Why are so many NCOs afraid to hold Soldiers to the standard?

Not sure I agree entirely, SGT. Yes, some NCOs are unfamiliar with regulations. However, MOST know what right looks like. What's more likely is NCOs are afraid of a confrontation, whether that Soldier is a walking violation or not.  What part of the NCO Creed did I miss when I read Ï will be fair and impartial when recommending rewards and punishments?" To let a violation pass uncorrected is to accept it.  Sorry, I'm not wired for second-best

1SG(P), this is just my opinion but, I see an NCO who is afraid of confrontation as someone who is not ready to be put in a leadership position. We have a duty as an NCO to enforce the standards regardless of the rank of the Soldier making the mistake. If Soldiers are trained to remain professional and have regulatory guidance to back them, then they should not be afraid to approach any situation. 

1SG Michael Blount is on point. The mistake most leaders make is not enforcing the same across the board.
I know a CSM that was relieved because he failed to follow his own policy of properly counseling subordinates before relieving them. If you are going to fire a senior NCO it raises a lot of eyebrows but if you can back it up with paperwork then you have covered yourself, however if you fire two female senior NCO's without that paper trail you put a huge spotlight on you.

This was an all-male ship as well, I can only imagine how much more difficult situations can become with gender politics piled on top.

I know its too late but I always instructed my leaders to counsel with a witness present merely for the CYA part regardless of sexual orientation, gender, etc... You gotta watch your six

You are absolutely right SFC Grudzinski, though in my case I doubt it would have made a difference. My experience was but a small manifestation of much more serious issues in the CoC. Within my division there were issues of fraternization, favoritism, racism, and senior enlisted undermining our officers. Our Chief had one of the junior PO2 mentioned above over to his house on a more or less weekly basis for dinner when we were in port, he and the PO1 would refer to black members of the division by a variety of racial epithets when in all white company, and the way Chief spoke to our Division Officer would have landed any E-6 or below Sailor at Captain's Mast in the blink of an eye. Our Department Head, a prior enlisted LCDR, resigned his commission as soon as we returned from that deployment, and our DivO resigned as soon as he completed his initial active service obligation.

Hindsight being what it is, I probably should have taken a more aggressive approach to the situation, obtained written statements from the two PO2 and sent it up as a Sexual Harassment/Assault issue, but they told me during our initial discussion that they just wanted his behavior corrected without making it into a career-ending issue. The unfortunate reality is that NCOs have mostly lost the ability to exercise discretion and try to handle issues at the lowest possible level like we were all taught to do. Ultimately I did what I thought was right, owned my actions, took the consequences and walked out with my self-respect and the respect of the vast majority of my shipmates. Sometimes doing the best we can in a bad situation has to be good enough.

Sadly the situation you mention is happening far too often and senior leaders try to keep a lid on it because of the spotlight out there now. They don't want to have to answer for indiscretions in their ranks which to me is cowardice. A good leader realizes that there is always a potential for impropriety regardless of how many briefings you give. The easiest fix is to make sure that you hammer each and every violator.
An old friend asked me one time how I would punish a good soldier for doing something wrong, I said good soldiers don't do wrong things.