependents. I do think one important factor is: while doing this, you still have to take care of your family and resolve problems of your own.
A great CSM I worked for once looked me in the eye and said "SFC Finck, you do a great job of taking care of all of your Soldiers but one." I scratched my head and he said, "you, SFC Finck, you." Selfless service is a value we all seemingly took to heart, and the accomplishments I reflect on most are with regards to taking care of Soldiers.
This brings up another discussion about youth and promotions. I found that life experience is an important addition to NCOES and technical and tactical proficiency for NCOs and SNCOs. Most of what we are discussing here needs some life experience to provide advice.
Thank you all for a great discussion so far,
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COL Jean (John) F. B.
SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS
You make some great points. I was guilty of taking care of others more than myself, as well. That was pointed out to me by one of the officers who was assigned with me on multiple occasions. It was a clear case of "can't see the forest for the trees". I needed to take a step back and put my family first, or, at least at the same level of the soldiers' families in my units.
I was blessed with a great wife and super sons and never experienced the problems so many do, however, in retrospect, I should have spent more time tending to their needs and wants (many of which were simply to have some attention from me). I regret not doing that and, as they say, you can't get those times back.
Leaders need to take care of themselves and their families. Too many lose sight of that.
You make some great points. I was guilty of taking care of others more than myself, as well. That was pointed out to me by one of the officers who was assigned with me on multiple occasions. It was a clear case of "can't see the forest for the trees". I needed to take a step back and put my family first, or, at least at the same level of the soldiers' families in my units.
I was blessed with a great wife and super sons and never experienced the problems so many do, however, in retrospect, I should have spent more time tending to their needs and wants (many of which were simply to have some attention from me). I regret not doing that and, as they say, you can't get those times back.
Leaders need to take care of themselves and their families. Too many lose sight of that.
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Military leaders are concerned for the welfare of their personnel 24/7/365, unlike civilian counterparts, who, for the most part, simply don't care what happens off-duty (unless security clearances are impacted).
Having said that, I don't think there is any question that the military is used to push certain social agendas, which I think is very unfortunate. As I used to tell folks, "we are the US Army, not the Salvation Army". The resilience and ability to adapt is a testament to the great NCOs and officers in the military.
Having said that, I don't think there is any question that the military is used to push certain social agendas, which I think is very unfortunate. As I used to tell folks, "we are the US Army, not the Salvation Army". The resilience and ability to adapt is a testament to the great NCOs and officers in the military.
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SGM (Join to see)
Col Burleson--great quote! Agree. As a Sgt Major/CSM I sure did feel like a social worker much of the time. In fact, there were instances where more than 50% of my time went to handling people/family problems. Once, I was in the PX at Ramstein and some young wives next to me were talking about how to create a situation where they could force the command to send them home via "early return of dependents"..another time a soldier went to AER to get money to travel home for a funeral of her child back in the states not withstanding emergency travel, then returned to ask for more money; others bouncing checks; another doused his friend in gasoline after PT because he thought his wife slept with his friend (he was wrong); could fill a book with this stuff.
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COL Jean (John) F. B.
SGM (Join to see)
SGM Coberly -- I think that just about any military leader could write a book about such things... :-) Made life interesting, though, didn't it? I would gladly do it all over again. OK .. maybe not "all", but certainly most of it.
SGM Coberly -- I think that just about any military leader could write a book about such things... :-) Made life interesting, though, didn't it? I would gladly do it all over again. OK .. maybe not "all", but certainly most of it.
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SGM (Join to see)
COL Burleson--agree. Most of it. Had some real cartoon characters above and below once upon a time. Can only hope I was not one of them.
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