Another Retiree With Too Much Time on His Hands

I am a big fan of the Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, and I feel the year of the NCO is a good thing, however the some of the suggestions of Jimmie W. Spencer (CSM, USA RET) in this week’s edition of the Army Times are just plain wrong. They are listed below in quotes and my thoughts on each one are contained below the suggestion.

“1. The Noncommissioned Officer Corps, as professionals, should have an oath of office, a code of ethics, professional responsibility and disciplinary rules much like those for lawyers, physicians or, for that matter, police officers. I recommend that each NCO, upon entering the NCO ranks, be required to take this life-changing oath.

The senior NCO should be held responsible for upholding standards and ensuring adherence to the oath. The senior NCO must also be given the authority to take corrective action if and when NCOs don’t meet the standard.”

Not needed. We already have an Oath, it is called the Oath of Enlistment or in the case of Officer—Commissioning while different they set forth the same principals which bind every soldier who comes in the Army, it state forthrightly what the responsibilities of a solder are: “I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” If CSM Spenser wants every soldier when they become an NCO to take Oath, make them take the Oath of Enlistment it sets forth why we are in the Army. Regarding a Code of Ethics, we already have a Code of Ethics which are found on the 2166—8 ; “Loyalty, Duty, Respect/EO/EEO, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage.” The last time I checked (as I haven’t officially retired yet it is pretty current) NCOs have the authority by virtue of their rank and the positions they occupy. Likewise we have disciplinary standards; they are called the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. From my foxhole CSM (RET) Spencer’s first suggestion is flawed.

“2. Along with the oath, we need an educational requirement — both military and civilian. I recommend that we phase in the requirement that senior NCOs have a degree. A starting point could be that a sergeant first class must have a two-year degree and a sergeant major would be required to have a four-year degree. The chain of command would be held responsible for ensuring the soldier meets the educational goals.”

Actually we already have a military education requirement—the various levels of NCO schooling. While it would be nice to believe that every Senior NCO should have a college degree, this is not necessary. If they have it good, but I have seen many an NCO who had a college degree that wasn’t worth the powder it would take to blow him or her away. On the other hand some of the best NCO had only a High School Diploma, but were Ph.D. executers of Leadership. What we do not need is a bunch of over educated Senior NCO who would then start to act like the officer corps.

“3. Appreciation of the NCOs’ contributions to the Army and the nation has been for the most part, lost to history. I recommend that we establish a permanent system for honoring NCO contributions. I suggest we call it the Army NCO Hall of Fame — it should be under the control of the Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army.”

Great idea I would suggest that it be at the Sgt Majors Academy at Fort Bliss.

“4. We should start recording the deeds and names of our great past NCOs. I recommend we begin naming things for NCOs (i.e. buildings, roads, awards and Army programs). We should make space on the Army Web site for NCO history. How about a college course/major in NCO history?”

Okay, let see when I was at Fort Stewart we had the Red Cloud Range Complex, named after CPL Red Cloud who won the Medal of Honor, I am sure there are other buildings named after NCO. In fact at Fort McPherson the Medical Clinic is named after SFC Lawrence Joel who won the Medal of Honor. Could we do more sure. As a historian I am all in favor of the History of the NCO Corps, but we need to tell it warts and all, as far as a course on the NCO—why not incorporate that into the History of the Army rather than creating a new course.

“I recommend that we ban the term “enlisted” once and for all in Army correspondence, publications, etc. I think if we do this, the other services will follow our lead.”

So we are no longer going to “enlist” soldiers. Even Officer enlist, it describes an action which we take. Okay so what is it going to be Officers, Warrant Officers, NCOs, and soldiers? I can’t figure out what this will accomplish, if anything at all.

“5. America’s Army is blessed with a large group of retired NCOs who can and should be considered a resource. I recommend that the office of the Sergeant Major of the Army form a formal advisory group of retired NCOs to take advantage of their experience and historical perspective.

This could be organized along the lines of the Army Chief of Staff’s Retiree Council and civilian aides to the Secretary of the Army Program. And we should, from the division level and above, form a team of retired NCO advisers and mentors that would assist the command sergeant major, who is facing ever more complex and increasing responsibilities.”

I am not sure what any of this is going to accomplish, except, like the retiree council, give the NCOs a chance to talk about how it was with Washington at Valley Forge, and to completely miss the mark. I went with my late father on a couple of occasions when he was on the Retiree Council at Fort Lee. As near as I could tell the Retiree’s spent most of their two days, twice a year, telling the Commanding General how screwed up he and the Army was. Totally counterproductive, a good CSM doesn’t need this he has more important things to worry about.

“6. The Army’s interaction with America is traditionally a unit briefing officer/Army spokesperson. I recommend that we, when possible, place NCOs in this role, exposing the nation to some of our great NCOs, thereby helping change the face of the Army.”

Great idea, I will buy it when the NCO start making PowerPoint Slides and the other tasks associated with various actions. In fact I would welcome this, because maybe the NCO Corps can save the Army from death by PowerPoint.

“We need to do more than set aside a year to recognize the accomplishments of the Army’s NCOs. We need to institutionalize their professionalism, demonstrate to soldiers of the future and the American public what NCOs have done throughout our nation’s history, and honor their legacy.”

Some of these ideas are worth considering, others should just be forgotten. Hopefully the Army leadership can figure out which ones make sense and which ones need to be in the trash bin of bad ideas. I have to wonder if CSM Spencer (CSM, USA, RET) has somehow come to the conclusion that the NCOs suffer from an inferiority complex. Somehow I don’t think so, I think this is a case of retired Command Sergeant Major having too much time on his hands.