Posted on Jun 17, 2016
Should Army officers be required to obtain Specialist before being allowed to commission?
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No, putting them through the junior enlisted ranks just to throw them into the officer role would do even more harm. You are subjecting them to the enlisted way of doing things without any leadership responsibilities. We have Officers and NCOs for various reasons. That would be like making everyone join the conventional forces before going special forces. Yes, that does happen, but only because recruiting through the 18X program is not enough. Until we cannot recruit enough Officers with current methods then it should remain the same way.
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With a college degree they make specialist anyway, how about if they had to make at least SGT E5 and graduate ALC
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PVT (Join to see)
I do like that idea stepping it up, we used specialist as the base for time in service
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They should have to do something at the very least. Maybe it wouldn't matter to officers that don't ever do anything but when they are in charge of say a combat platoon and are put in that position straight out of officer training then yes they should have something more than that.
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I don't see any benefit from waiting for them to be e-4's, but I think that boot camp together could be beneficial. In the SEALs, officers go through precisely the same training, side by side, with enlisted, and it seems to work out well for them.
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CPT John Sheridan
I had the unique experience of going to basic training twice. In 1979, I enlisted in the Army National Guard. I went to Basic Training at Fort Dix and AIT at Fort Huachuca. Late in 1981, I enlisted Regular Army Infantry and went to Infantry OSUT at Fort Benning in 1982. OSUT was brand new and they didn't have a system for putting prior service people in mid-cycle. Basic is nothing more than a crash course in fundamental soldiering skills. Uniforms, drill & ceremony, how to take instruction under pressure, confidence, basic rifle marksmanship, basic field craft, understanding organization, rank, chain of command, and a few other essential skills. ROTC cadets learn all of these skills and more during their leadership laboratories, advanced camp, and after commissioning in their officer basic course.
I think that if officers had to become a SPC before ROTC, it might confer an advantage that would dissipate within about two months after assignment to their first troop unit.
Empathy is somewhat hard coded into people. Personal experience doesn't necessarily teach it. A person who scores low on empathy (psychopathy scale) can have the experience as a junior enlisted, yet still be a self-absorbed tyrant. A person who scores higher on it will aquire the understanding fairly quickly without direct experience.
Adding the boot camp requirement would add cost, but relatively little value. It would also introduce structural obstacles making officer recruitment more difficult. There is a commissioning path that involves basic training. It's OCS. Basic & OCS are simply two crash courses that teach in 22 weeks what ROTC Cadets get over the course of four years. Add together military science classes, leadership labs, PT, FTX's, and Advanced Camp, ROTC Cadets receive a minimum of 1600 hours of training prior to commissioning. After commissioning, they get another 12 - 22 weeks of training before they are inflicted upon the troops as a fresh butter bar.
I think that if officers had to become a SPC before ROTC, it might confer an advantage that would dissipate within about two months after assignment to their first troop unit.
Empathy is somewhat hard coded into people. Personal experience doesn't necessarily teach it. A person who scores low on empathy (psychopathy scale) can have the experience as a junior enlisted, yet still be a self-absorbed tyrant. A person who scores higher on it will aquire the understanding fairly quickly without direct experience.
Adding the boot camp requirement would add cost, but relatively little value. It would also introduce structural obstacles making officer recruitment more difficult. There is a commissioning path that involves basic training. It's OCS. Basic & OCS are simply two crash courses that teach in 22 weeks what ROTC Cadets get over the course of four years. Add together military science classes, leadership labs, PT, FTX's, and Advanced Camp, ROTC Cadets receive a minimum of 1600 hours of training prior to commissioning. After commissioning, they get another 12 - 22 weeks of training before they are inflicted upon the troops as a fresh butter bar.
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They would have a better understanding and will have some enlisted knowledge and what is like to be screwed every day.
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No.
They should carefully evaulate the "reality" of Leadership and setting the
example for their position as an Officer.
They should carefully evaulate the "reality" of Leadership and setting the
example for their position as an Officer.
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Have served under officers that knew less than I did as a new private I think they should at least go through basic training, pldc, bnoc along with ocs. My platoon sergeant a SFC use to roast our officers because they knew nothing, he would have to tell them how to call commands along with everything else. There were some officers that knew what they were doing but those were the ones that had years in service and came in enlisted.
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Being an officer that is beginning their career. The old saying, you need to craw before you walk. This goes very well for the new soldiers weather enlisted or officer. They need to see how it is to be on the ground scuffing their boots to understand that it is hard work in the lower ranks day in and day out. It will give the officer the knowledge of what it takes to be in the so-called bottom.
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As a SFC being a Mustang I can honestly say that NCO rank with years of Training certainly helped me making Field Grade and working in/at DA Level Assignments and XO to General Officers.
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