Do you think NCO leadership is the same as it was 10-15 years ago?

well I did type a long post but, the website reset so I lost it all.
I have a very strong answer for this and more I think about it the madder I get.
I'm nd old Vietnam Jungle Fighter who also served in OND/OIF/OEF.
I will type my opinion and answer in notes them copy and paste at a later time
I have got to chill right now. This is a "HOT" and "Touchy" subject.

O hell No! NCO's and to a greater extent, the Officers are being Micro-Managed to the nth degree! And the one responsible is mr. obama and his minions.....! I am ashamed and dishonored that the Military is now being trained as Members and not as A TEAM! The Army flag will probably turn pink with a rainbow high light. NCO's think they have problems now...O brother you ain't seen nuttin' yet! NCOs play a key role in educating, training and inspiring the troops under their command because being part of the Army, an organization that instills pride in its personnel because of its history, mission, capabilities, and the respect it has earned in the service of the Nation and around the world. Wow, doesn’t that sound good...eight years ago and also when Ronald Reagan was our President, that statement was true! Not so much today...

It is tougher to be an NCO today. NCOs are not allowed to Supervise as they should. When we are more scared of hurting feelings than we are of failing our mission things are BAD.

Leaders need to focus on getting their people engaged. If the subordinates do not want to engage, show them the door ASAP! If military standards cannot be conformed to the standards do not need to be changed, the people need to be changed. IF you have leaders that do not want to lead, remove them. Promote on potential and performance and not on friendship and the buddy system.

Talking about the Army reserve, it is difficult to be the leader so many want to be, based on their own military upbringings. Leaders know days are like custodians "Head Start" etc, leaders have to analyze what are they going to say before engaging their mouth so that the subordinate don't get offended, so most leaders just look the other way forgetting that they are NCO's not sergeants leaders of men. Also in some occasions the chain of command don't help or back the NCO. So leadership was way better 15 years ago that today

No it isn't the same. One big reason is the moral decay in our society has infiltrated our military establishment. I could not in good conscience serve in an immoral military force.

I do not think leadership is the same today as it was 10 to 15 years ago. There is to many restrictions of what we can and can not do today. There is many traditions that help developed us to be the NCO's that we needed to be that are being called hazing today. I believe that the military is not for the soft feely and the civilians should stay out of the militaries business.

NCO leadership no has been too pussified. My initial enlistment was August of 1990. I have seen a lot of changes. Some good. Some not so much. The NCOs hands have been essentially tied by political correctness

No I do not! I just retired after 31 years and believe me 15 years ago before all the Combat tours the NCO Corps was definitely not the same. Today's young NCOs ore smart, agile and well read. They must adapt to a constantly changing Army that uses and relies upon technology to be more agile and lethal then ever, the NCOs of today must adapt to this and still provide that leadership to their young Soldiers. We expect them to balance Family life, Personal goals (education and promotion), spiritual goals and Social Goals equally well; all while leading America's most prized possessions....Our Sons and Daughters. All this is quite daunting and moves at 100 mph. Of course we fail sometimes, but do not blame what you see as "wrong" in the Army on the NCOs, we simply execute.

abn
v/r
Kevin P. Nolan
CSM(ret), USA

I was a NCO in the 1960's - S/Sgt and was in a Plt Sgt position. The Viet-Nam War made many changes in the Army. One very bad change was in the "institutional knowledge" of the NCO corps. It took years after Viet-Nam for the NCO Corps, as a whole, to regain or re-develop that knowledge and, in some instances, that prior "institutional knowledge" has been forever lost. I am still in touch with current AD NCOs and notice what has been lost.

I feel that because of Iraq and Afghanistan the soldiers and leaders of today are not the same as 10 or 15 years ago. I joined during Desert Storm and it was the same thing. Alot of people make in NCO positions because of us being at War, over time they slow down the promotion process and started to evaluate NCOs and leadership. We will soon get back to that with us going away from being at War. Currently I feel they promote too soon and too early soldiers who've never held a leadership role or position once this is seen they will reevaluate. We have seen this even with our NCO leadership courses in the past year.