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What is the definition of a good NCO? Is it a hard charging nature and the ability to quickly earn those chevrons? Is it the sergeant who is always leading from the front and, when that crappy detail comes down, is right there in the suck with his/her soldiers? Are NCOs measured by the schools they attend and the ratings that they receive on NCO evaluation reports? Is it any of these, a combination, or maybe something deeper?
I would love to be able to say that I was the best Noncommissioned Officer to have served, but, if I am being honest with everyone and myself, I was not anything close to being the best. I never went to any professional schools that earned me a shiny new badge to put on my uniform, but I also never received any bad ratings on evaluations. I wasn’t the best, but I was still a solid 1-3 NCO. If you are unfamiliar with what that means, I was above average, but not really front of the pack. I was definitely the guy in the middle of the pack as far as big Army was concerned. A “Promote with Peers” kind of soldier. Lucky for me though, it was never my goal after receiving my chevrons, to simply please my superiors and get that next stripe.
If you asked my superiors what kind of NCO I was, they would probably tell you that I was a problem child. Nothing against them, or me, but I did give plenty of them headaches from time to time. Perhaps even more often than just time to time. I was hard headed and always liked to do things in my own way because I believed that I knew better. Sometimes I did, but there were many times that I did not. I always completed the mission, but it could be said that I did go outside of my prescribed directions in completing them.
My peers would tell you that I was more of a nerd than a combat arms NCO. I was undeniably more of a technical than tactical expert. I knew my MOS just fine and I could still perform my duties and lead my soldiers, but we all knew that I was better cut out to do something outside of being a Cavalry Scout. I did the things that the other guys were not so practiced at. I was great with computers, tracking, managing, and counseling. This is probably what landed me in arms rooms and training rooms for much of my career. We had mutual respect for the skills that we each brought to the table, but I can look back now and say that I was definitely a little bit jealous of my friends who were those hard charging, PT studs, and tactical experts.
However, the opinion that mattered the most to me after I became an NCO was that of my subordinates. I remember being asked once by a senior NCO of mine what I believed my job was as an NCO. My answer, “I don’t work for you, Sergeant. I work for my Joes. I worked for NCOs and officers when I was a private and a specialist, but now my responsibility is not to you and to necessarily perform the mission. My soldiers will perform the mission, I promise you that. But my job is to take care of them and make sure that they don’t have to worry about anything outside of completing the mission. If my guys are taken care of, then I have succeeded.” Now, I can easily say with certainty that my outlook on my position as an NCO did not sit well with my superiors, but that was okay. I was not there to make friends.
I followed through with what I said. I was a huge proponent of conducting regular and in depth counseling; I even had some of my subordinate specialists “counsel” me in order for them to gain the experience that they would need later on. I enjoyed seeing them grow as professionals. I liked to tell my guys, “if I have to stand at parade rest for you someday, then I obviously did my job.”
Even with my trouble makers, I liked to be there and do what I thought would make them understand that, one, they done screwed up and, two, I was there to ensure that they got back on track. I once had a kid who showed up late a few times to formation. What was I to do for corrective action? I made him show up an hour prior to formation every day for a week, but, not only that, I showed up fifteen minutes prior to when I told him to arrive. I didn’t like being at the CP at 0500 every day for a week. Honestly, it really sucked. But I needed him to know that I was going to deal with the suck with him and make sure that he got back to where he needed to be.
I had to endure the displeasure of chaptering a few of the soldiers that were in my troop. I knew what they were going through, both professionally and personally, and I tried my best to make the transition easier for them. As the NCO responsible for their chapter, I often had to bring them to their appointments and make sure that they were on track to get kicked out; all the while, I was their advocate, a kind of middleman between the soon to be separated soldier and the command. I have no doubt in my mind that they appreciated it. Many of these young men still stay in contact with me through one medium or another.
As far as being a good NCO goes, I believe my final reassurance that I did my job well came two years after I was actually medically retired. It was nearly midnight and I was out at the bar with my younger brother when I received a phone call from a soldier who at one point was my private. Of course I answered the call, but I did not know what I was getting into. Turns out that he and his wife were in the middle of a huge fight that was about to end their marriage and he was calling me to get advice on how to make it right. I found it ironic that he called me for something like this seeing as how he knew my track record with my wives, but I did what I could. I gave him the best advice that I could after having had a few beers already, told him to get off the phone with me, go to his wife, talk, and get ahold of me later to let me know how everything was. He did. Later I found out that, after following my advice, everything worked out. I didn’t deserve it but he ended up thanking me.
Although it is just my opinion, I believe that being a good Noncommissioned Officer is a combination of many different things that can’t always be quantified. For those in these positions I say, you should take care of your subordinates and everything else should come second. They expect and deserve us to ensure that they are taken care of and I believe that it should be our primary mission to do so.
Be. Know. Do.
Be the NCO that your soldiers need in order to be successful. Know your soldiers; inside and out. Do whatever it takes to make sure that they do not fail.
I would love to be able to say that I was the best Noncommissioned Officer to have served, but, if I am being honest with everyone and myself, I was not anything close to being the best. I never went to any professional schools that earned me a shiny new badge to put on my uniform, but I also never received any bad ratings on evaluations. I wasn’t the best, but I was still a solid 1-3 NCO. If you are unfamiliar with what that means, I was above average, but not really front of the pack. I was definitely the guy in the middle of the pack as far as big Army was concerned. A “Promote with Peers” kind of soldier. Lucky for me though, it was never my goal after receiving my chevrons, to simply please my superiors and get that next stripe.
If you asked my superiors what kind of NCO I was, they would probably tell you that I was a problem child. Nothing against them, or me, but I did give plenty of them headaches from time to time. Perhaps even more often than just time to time. I was hard headed and always liked to do things in my own way because I believed that I knew better. Sometimes I did, but there were many times that I did not. I always completed the mission, but it could be said that I did go outside of my prescribed directions in completing them.
My peers would tell you that I was more of a nerd than a combat arms NCO. I was undeniably more of a technical than tactical expert. I knew my MOS just fine and I could still perform my duties and lead my soldiers, but we all knew that I was better cut out to do something outside of being a Cavalry Scout. I did the things that the other guys were not so practiced at. I was great with computers, tracking, managing, and counseling. This is probably what landed me in arms rooms and training rooms for much of my career. We had mutual respect for the skills that we each brought to the table, but I can look back now and say that I was definitely a little bit jealous of my friends who were those hard charging, PT studs, and tactical experts.
However, the opinion that mattered the most to me after I became an NCO was that of my subordinates. I remember being asked once by a senior NCO of mine what I believed my job was as an NCO. My answer, “I don’t work for you, Sergeant. I work for my Joes. I worked for NCOs and officers when I was a private and a specialist, but now my responsibility is not to you and to necessarily perform the mission. My soldiers will perform the mission, I promise you that. But my job is to take care of them and make sure that they don’t have to worry about anything outside of completing the mission. If my guys are taken care of, then I have succeeded.” Now, I can easily say with certainty that my outlook on my position as an NCO did not sit well with my superiors, but that was okay. I was not there to make friends.
I followed through with what I said. I was a huge proponent of conducting regular and in depth counseling; I even had some of my subordinate specialists “counsel” me in order for them to gain the experience that they would need later on. I enjoyed seeing them grow as professionals. I liked to tell my guys, “if I have to stand at parade rest for you someday, then I obviously did my job.”
Even with my trouble makers, I liked to be there and do what I thought would make them understand that, one, they done screwed up and, two, I was there to ensure that they got back on track. I once had a kid who showed up late a few times to formation. What was I to do for corrective action? I made him show up an hour prior to formation every day for a week, but, not only that, I showed up fifteen minutes prior to when I told him to arrive. I didn’t like being at the CP at 0500 every day for a week. Honestly, it really sucked. But I needed him to know that I was going to deal with the suck with him and make sure that he got back to where he needed to be.
I had to endure the displeasure of chaptering a few of the soldiers that were in my troop. I knew what they were going through, both professionally and personally, and I tried my best to make the transition easier for them. As the NCO responsible for their chapter, I often had to bring them to their appointments and make sure that they were on track to get kicked out; all the while, I was their advocate, a kind of middleman between the soon to be separated soldier and the command. I have no doubt in my mind that they appreciated it. Many of these young men still stay in contact with me through one medium or another.
As far as being a good NCO goes, I believe my final reassurance that I did my job well came two years after I was actually medically retired. It was nearly midnight and I was out at the bar with my younger brother when I received a phone call from a soldier who at one point was my private. Of course I answered the call, but I did not know what I was getting into. Turns out that he and his wife were in the middle of a huge fight that was about to end their marriage and he was calling me to get advice on how to make it right. I found it ironic that he called me for something like this seeing as how he knew my track record with my wives, but I did what I could. I gave him the best advice that I could after having had a few beers already, told him to get off the phone with me, go to his wife, talk, and get ahold of me later to let me know how everything was. He did. Later I found out that, after following my advice, everything worked out. I didn’t deserve it but he ended up thanking me.
Although it is just my opinion, I believe that being a good Noncommissioned Officer is a combination of many different things that can’t always be quantified. For those in these positions I say, you should take care of your subordinates and everything else should come second. They expect and deserve us to ensure that they are taken care of and I believe that it should be our primary mission to do so.
Be. Know. Do.
Be the NCO that your soldiers need in order to be successful. Know your soldiers; inside and out. Do whatever it takes to make sure that they do not fail.
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Training
Leadership
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Command Post
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 28
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I agree with most of what you stated. Very good points. Where the problem lies is that you do work for the superiors above you. Your job is to find that unique balance that allows you to obtain mission success all the while caring and mentoring your subordinates. My guidance to all NCO's is to be fair in carrying out your duties. Be fair in how you assign task, hand out awards, and handle discipline issues. Remember our purpose. We have to be mission winning capable. Great post. Glad you were able to continue serving a Soldier in need.
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I can;t remember who talked about this before but, in the NCO Creed it says accomplishment of my mission before it says the welfare of my soldiers. I truly believe if you place the welfare of the soldiers first, then the mission will always follow suit. If our joes recognize that we are taking care of them, the best we possibly can, they will do what we need them to do. The way I measure myself, is how well my soldiers are taken care of, others may judge me based off of other things, APFT, Weapons, Badges, NCOERs, etc. That is fine, they can have whatever picture of me they like. I just want to do what I can to help a soldier, and make sure their needs are met.
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SGT Aaron Barbee
"My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind—accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my Soldiers." I was always told by my seniors that one is not before the other, they are synonymous and cannot be accomplished without each other.
That being said, I used to have a quarterly sit down with my soldiers and ask them how they felt I was doing as a leader. What did I need to work on? How did they perceive me? It seems like a bad idea, until you do it and make sure not to take direct offense or punish them for opinions. You can learn a lot about how a soldier as an individual needs to be lead based on their perception of leadership.
-edit- I also have a habit of checking in on my guys from time to time, even though we're all out. It's always great to see the different levels of success they achieve in life.
That being said, I used to have a quarterly sit down with my soldiers and ask them how they felt I was doing as a leader. What did I need to work on? How did they perceive me? It seems like a bad idea, until you do it and make sure not to take direct offense or punish them for opinions. You can learn a lot about how a soldier as an individual needs to be lead based on their perception of leadership.
-edit- I also have a habit of checking in on my guys from time to time, even though we're all out. It's always great to see the different levels of success they achieve in life.
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SGT (Join to see)
SGT Aaron Barbee - I completely agree. I liked to always see if there was anything they felt like I needed to work on. I know I'm not gonna be great in every facet and need to remain open to criticism, from above and lower. I'll still check in with guys from my last unit, make sure all is going well, and see how they are advancing with their career. I might not be there with them, but I still care about what's happening in their career and lives.
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SSG Edward Tilton
Very True. General Giap once made a comment about our penchant for retrieving the bodies. He said that he could bring an American Operation to a halt by wounding five Americans. The Operation would come to a halt while the wounded were evacuated. That provided the opportunity for his troops to escape
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From an Old Marine
This is what being an NCO means to me. It means being up before reveille, ready to get the day started, squared away. It means leading the morning run. It means being being last in the chow line. It means being responsible for the assigned mission. It means insuring that all of my subordinates understand the mission and are prepared to do their individual parts. It is my responsibility to identify deficiencies before they compromise the mission and take corrective action. It is my responsibility to mentor my subordinate leaders and ensure that discipline in the ranks is maintained. It is my responsibility to set a standard of conduct that instills confidence in my subordinates. It is my responsibility to insure the mission will continue without me. Leadership is preparing the next generation of leaders to succeed it is not a popularity contest it is however a way of life.
This is what being an NCO means to me. It means being up before reveille, ready to get the day started, squared away. It means leading the morning run. It means being being last in the chow line. It means being responsible for the assigned mission. It means insuring that all of my subordinates understand the mission and are prepared to do their individual parts. It is my responsibility to identify deficiencies before they compromise the mission and take corrective action. It is my responsibility to mentor my subordinate leaders and ensure that discipline in the ranks is maintained. It is my responsibility to set a standard of conduct that instills confidence in my subordinates. It is my responsibility to insure the mission will continue without me. Leadership is preparing the next generation of leaders to succeed it is not a popularity contest it is however a way of life.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson It's a shame you were medically retired, I see you making it all the way to CSM. It might take a while, but your leadership would have seen this potential in you. You are in my opinion what our BEST NCO's are! I agree with everything you stated and see myself in part of your story. The last part where one of your former Soldiers called you 2 years later for advice; that's when you know you made a positive impact on his life forever, and that my friend is when you know you won as an NCO!
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For me, putting it simply, is that as long as I take care of my troops then my Soldiers will move Heaven and Earth to get the mission done. They see me getting in the dirt with them, gives them more drive to finish the job. Making the Stripes, is not just getting promoted to a higher grade and pay. It's an acceptance of lives. You can almost think of it as being a parent. You went from being about yourself to being about your people. Take care of them. Feed them. Clothe them. House them. Educate them. Fight for them. Make them better than what they were. It is, quite literally, the ultimate compliment and responsibility one can ask for and receive. Someone entrusts you with the lives of their children, and in a sense brings you into the fold of their family. You take care of them, and they will take care of you. To me, that is the mark of a GREAT NCO.
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This is a fantastic post. I have been balancing the positons of being a team leader while still an E-4. This was just a good tidbit of advice and experience. I appreciate the share and knowledge gained.
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You may not have been the best, SGT Joseph Gunderson , but you are incredibly self-aware. It says a lot about you that you're able to do self-evaluation to this depth.
Be. Know. Do.
Great reminder to close out the article. Thanks for this contribution, it's awesome.
Be. Know. Do.
Great reminder to close out the article. Thanks for this contribution, it's awesome.
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I found that the best thing that worked to my benefit as an NCO is good old plain experience. Looking at each situation and knowing there are 2 sides to everything. Was I the best Airman, NCO or First Sgt.? No. Though I tried to be there for anyone that needed me or guidance. Where I could look at myself and feel good afterwards. Many things make up good or great NCO’s. Find what makes you “purr” and make it happen.
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1stSgt Jeff Blovat
Remember this, “meets all requirements” is doing that in which the rank you are in demands. If you want the next stripe, you gotta go above and beyond.
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I have met a few great NCOs. Of course, I would like to put myself in that category. Bottom line is, they lead from the front. Had a great APFT, Weapons, attitide. They would let you be an adult and when you f***** up, they let you know. You could respect them because they didnt need to scream and yell to make you feel terrible for failing a simple task, showing up late, fighting, etc. They were a hard ass to respect but cared when you needed it. They lead you to water not hung you to dry. They actively tried to make you better and genuinely loved what they did.
I could say more but I wont. There arent many but I think the Army is getting better.
I could say more but I wont. There arent many but I think the Army is getting better.
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My NCOs ran the unit. I commanded it. No combat unit is mission capable with out professional NCOs. They are the heart and soul of the Srmy.
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CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
LTC (Join to see) Colonel ! You nailed it Colonel, if you have professionals to work with, not the “Shake and Bake” NCOs of the Vietnam era,
When I asked LTC Benjamin F Waller what action he would initiate upon CSM Broner’s pending reassignment, the Colonel said he would have to go to work on the ops of his 2/17 Inf, 7th ID @ Fort Ord in 1978.
CSM Gilbert Broner held the reins of the “Buffalos” in his hands!
I was amazed at his control of most of the Bn’s activities!
When I asked LTC Benjamin F Waller what action he would initiate upon CSM Broner’s pending reassignment, the Colonel said he would have to go to work on the ops of his 2/17 Inf, 7th ID @ Fort Ord in 1978.
CSM Gilbert Broner held the reins of the “Buffalos” in his hands!
I was amazed at his control of most of the Bn’s activities!
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