Innocent until proven guilty? How should the NCO Corps handle accusations?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:35:26 -0500

Does the NCO Corps between Corporal and CSM defend it's subordinates Soldier or otherwise? I know that some situations are relevant. However is the NCO Corps allowing soldiers to implicate or report false statements and assume the NCO is guilty before presumed innocent????????

Response by SSG Kevin McCulley made Dec 11 at 2013 6:54 PM

SSG Kevin McCulley — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:54:41 -0500

I was lucky to grow up in an old school unit where NCOs had each other's back no matter what. When the NCO was wrong, it was handled in private. Now it seems like a contest to see who can get the most knives in the most backs with bonus points for depth.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Dec 11 at 2013 8:29 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 20:29:36 -0500

I'm not entirely certain what the question being asked is.... Can you rephrase or clarify?

Response by SSG Robert Burns made Dec 11 at 2013 11:22 PM

SSG Robert Burns — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 23:22:10 -0500

What I've noticed in most of these guilty until proven innocent situations is that somewhere along the line innocent or not, there was some unprofessionalism. I see NCOs put themselves into situations where accusations can be made because they were somewhere they shouldn't have been or said something they shouldn't have said.

If we live by the NCO creed and remain professional, we won't have to worry about "having each other's back" because we have the same values. As long as we stay true to those values we don't have anything to worry about.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2013 10:38 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 10:38:50 -0500

Oh, the NCO Corps... Once upon a time the "backbone" stood for something. For a small group it still does, but it seems that the backbone has turned into the new favorite aiming point for a lot of NCO's in our Corp. The younger generation of NCO's haven't found a way to set themselves apart from their peers without screwing someone else. Yes I know, I'm only a SGT.. I'm a SGT with 14 years in and grew up in the Army when NCO's ran the show. Officers did the planning and got out of our way to get the mission done. There are many NCO's that have been accused and found guilty of many types of offenses that have cast a shadow on the Corp putting senior leadership in a bad position. Like SSG Burns said, if you are doing the right thing all the time then you don't have anything to worry about. I think that the NCO Corp as a whole needs to tighten up the shot group. We need to have the guts to tell another NCO that what they are doing is wrong and stop them from embarrassing themselves and the Corp. I see to many NCO's trying to be "friends" with Soldiers. We don't get paid to be their friend. We get paid to train and lead them. I understand that you want to develop a great team and the days of barking orders and the Soldiers following them like robots are over, but we can't get away from the fact that we are here to do a job. It's not reality tv.

If a Soldier makes a false claim it will be found during the commanders inquiry or the 15-6 investigation and the Soldier should be punished for such an offense(slander or other related charge). Let's get the NCO Corps back to where it once was!!