Should Army officers be required to obtain Specialist before being allowed to commission?

Please Chief, there are so many Specialists that I knew that were 10x the soldier any officer ever was or could be. The only officers I ever truly respected and revered all made at least Master Sergeant before going Warrant of Commissioned. That's not biased either as I didn't find out till awhile after meeting them that they were prior enlisted.

Right and an LT. Platoon leader is honestly like an E-4 he is told what to do by the commander and he tells his Platoon Sgt who usually has years of leadership experience so the LT. can lean on the Platoon Sgt. and gets “OJT” by working with a high speed E-7 day in and day out. They learn what is needed of them in OCS. That’s why the structure is the way it is.

PVT (Join to see)
The best Lt. I ever had was not only prior enlisted but was a prior marine. He was in tune with what his platoon really needed. And would go to bat for anyone of his soldiers / lower enlisted.

MSG (Join to see) Not one person has said it better HOOAH

I think what many enlisted soldiers see in "prior enlisted or green to gold" officers is the ability to relate on a personal level. I served under green to gold, West Point, and ROTC officers and in my little SPC opinion, none of them were bad officers. I do have to point out that during field events and during deployments it did seem like during good times and bad times it was the green to gold and warrent officers that were with the Joe's. A lot of that direct leadership can go a long way with junior enlisted soldiers. Again I want to make clear, I do not believe the other officers were bad officers. I understand they have a much different workload and experience than enlisted soldiers.

I've been doing this since 1984 and I've seen very few prior enlisted officers who are dirtbags. I've seen plenty of ROTC and WP grads who were horrible leaders that cared only about themselves and see Soldiers only as tools to advance their careers

During my entire time in (72-93) I can only remember 2 officers that were a complete waste of space. One was a 2LT (O-1) (College wiz-kid) who would constantly get stoned with lower enlisted in the barracks, and a CPT (O-3) (prior E-5 enlisted), whose only thought was if he didn't think of it, the idea sucked, no matter what. With that being said, I believe with all the options available, the military has this very well covered!

There will always be good and bad officers regardless of their past experience. However some of that is to do with the command itself. I did well overseas but in country with the office politics it was just not good.

I understand everyone’s opinion on this. However, the difference now is that enlisted Soldiers also have degrees now; whereas in the past Officers Normally has degrees and enlisted Soldiers Didn’t. I have a BA in Criminal Law and an MA in Psychology as a Non Commissioned Officer. Also great NCO’s Mold great Officers. Experience goes a lot further than getting a degree and attending ROTC or going to Westpoint. This is why all Officers should have to be enlisted first and not counting ROTC or OCS time. The point here is like the aforementioned areas stated Officers used to be the only ones with degrees now Specialists are joining with MA’s and PHD’s and learning to be a Soldier before they decide to become an Officer. It should be mandated no where in this world do you get a degree and become upper management or a CEO for a fortune 100 or 500 company without working up to it. Experience outweighs a degree; with both an Officer along with his Soldiers would be unstoppable.

SSG (Join to see), you are certainly welcome to your opinion, but I think you'll find that most responses on this would suggest to the contrary from both enlisted and commissioned service members. MSG (Join to see) said it as well as anyone, "The best and [worst] Lieutenants I've seen were both prior enlisted. There are many paths to great leadership."

LTC Stephen C. - Agreed Stephen, as a SSG I had a difficult time transitioning from NCO leadership to Officer leadership.

As a retired service member with over 20 yrs in Active, National Guard, and Deployed Units, I have seen a combination of All-Officer and split Officer/Enlisted time with Officers. Some of the better officers have come from the Enlisted side of the house, and some have been nothing but Officer. IMHO, I believe that it is the people around an officer, and the Officer him/herself who determines how the Officer is perceived. I have had my fair share of Officers who should be drummed o0ut of the service for the way they treat the people beneath them and try to stick their noses so far up their superior's fourth-point-of-contact that they cannot see the light of day. An Officer can have all of the technical criteria down pat and have no practical experience in utilizing it to its fullest potential. Some one once said a Leader must lead from the front. Another One said lead from the rear to push your men to victory. I believe that you must Lead from within and show your Troops what you can do and be proficient at it. A New Leader must be flexible, knowledgeable, and strong. They must surround themselves with people who are proficient at the Tasks that must be done to accomplish the mission, They must listen to their subordinates when they talk, and they must be able to think on their own. Then and only then will they truly be a Great Officer. Over the years I have taken a little of everybody I have served with Good, Bad, or indifferent and used that to deal with my subordinates as an NCO. An Officer is only as good as the Team he leads lets him be!

Hats off. If I'd-a known then what I know now...

Absolutely CSM! Maj (Ret) RL Lindsey

Yes that is correct, i guess saying they must gather time in Rank would be an add on thank you for reminding me that.

Yes but just giving someone rank is different than actually going through the process to earn it and the experience that comes with it. Someone that has specialist just because of a degree could very easily know less than even a private.

LTC Jerry Hallman - I may be mistaken, but this is only applicable to the ANG- Regular Army requires the completion of a degree. Also, the ANG officer in this case must finish his degree before being promotable to CPT, not necessarily a time stamp as much as a promotion requirement.

LTC Jerry Hallman - Degree completion is no longer an option for active duty commissioning Sir. You have to obtain it before commissioning.

Every soldier should go to basic training to include officers prior to commissioning and BOLC. This would give them a basic understanding what it is to be a soldier.

LTC (Join to see) - You really think that BCT is all that is needed? 2 months is all they need to understand? BCT has nothing to do with being a soldier besides listening to orders. A Drill Sergeant does nothing but yell at soldiers. That is not a quality of a good leader. But like I said I'm not going to argue. Everyone has their own opinion.

SGT Laura Delgadillo - I am saying BCT should be the base in developing all soldiers enlisted and officer training and development. Yes learning listening and following orders is important. BCT should have an meritocracy for leader positions (squad leaders and platoon guides). This was done when I went through BCT. I was a BCT Company Commander drill sergeants don't and shouldn't yell at soldiers. They are responsible in training in basic combat skills, military discipline and physical fitness to soldiers entering the Army/military service. This is just my opinion based over 20 years of service in the Army which includes enlisted and officer time.

I disagree that officers need BCT. Learning to be an Enlisted Soldier is not the same as learning to be an Officer. Learning to be a Soldier is taught during commissioning source and BOLC. Great Platoon Sergeants and great Company Commanders create great Lieutenants. In our society it is physically impossible to have experience in everything your Soldiers do. I think so long as the Officer Corps retains leaders of character, who have empathy among their skillset, they can look beyond an individual's rank.

Ummmmm whatever that means........college was waaaaaaaaaaaaay easier than a service academy. And that's just for me! MY brain was clueless in college, and the military made sense.