NCOs, What was the hardest part of your transition from lower enlisted to NCO?

2014-12-01T14:17:18-05:00

I always hear about how hard it can be sometimes when a Soldier leaves the lower enlisted ranks and joins the NCO Corps. What did you find to be the most difficult part? What was the best part?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 1 at 2014 2:17 PM

2014-12-01T14:17:09-05:00

To manage friendships from your leadership role. Can be very toxic at times.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 1 at 2014 3:09 PM

2014-12-01T15:09:32-05:00

The hardest part is separating the friendships that you had with the other Junior Enlisted that you were just a part of. It got easier when I remembered that Regs, ARs, Policies were not written by me. However, as an NCO, it was my job to enforce them. It caused me a little bit of strife at first, but eventually it all worked out.

The one thing you cannot do: Do not compromise. Once you do, they own you.

Response by SSG Robert Blair made Dec 1 at 2014 5:25 PM

2014-12-01T17:25:19-05:00

Going from smoking and joking with peers to being an enforcer of regs and policies without it looking like a power trip. Like the rank went to your head. That's what joes seem to think every time.
Great advice by SFC Jason Kendrick, "don't compromise".

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 30 at 2015 4:55 AM

2015-01-30T04:55:57-05:00

I found it a Challenge because when you are Junior Enlisted, find yourself joking and shooting the shit all time with your peers, When you get promoted like i did on a deployment, its hard because of the friendships that you have to set straight, and their is lot of Junior enlisted soldier who have their opinions on your rank, they wont give you the respect you deserve because you was a specialist just like them, they may believe if you haven't seen combat you don't deserve it, there are so many reason. The Positive side is, I will show my Soldiers and my NCO Peers how i will over come those problems and be a Great NCO and Leadership for soldiers to follow from by example

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 3 at 2015 2:16 AM

2015-02-03T02:16:02-05:00

Over coming peer pressure. You have to realize that you can still be friends with your buddies but there is a time and a place for that and when mission dictates that you are prepared to tell your buddies what to do and not accept anything less than professionalism back.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 4 at 2015 12:40 PM

2015-02-04T12:40:48-05:00

I received transfer orders when I was promoted. My biggest challenge was learning how the new unit operated.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2016 12:08 PM

2016-05-10T12:08:58-04:00

Nothing I can think of was very hard. When your buddies respected you as a Junior Enlisted Peer, they should respect you as an NCO. Well, if they are your true friends. I surrounded myself with outstanding Junior Enlisted and Junior NCOs. So, the transition for me was simple. It was not until I finally had my first female Airmen that things become complicated for me. However, their expectations were much more high than what I experienced with any other subordinates. Eventually, they did their thing and helped me be a better Supervisor, and they prepped me to be a dad for a girl.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2019 2:36 PM

2019-03-08T14:36:42-05:00

There was none. You have to separate friendship and business.

Response by SGM Omer Dalton made Jul 13 at 2020 12:44 PM

2020-07-13T12:44:32-04:00

Understanding and getting used to responsibilities and authority. My experience was the Army and senior NCOs didn’t prepare young E4s for the transition. All of a sudden the person moved from being buddies to separation from subordinates. From day 1 you were expected to take charge. It is/was a hard transition and some just didn’t make it. By the way it is almost the same in the civilian world. Most Corporations just don’t provide the support and training to first line supervisors. I taught principals of supervision and management at the university level and found this to be true.