Posted on Jul 27, 2015
Is the quality of officers in the service declining?
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http://fortune.com/2015/07/27/college-america-weaker-military/
The article from Fortune emphasizes the higher percentage of the population attending college as a detractor from quality of officers. Was having a college education enough of a requirement previously? Should we always have had higher standards? Has there been a noticeable decline in the quality of officers?
The article from Fortune emphasizes the higher percentage of the population attending college as a detractor from quality of officers. Was having a college education enough of a requirement previously? Should we always have had higher standards? Has there been a noticeable decline in the quality of officers?
Officers
College
Standards
Education
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 9
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Sir, the article is nothing but a Blanket statement. Are they subpart Officers in our ranks? Yes we do! I will argue this can be the result of the higher promotion rate that we have witness in the last 2 decades. As we got engaged into OEF and OIF, the enlisted rank grew. Specialists/E-4s were promoted to the NCO without having any training, time in grade or the necessary tools to be an NCO and represent that Backbone of the Army. Without a stronger NCO corps, the new lieutenants if they are not self-motivated are doomed simply because the individual (PLT SGT) responsible for his/her training had no experience. As a new Lieutenant I had to train my PLT SGT. I was able to this because I commissioned into a branch I served in as an enlisted/NCO. Imagine that I branched MI for instance and the PLT SGT was good for nothing then, I would've be doomed or forced to look for help somewhere else.
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SFC (Join to see)
Sir,
Let me preface this with: This post is going to be confusing as it may seem that I am wishy-washy but hopefully by the end it will make sense.
First off, you will get no argument from me that we have a lot of NCOs that are promoted too fast. Therefore they are serving in positions that they are not ready for. However this being said, I will speak for all of my fellow NCOs here and refuse to take the complete burden on our shoulders.
Let me say this, I am old school in that the NCOs ARE responsible for teaching those young LTs. I was blessed in that when I was the PSG at my last unit, my new LT that I got right before I left was WILLING to be taught. There are parts that Officers must teach their junior officers and we as NCOs never know anything about. Then there are other parts that we are responsible to ensure that they are squared away on.
This is where the refusal to take the whole burden comes in. IF that young LT does NOT have the same great and willing attitude as my last LT did, then it is all for not. If a LT comes in and decides that since he/she is an officer and therefore an NCO is NOT going to teach them anything, then there is nothing that can be done about it. I have Green to Gold Officers in my time and they were honestly the worst, because they went Green to Gold when they were SFC or SSG and so they were either trying to do NCOs jobs, or they were not willing to listen to their PSG. SO, although you may not have been that way when you commissioned, there is a LOT of give and take that must be done. There is a LOT of open minded attitude that Officers must have if they are going to actually learn something from a PSG. If they do not have that attitude then the blame cannot be placed on the NCO or the NCO Corps. Again though, this being said, the NCO Corps that we have RIGHT NOW, is one that is TRYING to get back to the NCO Corps that I grew up with. It is just a process.
Let me preface this with: This post is going to be confusing as it may seem that I am wishy-washy but hopefully by the end it will make sense.
First off, you will get no argument from me that we have a lot of NCOs that are promoted too fast. Therefore they are serving in positions that they are not ready for. However this being said, I will speak for all of my fellow NCOs here and refuse to take the complete burden on our shoulders.
Let me say this, I am old school in that the NCOs ARE responsible for teaching those young LTs. I was blessed in that when I was the PSG at my last unit, my new LT that I got right before I left was WILLING to be taught. There are parts that Officers must teach their junior officers and we as NCOs never know anything about. Then there are other parts that we are responsible to ensure that they are squared away on.
This is where the refusal to take the whole burden comes in. IF that young LT does NOT have the same great and willing attitude as my last LT did, then it is all for not. If a LT comes in and decides that since he/she is an officer and therefore an NCO is NOT going to teach them anything, then there is nothing that can be done about it. I have Green to Gold Officers in my time and they were honestly the worst, because they went Green to Gold when they were SFC or SSG and so they were either trying to do NCOs jobs, or they were not willing to listen to their PSG. SO, although you may not have been that way when you commissioned, there is a LOT of give and take that must be done. There is a LOT of open minded attitude that Officers must have if they are going to actually learn something from a PSG. If they do not have that attitude then the blame cannot be placed on the NCO or the NCO Corps. Again though, this being said, the NCO Corps that we have RIGHT NOW, is one that is TRYING to get back to the NCO Corps that I grew up with. It is just a process.
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LCDR (Join to see)
Captain-During my second tour afloat, I lost my division (platoon) senior enlisted and it took some months for the Navy to replace him. I found myself having to be both the division officer and surrogate "Chief" for a small unit. What I found was the other division senior enlisted in the Chief's Mess 'took up the slack' on behalf of my sailors and I...somehow managing to make me look good in the process. I believe if a junior officer demonstrates a willingness to be advised..."cometh the time, cometh the man."
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I can't say whether the quality of the quality of officers in the military today is lower than in the past. That's largely a subjective judgement. What I can say is that today's officer corps is stifled by political correctness and the ever-narrowing rules of engagement. When I was an officer 1966-1984--in the pre computer, pre-email, pre-social network era, decisions were made at the lowest level possible. NCOs and lieutenants made decisions now made by captains and majors. Perhaps the biggest attraction to military service is being a leader and taking responsibility. When that attraction is reduced, fewer top quality individuals are attracted to careers as military officers,
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This article was frustrating because it assumes that universities and ROTC programs are producing lesser quality candidates due to the fact the number of individuals pursuing a degree has increased. Increased volume does not necessarily reduce quality. Quality of education depends partially on the faculty, the dedication of the individual student, and the actual content of the education the student received.
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