NCO Respect free essay sample

Commissioned officers are direct representatives of the President. The President uses commissions as legal instruments to appoint and exercise direct control over qualified people who act as his legal agents and help him carry out duties. The Army retains this direct-agent relationship with the President through its commissioned officers. The commission serves as the basis for a commissioned officer’s legal authority. Commissioned officers command, establish policy, and manage Army resources. Warrant officers are highly specialized, single-track specialty officers who receive their authority from the Secretary of the Army upon their initial appointment. However, Title 10 USC authorizes the commissioning of warrant officers (WO1) upon promotion to chief warrant officer (CW2). These commissioned warrant officers are direct representatives of the President of the United States. They derive their authority from the same source as commissioned officers, but remain specialists in their field. Warrant officers can and do command detachments, units, activities, and vessels as well as lead, coach, train and counsel subordinates. We will write a custom essay sample on NCO Respect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As leaders and technical experts, they provide valuable skills, guidance, and expertise to commanders and organizations in their particular field. Noncommissioned officers, the backbone of the Army, train, lead, and take care of enlisted soldiers. They also provide advice to officers in every aspect of unit operations. NCOs often represent officers and DAC leaders in their absence. They ensure their soldiers, along with their personal equipment, are prepared to function as effective unit and team members. While commissioned officers command, establish policy, and manage resources, NCOs conduct the Army’s daily business. Junior enlisted soldiers are where the rubber meets the road. Junior enlisted soldiers perform their duties to standard AND to the best of their ability. This means perfroming individual tasks identified by first line supervisors based on the unit’s mission essential task list (METL). All soldiers must be able to do those individual tasks to standard because that is where every successful operation begins—at the individual task level. Junior enlisted soldiers can seek help from first-line supervisors for problems they are unable to solve. Like every soldier in the Army, junior enlisted soldiers have a duty to obey the lawful orders of superiors. Even junior enlisted soldiers can make on-the-spot corrections—they shouldn’t walk by a deficiency without tactfully correcting the problem. That’s professionalism. Department of the Army civilians are members of the executive branch of the federal government and are a vital part of the Army. DACs fill positions in staff and base sustaining operations that might otherwise have to be filled by officers and NCOs. Senior DACs establish policy and manage Army resources, but they do not have the authority to command. The complementary relationship and mutual respect between the military and civilian members of the Army is a long-standing tradition. Since the Army’s beginning in 1775, military and civilian roles have stayed separate, yet necessarily related. Taken in combination, traditions, functions, and laws also help clarify duties of military and civilian members of the Army. Specified duties are those related to jobs and positions. Directives such as Army regulations, Department of the Army (DA) general orders, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), soldier’s manuals, Army Training and Evaluation Program (ARTEP) or Mission Training Plan (MTP) publications, and Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) job descriptions specify the duties. They spell out what soldiers must do and the standards they must meet. Directed duties are not specified as part of a job position or MOS or other directive. A superior gives them orally or in writing. Directed duties include being in charge of quarters (CQ) or serving as sergeant of the guard, staff duty officer, company training NCO, and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) NCO where these duties are not found in the unit’s organizational charts. Implied duties often support specified duties, but in some cases they may not be related to the military occupational specialty (MOS) job position. These duties may not be written but implied in the instructions. They’re duties that improve the quality of the job and help keep the unit functioning at an optimum level. In most cases, these duties depend on individual initiative. They improve the work environment and motivate soldiers to perform because they want to, not because they have to. Responsibility is the legally established and moral obligation a soldier assumes for his own actions, accomplishments and failures. Leaders also assume responsibility for the actions, accomplishments, and failures of their units and decisions. Above all, the leader is responsible for accomplishing his assigned missions. Then, he is responsible for his soldiers’ health, welfare, morale, and discipline. The leader is responsible for maintaining and employing the resources of his force. In most cases, these responsibilities do not conflict. But sometimes they do. For example, SPC Hull has requested a three day pass, Friday through Sunday, because an old friend is visiting for the weekend. But Friday the company is going to the range to qualify on individual weapons. There is no other range time scheduled for the next three months. If such a conflict cannot be resolved, accomplishing the mission must come first. In the example, SPC Hull’s commander disapproves the pass. Related to responsibility is accountability. This is the requirement to answer to superiors (and ultimately the American people) for mission accomplishment, for the lives and care of assigned soldiers, and for effectively and efficiently using Army resources. It also includes an obligation to answer for properly using delegated authority. Leaders are accountable for what they do or fail to do. For example, SSG Calhoun must explain to the platoon leader and platoon sergeant why three tires on one of her squad’s vehicles are not inflated to the air pressure specified in the technical manual. Soldiers account for their actions to their fellow soldiers or organization, their leaders, the Army and the American people. Officers, NCOs, and DACs lead other officers, NCOs, junior enlisted soldiers, and DACs and help them carry out their responsibilities. Commanders set overall policies and standards, but all leaders guide, assist, and supervise subordinates, who assist and advise their leaders. Mission accomplishment demands that officers, NCOs and DACs work together to advise, assist and learn from each other.