Is today's Army an officer's Army?

I don't feel this.

We have exactly the authority we are supposed to have, as does our officer corps. But that's just from where I sit.

Sometimes I worry that the decreased age of the average Sergeant or Staff Sergeant works against the NCO corps. There's something to be said for a little more emotional maturity with a role that runs the gamut from babysitting to primary responsibility for training.

I have definitely seen a change in the power of NCO'S. I feel like I am more micro managed in my duties instead of being able to lead and develop my troops. I was always taught that NCO'S were to advise their officers with the experience that NCO'S provide.

I always is and will be an officer's force. Enlisted serves as the backbone.

Yes sadly its true the last unit I was in all the NCO's were micromanaged. We could not punished soldiers that were out of line.

SGT Colon, this is a very broad and unsupported statement. Would you care to provide some context for what you heard?

It is not "an officer's" Army any more than it is "an NCO's" Army, or a "Private's" Army. It is the Army of the United States of America. Every person, at every level has duties and responsibilities which either can not or should not be performed by the others.

To my knowledge the UCMJ has not changed in terms of the powers and responsibilities of the NCO. So I would hazard to say it is not "NCO's" generally who have lost power, rather, specific NCO's who either do not want to or do not know how to wield that power.

Personally, my thoughts on this matter are that an officer commands, and NCO's lead.

With junior officers especially, their NCO's have much more experience and time in service then they do, unless of course the officer is former enlisted. A typical 2LT has a either a SFC or at least a SSG under him with far more experience. Good officers listen to the advice of their Senior NCO's. Meanwhile good NCO's, as leaders, accomplish the tasks that their Officer gives them. This frees up that officer to concentrate on other things.

Honestly as a member of the Old Guards S-1, I rarely saw our officer, unless I had to goto the Command and Staff Briefing or he came downstairs to the S-1 to ask a question, or whenever my PSGT decided he wanted to Article 15 9 of 17 of our soldiers for something stupid that could have been handled in the platoon, that's a road I don't even want to go down. He never did PT with us, never went to the range with us, never did any training with us, he was always out of sight I guess doing "Command Group" things....

Is that BG Sinclair in the photo?! The Officers did take a hit from that one...

I absolutely agree, but let me explain why.

When the wars kicked off there was a lack of NCO's so the army began pushing soldiers through the ranks as the war continued. Soldiers who did not have either the experience or the knowledge to be in those ranks. With this the faith in the NCO corps dwindled, and it has continued to do so. It is a sad thing to see. However, I do believe that we can get back to an army where the NCO is respected and trusted to know what to do and when to do it.

A former Commander (AF LtGen) of mine summed that up better than any description I've heard. He made the following observations during a Commander's Call circa 2004: "Pre-Desert Storm, there was approximately 1 general officer for every 40000 troops. Post-Desert Storm there was one general officer for every 25000 troops. Today, there is one general officer for every 16000-20000 troops. My question is, what the devil am I supposed to be in charge of??"

Now, that being said.... If NCO's have "lost power in today's military" who do they have to blame except for themselves? Officers have always been in charge, made policy, and set the ground rules. OUR job as NCO's is to carry out those policies, rules, and enforce the standard where appropriate.

Hmmm, I tread lightly on this matter. I think that the quality of NCOs during our decade at war has degraded. This is not to say we don't have many highly skilled combat veterans now, but many of the junior NCOs, now up for senior ranks, were promoted so quickly and without the normal time and competition as from before the war. Maybe the NCOs have, by the cards that were dealt them, given up some of their power without realizing it.