WLC, to be or not to be a requirement?

I agree it needs to be a prereq. I'm glad to see that the Army sees this too and within the next few fiscal years this is the way they are going. You will no longer promote to the next rank until you go to the NCOA that goes hand in hand with that rank. That way there you won't have SFC's that keep pushing off SLC but retain the rank which is good if you want that next rank you should want the responsibilities as well. of not you do not deserve that next step. No more handouts are a good thing for the Army.

The problem with most early professional development schools is that the Army can not push leaders into the schools faster than they can promote. Which to me, stems into another problem. Promoting based on numbers instead of actually doing your job right...

When I went through WLC in I think 2011, I was a specialist. The rank I should've been. I found Staff Sergeants and Sergeants and Sergeants (P) in there. I think they should've been kicked out. How do you expect them to do the job correctly if they haven't gone through the school to be at that rank? We do not push Command Sergeants Major to be CSMs without going through the academy. What makes this different? Granted you are learning things you (should) already know when you get into WLC, but now you are able to be held accountable. How do you hold leaders accountable if you haven't taught them what they are accountable for?

Is this the same as what PLDC was? Or is PLDC still a requirement as well as the WLC? I think PLDC was a good requirement prior to advancing to become an NCO. If this is basically the same course only with a new name then yes, it should be required. I didn't learn anything from my rotation in PLDC but it isn't because they didn't teach anything of quality or strong content, it was simply because I always applied myself to learning everyday. And we had a course called LDC at the battalion level that all those wanting to advance to NCO were required to take prior to going to PLDC. This was done to weed out those who simply couldn't cut it or were only going for promotion for the stripes and money. Over all of out together we'll all leadership type courses can be extremely effective in the training of our future leaders within the NCO corps.

What are your opinions?