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I always read or hear people talking about "officers", but really only mean O1+. They seem to forget the O in NCO. The only difference is whether or not you have a commission. Any NCO can apply for a commission so why have we been trained to think otherwise?
Officers
NCOs
Enlisted
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 8
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lol thank you. Every time an NCO says something about officers I always ask them what the acronym NCO stands for. I usually get the stink eye.
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The short answer is that there really is a lot more of a difference than what you describe. Much of it has to do with authority. Just because you can apply for a commission doesn't mean that you are no different than an O-5. The other difference is career focus. You, as an NCO, are a technician first and a leader second. An officer is a leader first and a technician second. The difference is the scope of the work one does. I kind of look at it in this light... I worked signals intelligence. My flight commander was an intel officer, but the scope of his knowledge was more broad and encompassed more intelligence disciplines than just signals intelligence.
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SGM Mikel Dawson
SSgt Justyn Amick,
I have to disagree with you a bit (at least from the Army point of view). I don't consider leadership second. Leadership for an Army NCO is top rung. Saying that I have one thing:
The Army really screwed up when it took away the SPC ranks from SP-5 and up. Every one is NOT a leader. Just because a person has the stripes and is in a leadership position doesn't make them a leader. Yes we can make leaders, but I believe not everyone is leadership material, that was the main reason the army had the old "T" ranks and later on the Spec ranks. The army tried to correct this a bit when they came out with the "leadership tabs", but that was a flop. I seriously believe until the Army goes back to the Spec ranks thus giving the non-leader soldiers a way to progress in their MOS without putting them is a position they are not made or meant to be, there will continue to be the non-respect many NCOs receive. The "hard" stripe once had a position of esteem, honor, place and leadership. Now everyone is a "hard" stripe - and so? Until the Army leadership figures this out again the dis-respect we see towards many NCOs will continue, and most of you Army types got to admit, there is much dis-respect for NCO, especially those with stripes who can't hit their ass with BOTH hands. When many junior enlisted see this, why should they have respect? Weed out those who are not leaders, this doesn't mean we don't need the tech smart soldiers, but we need those hard striped leaders!
I have to disagree with you a bit (at least from the Army point of view). I don't consider leadership second. Leadership for an Army NCO is top rung. Saying that I have one thing:
The Army really screwed up when it took away the SPC ranks from SP-5 and up. Every one is NOT a leader. Just because a person has the stripes and is in a leadership position doesn't make them a leader. Yes we can make leaders, but I believe not everyone is leadership material, that was the main reason the army had the old "T" ranks and later on the Spec ranks. The army tried to correct this a bit when they came out with the "leadership tabs", but that was a flop. I seriously believe until the Army goes back to the Spec ranks thus giving the non-leader soldiers a way to progress in their MOS without putting them is a position they are not made or meant to be, there will continue to be the non-respect many NCOs receive. The "hard" stripe once had a position of esteem, honor, place and leadership. Now everyone is a "hard" stripe - and so? Until the Army leadership figures this out again the dis-respect we see towards many NCOs will continue, and most of you Army types got to admit, there is much dis-respect for NCO, especially those with stripes who can't hit their ass with BOTH hands. When many junior enlisted see this, why should they have respect? Weed out those who are not leaders, this doesn't mean we don't need the tech smart soldiers, but we need those hard striped leaders!
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All the NCO's I've ever known or dealt with in the Army know they can apply to become an officer and receive a commission - a few do attend OCS or another commissioning program, but most all would rather remain a NCO. They would probably tell you rather proudly they work for a living, or earn their paycheck., but I never would (wink).
In the Army we try to teach and pass on some of the historical information about how and why our military was formed, to include having Officer's, Non-Commissioned Officer's and Enlisted. If you ever have time, I encourage you to Google 'Baron Von Steuben' and the infamous "Blue Book", entitled "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States".
In the Army we try to teach and pass on some of the historical information about how and why our military was formed, to include having Officer's, Non-Commissioned Officer's and Enlisted. If you ever have time, I encourage you to Google 'Baron Von Steuben' and the infamous "Blue Book", entitled "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States".
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SN Craig Ralston
I remember in the Navy we had a mythical thing called a Chief Warrent Officer, as an enlisted man we used to wonder what it took to become a CWO. Things are way better now from the people I've spoken with and information is passed along way better than it was back in the 70's and early 80's.
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