Do you think Rank equals ability to get the job done?

No. Good leadership equals the ability to get the job done. If we train and mentor our soldiers to the standard or above we can complete any job.

View from the bottom.. Of course not.. View from the top... Of course. Depends on your particular point of view and experiences. Bottom line is that promotion is a sign of time in service and accumulated education/experience/skill/leadership and the expectation that those traits are going to help you succeed in completing assigned missions and training your subordinates to the best of their abilities. It's not a guarantee. We've all had bosses whom we have had to make look good...and we've all been in awe of a superior officer.

No it does not. When I first got promoted to E-5, I was ordered by my senior leadership to sponsor an E-4 for the E-5 board. I was young in my career and did as I was told, even though I didn't agree with the decision. The same scenario presented itself for a second time in my career a year or so later with a different Soldier. I expressed my disagreement with the decision to send this Soldier to the board and was told to do as I was directed. These 2 Soldiers were sent to the board because they were eligible and nothing more. About 3 years later, I had this situation show its ugly face again. After the second time, I had told myself I would never take a 3rd Soldier to the board who didn't deserve to go. This happened to be a Soldier I had for about 2 years. I had been in the Army for about 7.5 yrs at this point. This particular Soldier was back-and-forth on and off the Army Weight Control Program every 6 months for the 2 yrs I was Supervisor. He would bust tape; get on the program; pass his weight about a month later; the next semi-annual APFT the same thing all over again. The last time this happened before I PCSed, I was told I was going to take him to the board. I refused and wrote a promotion counseling laying these points out in great detail. I was still told after writing this counseling to take him to the board. I said I would not and that this is why Officers and fellow NCO's are losing faith in the NCO Corps. I went on to say that a Soldier does not deserve to go to the E-5 Board just because they are eligible.

Definitely not! I had a 1SG who had never served in a tactical capacity during the 20+ years he was in, until he came to our unit. He had to have some tactical time to make his SGM. A SGT and I showed him how to prepare a range card and setup fields of fire for a fighting position at Ft Riley. I had privates who were more capable of a job than I was and I had them do it. Using the best assets for accomplishing the mission is more important than the rank of the people involved.

No. Rank seems to have become political as well as how to fill in the paperwork. What I'm trying to say is that enough friends and knowing which block to check will move someone up faster than doing a good job, having knowledge in your field and having the maturity and skills necessary to motivate your people.

I prefer common sense and experience!

It is the person, not the rank people, let there, to to there head.

All throughout our history there have been examples of formal leaders failing and informal leaders stepping up. I'd like to think that the formal leaders have the ability to accomplish the mission. Unfortunately, you can do all the right things to get you promoted and score high in all the soldier skills, but on the battle field, a different story! regardless of rank there are those formal leaders who cannot take the high stress of battle. Some lowly private may step up, assess the situation and take charge! It could even be the guy no one thought would ever get promoted. As leaders, it is our responsibility to make every soldier under us feel needed and important!

I'm gonna go with a big negative. I just finished up working with an Army Unit in Afghanistan. There were 3 of us working with them. It was myself (E3) an E4 and an E6 that was working with them. Of the three of us the Army trusted me most with getting the job done, because when it came to work I made sure I not only knew everything about my job but I knew how to do every job of every individual around me. When we finished working with them they only awarded one of us a Medal. And if you are the average military minded individual you would be wrong in guessing that that medal was awarded to the ranking individual.

I believe that the ability to get the job done comes from what is within a person, and not what he/she wears on the collar (so to speak).