Is today's Army an officer's Army?

Officers and NCOs function at different levels. Company grade officers rely on NCOs to execute the mission and insure that soldiers meet the standards that are required of them. A young officer who ignores his NCOs does so at his own peril. Officers can't function without good NCOs. I have been out of the Army for a very long time now, but I believe that one thing is always true, without good NCOs no Army can succeed.

Today's Army is OUR Army. It is not an Officer Army, or a NCO Army, or a WO Army, or a Junior Enlisted Army. It is a fighting force comprised of all ranks who have specified and implied roles within the organizational structure that ensure its success in peacetime and in war. It is imperative that we all understand our role, assist others with theirs, and move OUR Army to the next level. We owe that to our Nation, ourselves, and to those who have served before us.

Over many diffrantunits lve seen when the NCOs snap to and show their sefves to get people to accomplish the orders as given to them be there before your troops and your officers know your mission and mos and know the regs. Take care of your people and see to it that your officer has little to do or nothing. You receive a mission from that officer the less he has to do the more time he has to plan the better it is for both. You squad leaders train your men so the plt Sgt can supply you train sgts and advise the plt leader and run interference. All this gives the top Sgt to ck NCO training and advise and protect his commander. No officer wants to do your job but if you don't he thinks he has to when that happens it messes up that is for his net unit and makes NCOs not relevant and is bad for everyone.

Officers are officers, a good NCO can make or break a officer. Rules and regulation are a NCOs best friend. During my time I have seen a less trained Officer's. Being a old dog MSG O1 to O4 would not usually tangle with me.
Please do not get me wrong I had some very fine Officer's as leaders from O2 on up.
A good Officer will take advise from the NCO,s.

I completely disagree with this. If an NCO believes that this is an "Officers Army" then they're doing something wrong. Every soldier's first steps in the any branch of the service are first molded by 1st class NCO's, from basic training all the way to AIT, OCS, WLC, CCC, ect...

The most sage & sound advice I receive is from my PSG, TOP & my training NCO....while I might have the power on paper, its the NCO's that get the job done & accomplish the mission.

It's always been the NCOs job to make sure that officer gets the right information so we can make the right decision...

I feel this post is very much generated from someone who has had a bad experience with officers somewhere in their career (and who hasn't). Before becoming a Warrant Officer I was an E-6, and though I never held a command position I was privy to enough to both sides of the house to see how each operates. This is my opinion on the topic:

- The Officer / NCO core roles and responsibilities have not changed since the Army has been around. AR 600-20 and other publications outline this. Commissioned officers command, Non-commissioned officers execute orders and lead soldiers, and Warrant Officers are awesome at everything. Yes you do have Officers that cross the line and NCOs that do the same.

- The reason why this post is even a topic is because as a 2nd order effect from 2 wars many, many seasoned NCOs left the Army. As such The Army does what it does when it can' draft people and that is to lower standards. I think everyone who reads this will know what I mean. With that said you get NCOs that either don't know how to make time for sergeants time or don't know how to feel like they have power.

- The mission, whether that be taking the hill or doing motor pool 4 more times, is because it is command policy and it's up for debate. It isn't your lack of power. The how is. NCO are the craft of all ranks and instead of being in the motor pool doing nothing but bitch the whole time (in my example) about how the command is fucked up and how you're getting out, use that time to teach your Joes something that they can use. Even if it isn't combat related.

Maybe I'm old and old Warrants don't have power anymore. ;-)

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Kind of an odd question, and I don't mean that disrespectfully. But NCOs and Officers have different missions. NCO is there to train the troops, take care of the troops, and execute the mission. The officer shares some of that responsibility, but their focus is, and should be, on the mission, and on administrative issues. I've known good officers and bad officers, but I've also known NCOs who were without question experts in their field, but on the other hand I've known some who didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. An officer can learn, and should learn from his NCOs, but an NCO who believes an officer couldn't possibly have anything to teach him isn't worth the thread it took to sew on his rank.

An NCO only has a % of the total reach of the officer that is appointed over them...so this question makes no sense. I would argue that we are not in an "officer's army" though...we are in a "politician's army".

It's not about how "enlisted" or "officers" feel, or the amount of $$$ they make. It is about the mission, the Oath we took to the Constitution and our Country.

It parallels our Government, which isn't broken, yet full of people wanting more for themselves than their constituents ( what to I need to say to be re-elected. )

I had the privileged to meet the CSM of the Army, and he said that NCO's (e-5 to e- infinity) didst trust their fellow, albeit, lesser ranking NCO's, and was hindering our mission capability.

Guys, Brothers and Sisters, get your head out of your ass and do your job. Do more PT. Take all the schools you can. Then do more PT, because somewhere in America, there is a family depending on you to protect them.

HALF RIGHT, FACE!
Wynn