Is today's Army an officer's Army?

This discussion could get hairy, because everyone has a competing point of view. When I reported to my first unit as a newly minted 2LT, with a college degree, a little over a year reserve time, and four years in law enforcement, I thought I knew quite a bit. I was wrong. My PSG was a cranky old SF MSG who believed that an NCO's primary job was to train new LT's. I am glad he did. I learned a lot from that guy during my first year as a PL and HHB XO. My next PSG was not as flamboyant, but was certainly cut from the same roll of razor tape. . And I had fun doing it. I worked alongside my troops in the field, not always over them. Later in my career, as a Signal officer in a combat arms environment, I fought the philosophy that a Signal guy should be solely a staff wienie to the point that my Signal troops always had the additional assignment as battalion OPFOR. I loved tactical stuff, and so did my troops. You can only run so much wire before it becomes boring.

Yeah, an officer's job often calls for him to be involved in staff work, planning, and general paperwork drills. But he also has to participate in the training that makes his people a team. You can't lead soldiers from outside the loop. But you don't try to do the NCO's job, either. MSG Cranky told me that if I wanted to do his job, he'd let me. And after I was thoroughly overcome and everything was FUBAR, he'd step in and save my butt. We came to a satisfactory modus vivendi. I let him take care of the troops, and he let me play with them when my other duties allowed.

So what are the general duties of officers and NCO's? Obviously, both lead troops. The officer's job is generally to write the training schedule in garrison, coordinate resources, and make sure the training happens. The NCO's conduct the training, and the officers check to make sure it's done to standard, and after the training is complete, everyone does the AAR. Officers get to be glorified bean counters, sometimes. NCO's not so much. Officers must often get between their troops and other officers, and protect them from being screwed with, so they can get their work done. Sometimes that means you get on the bad side of your rater. So be it. This part of the job should be transparent to the NCO's and troops. Officers also need to look out for the welfare of their troops. That's a nebulous job description, but it means seeing to it, personally sometimes, that the troops have hot chow in the field (I climbed a mountain one night taking hot food to my guys. It was cold by the time I got up there, and they were roasting hot dogs over a roaring fire in a blockhouse. But they appreciated the effort.)
You dig fighting positions and latrines, fill sand bags, and do whatever else you can to make sure your folks are secure. Officers need to sweat with their troops. You'll sure as hell bleed with them when the time comes.

NCO's are directly responsible for the troops and how, when, where, and with what materials they do their jobs. For all intents and purposes, they are on auto pilot. An officer who tries to do an NCO's job will undercut the NCO's efforts and likely screw things up. Patton once said you must tell a man what you want him to do, and let him figure out how to do it. NCO's are great at figuring stuff out, if you let them.

I don't hang around the Army much anymore. I live too far from any posts to be able to rub shoulders with troops now. But I seriously doubt that the Army is going to break tradition and let officers take over the duties of NCO's. They'd be nuts to try.

I think it's more about influence than power. Through personal experience, I can say that the hurry up and promote attitude that existed for so long has truly caught up with us. I had 4 NCOICs in a period of a year. Each one looked great on paper, each one failed or struggled to either lead, keep up with the workload, or both.
If I am lacking that quality partnership what am I going to do? Sit idly by and watch the world burn? No, I am going to be both entities. I will plan & execute, I will counsel my Soldiers, I will do both jobs.
It's not a matter of a power grab, it's a matter of the wellbeing of the Soldiers and the completion of the mission.
The army is working on thinning the herd, it sucks for those being cut, but everyone I know that were chosen by the OSB or the QSB/QMP all had either derogs, or issues of repeated incompetence.

It is a Soldier's Army, and we as NCO's are wholly responsible for Soldiers. We have come up short in recent years as a corps fulfilling our responsibilities. Often overlooked is that we are also responsible for training and mentoring officers. If the confidence our Commanders and commissioned leadership have in our ranks and corps is receding, which I believe it is, it is due to a performance recession on our part and not a climate shift. Only way to solve it is to be part of the solution and change focus from personal gratification to leading by example, as a corps.

My thoughts:

This same question has been floating around for many years and will continue to do so in the future. That being said it has nothing to do with power. It has everything to do with influence. Officers may give the direct order to execute a task/mission but it is not without risk. Risk management/responsibility falls on the officer and not the NCO as they are the ones assuming the risk. That risk could be anything from the possibility of the loss of life to not having enough water for troops while on a field training exercise.

NCOs on the other hand usually or should have the experience to influence the decision of the Officer. Hence why a CSM is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the BN/BDE/DIV commander just as the 1SG is to the company commander. An NCO's authority is derived from AR 600-20 and NCOs should know what it states. The reason it may seem like NCOs may not have the so called "power" you mention is simply because they are most likely not well versed in where their authority is derived from and are overly cautious for fear of repercussion from misuse of that authority.

I enlisted in the early 1980's and it was "The Army", not an NCO Army or a Officer Army.

Officers gave orders to the NCO's and the NCO's carried out those orders in a day-to-day, hour-by-hour drumbeat. Officers did not have to descend into the foxholes with their men unless they were Platoon Leaders, and even then not all the time. OP Orders were sometimes "I need you to get to this ridgeline by 0300 following this basic route to avoid friendly fire". I never EVER saw an OP order that read "call me every 5 minutes and I'll tell you if you can fire or not" or "Call me before you cross this line and I'll direct you on which turns to make in the road."

We were in Germany facing an enemy that we fully expected to wipe us out by their sheer weight of numbers. It was expected of us to carry on that mission regardless of the rank structure left after the VX gas and the Tac nukes hit us. Everyone was reminded daily of Normandy Beach and the phrase "Follow Me"

In the 1990's, during the Clinton drawdown, something odd happened;
50% of the E-4's and below were mustered out
20% of the E-5 to E-8's and O-1 to O-3's were mustered out
5% of the rest were mustered out

This left us with an extremely top heavy organization that had the most senior ranking fighting over the coveted "Command Positions". Whereas a BN TOC was filled with perhaps two dozen soldiers, it was now filled with dozens of "Power Point Rangers" all hoping to be given a Platoon or Company XO position. Where in 1988 a PL was there for 18 months or more, by 1995 they were in place for a mere 6-8 months "to make way for more 2LT's to be trained".

NCO's do NOT have the power, the respect, nor the leeway to get things done that they once had, and it is the reason why at 20 years I retired. In my unit back then we were actually told "NCO's don't train troops...2LT's do while the NCO's watch, listen, and learn".

The day that a 2LT can train troops better than an heavily-experienced, well-trained, properly motivated SGT or SSG can.... that will be a sad day in the US Army.

Do not tell me what an Officer can do, I know full well what one can do, should do, and should let his Chain of Concern handle. My last few years in teh US Army was spent training both Officers and Non-commissioned Officers in what the AR's and FM's said they should do. "Power" is not in who issues the commands or the directives, it lies in the people who DO the things that those commands and directives are all about.

Stop trying to say that because of a paycheck or a rank insignia you have mor or less power...start acting like a cohesive force that relies on good judgement from the highest ranks and good motivation from those following those in charge to get the job and get everyone home again safe and sound.

If you feel threatened by this message, then I have to suspect that somewhere in your background you are not comfortable with your skills, your training, or the concern for the welfare of your soldiers.... and if that is the case, then get your head out of your fourth point of contact because your feelings are not worthy of discussion when compared o the lives of your soldiers..... period...end-of-report...

Let's correct the record first. NCOs are a type of "officer" too, just as we have other categories of officer with or without Appointments/Commissions. NCOs have authority derived from Congress to maintain order and to correct detrimental conditions, which we hope they accept as a sacred trust rather than a "power". Attitude is everything because it affects example. The authority and responsibility of an NCO has not changed except to become greater; perhaps our understanding of general military authority and command authority needs a refresher.

If some NCOs have lost their authority, not power, it is because they let themselves lose it.

Nope, if you are an NCO who feels you have lost any ground in today's Army, you need to look in the mirror not at the officers.

NCO business is no longer NCO business . The Army has become a micro- managed organization and Officers worry about their OERs and could give two shits about their NCOs. Don't believe me try bucking an officer who wants some dumb shit put into action and you will see how they will trump you. If you are a Senior NCO they will try and get rid of you. So to answer the question yes they do.

It seems to be an ebb and flow. Officers are the planners, NCOs the doers. With a well over decades conflict there was a long time the NCOs were running the show. Now that We are slowing down, it has flowed back.....

That, and the Damn good idea fairy is lose.

But seriously, these new LTs are part of the entitlement generation who don't respect their elders and are creating a climate of micromanaging officers.
But