Interpersonal Conflict Scenarios

Because of this inherent hierarchal quality, respect must be established between the ranks to ensure that tactical operations continue to fit within a strategic plan. Additionally, in order to successfully mobilize a military, some sort of structure must be enforced to ensure critical elements such as communication, discipline, and accountability are properly maintained. If hierarchal respect, particularly in the sense of customs and courtesies is not maintained, the effectiveness and efficiency of a military is inhibited. In combat situations, if this respect is not well established, it can put the lives of soldiers in danger. Furthermore, in most cases NCOs have more combat experience or, at least, more experience in their MOS. In this sense they are better equipped to lead lower enlisted soldiers into combat situations, to protect their soldiers, and to ensure the completion of the mission. This is why they have earned the position of a non-commissioned officer in the first place and should therefore be respected. I can understand the logic behind this point of view.

Imagine being in an authoritative position in a war. Sounds cool right? Now imagine if your subordinates didn’t follow the orders you put out to them. You just imagined chaos right? In my opinion there is no limit to the chaos that could happen if just one soldier didn’t follow the orders given to him/her. It doesn’t matter what the rank of the soldier is. Following orders in the armed

This is our job as NCO’s to keep the culture and climate of our profession at its peak. We cannot be the ones that “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk” bring that culture down. It is one of our areas of expertise to take care and nurture young soldiers. They are the future of the profession, the future experts that will keep the profession strong and thriving. We as NCO’s must do our best to shield our young soldiers from “toxic” leadership, to show what good leadership is, and mold young soldiers into the professionals of

I asked Chief McKinley what positions he felt were the most influential in the department. Chief McKinley believes that Sergeants and Field Training Officers (FTO) are the two most important roles in the department. Both positions are leadership positions and set the culture for the department. Sergeants work closing with patrol and have an influence over them, whether they want to admit it or not. Sergeants must be aware that officers look to them for guidance and mimic their attitude. This is why it is imperative for Sergeants to display a professional attitude at all time. The same can be said for Field Training Officers. FTO 's are responsible for laying the ground work as the example of how to act with the public, suspects, victims, and fellow employees. Both positions must be professional at all times.

Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) are considered to be “the backbone of the Army”. These Soldiers take the officers

Apparently, he not only was observed conducting pat downs or frisking suspects without the use of protective gloves, but he also put the contents of a suspects pocket into his own pocket. The night shift sergeant explained to him that while he understood he reason or excuse for doing so, that it is not how things are done and explained the possible legal repercussion of doing such things. The rookie was not berated or belittled as I would expect from a quasi-militaristic organization, but rather he was simply corrected and it was explained to him what he did wrong and why it was a big deal as well as what he will do in the future to avoids making that same mistakes. It was in this exchange between the officers that I got that there was a strong sense of group solidarity between the veteran deputies and even the two rookie deputies. The way in which the officers interacted with each other was far different then the “all business” attitude that I had expected to see; their interaction was in reality more brotherly and informal.

A young male, First Lieutenant, in the Army will unknowingly become a man as men server under him. Becoming a man with such unspeakable responsibilities at such a young age can emotionally test even the strongest man. An example, of this transformation is in the short story by Tim O’Brien called, The Things They Carried, it shows a young, First Lieutenant, in the Vietnam War named Jimmy Cross, and his journey to become a successful leader, but only after the death of one of his men. This young, First Lieutenant, will have to come to the grips that other men’s lives are his responsibility. This task of keeping his troops alive will tremendously test Lt. Cross’s heart and soul, by choosing to lose a component of his own humanity along the way. There must be order at all times when you’re in charge of men’s lives, and Lt. Cross must become capable of setting aside his own personal mind-set and align his thoughts with that of the essential standard operating procedures (SOP). Lt Cross eventually decides to follow the SOP, and he finally understands the importance of having an SOP; sadly it comes at the expense of one of his own men. The SOP has allowed Army personal to their job with no reluctance, no matter the situation, quickly being able to adapting to change, always acting in the approved manner by which they shall treat others with dignity and respect, and always having honor in their county, unit, and fellow soldiers. It doesn’t matter if someone is enlisted or

By following the chain of command and keeping respect for ones officers and NCOs the day to day working relationship should and dose run smoother

Once again, if a soldier continually fails to be at his place of duty in a timely fashion, one could easily come to the easy conclusion that he doesn't care, and doesn't respect the Army, its customs, the unit, and its leaders.

The unit personnel may lack knowledge on how to protect the unit’s plans and information sources such as warrants, witnesses, evidence, capabilities, raids, who, what, where, how, etc.

My unit is the A detail or shift. I am currently the sergeant of the detail and have held this position for 10 years. Next in the chain of command is the corporal of the shift. He is responsible for assisting me with the day to day operations of the shift including scheduling time off, evaluating officer, and participating in the disciplining of officers as needed. In my absence, the corporal is responsible for running the shift. There are eight other patrol officers assigned to A detail for a total of ten including myself. Of these eight officers, two are also classified as a Field Training Officer (FTO). They have the responsibility of training new officers in the department.

We usually aren’t directly responsible for developing junior Soldiers however, we do have an effect on their development. As the Company Maintenance Officer I find myself closely walking the red line of Non Commissioned Officer business and Warrant Officer Business. Sometimes we forget our lanes and revert back to what we knew as a Non Commissioned Officer. In today’s Army the Warrant Officer has to play more of an integral role in the company for mentorship and professional development for enlisted and officers

The result was that we’ve ended up with a command structure is top-heavy with guys who looked good in uniform and talked right and did well enough not to embarrass themselves, while the really good ones quietly did all the serious work and bailed out our superiors and got blamed for errors they had advised against until they eventually got out.”

Failure to follow this hierarchy represents a misunderstanding of military principles and opens the door for a lack of good order and discipline. From boot camp, military values are instilled in recruits and their ability to buy into the military system is tested. The realization that they are constantly expected to uphold the standard is forced upon them from day one. Part of this standard is the hierarchy of loyalties which all service members must abide by. Where confusion often occurs is when members rearrange these loyalties to fit their own personal needs rather than the needs of the service. The concept of doing one's duty in the military is not a foreign one to any service member. Despite this, many find it to be a difficult one to act upon when confronted with a dilemma. The easy way is often chosen over the correct way and corners are usually cut. This concept of cheating the system goes against military formality and is in no circumstance allowable. While it is easy to miss a violation of these hierarchy of loyalties, they occur every day in forms that are not easily recognizable. A military professional needs to recognize these circumstances and make a decision which is professionally sound and in accordance with the hierarchy of

Interpersonal conflict is described as “an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent people who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, or interference in the achievement of their goals (Beebe 221). As with many other things, people have developed some myths about it. One of the interpersonal conflict myths is that it indicates a relationship of poor quality. This is, however, incorrect because the conflict can instead demonstrate the complete opposite. An example would be when a couple is arguing about what to eat for dinner. Such a disagreement can show that there is a supportive environment between the two of them. Both people feel comfortable enough to voice their differing opinions without the fear of being negatively