The Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Program System

For more than three decades, Army Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) were part of an era of fast promotions through the NCO ranks, with some Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) seeing Soldiers make the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC) with six to seven years time in service (TIS). Since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the United States military was facing a challenge that produced two separate operations simultaneously in the same region of the world which called for thousands of additional service members, especially in the ranks of NCOs. While “fast tracking” was great for the individual, it left many enlisted Soldiers, as well as Officers angry and frustrated with the lack of knowledge these young NCOs were demonstrating when it came to basic Soldiering tactics and techniques. This stems from the decades old Sergeant and Staff Sergeant promotion boards, lack of leadership time, as well as lack of diversity within major Army Component Commands (COCOMS).

The previous promotion system that the Army had in place was designed to support an Army at war. Prior to the height of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army mandated that soldiers attend the appropriate level of Non-commissioned Officer Professional Development (NCOPD) course before the soldier could pin on the next rank. As the Army goes through demobilization, the Army is seeing more of a garrison style of leadership come full circle, realizing that NCO development supports combat readiness long-term. The Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Mark Milley said “Readiness is the Army’s number one priority” (www.armytimes.com) The Army’s combat readiness depends on leaders at all levels to embrace the importance of developing NCOs at a higher level. With changing and improving weapons system and equipment, soldiers of 2020 will need to be at a higher level of readiness than ever before. It must commit to placing emphasis and value on the training, education, and experiences individuals obtain in the operational, institutional, and self-development learning domains. The U.S. Army has made leaps and bounds from where it first began and leading up to the twentieth century. “In the mid 1900’s many leaders in the Army still felt that development was done through the means of on-the-job training, and that that is where it should stay.” (www.ncohistory.com) This was about as far from the today’s system of STEP as you could possibly be.

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

Outstandingly, American Non-commissioned officers have performed commendably in their discharge of their duties worldwide. Every soldier is entitled with NCO who ensures that all soldiers get good and professional training from experienced and qualified experts. NCO is also mandated to identify leaders from soldiers who can effectively perform in small-units. Hence it is very essential for the non commissioned officer to be empowered with knowledge and technique on how to carry out these duties effectively asserts that excellent leaders understand their soldiers' strength and weaknesses Basically, it is the role of non commissioned officer to employ knowledge and skills they have acquired through the many years of service in planning and decision making stages in the Army. In line with this, the US government is taking initiatives to empower the non-commissioned

This unit has provided a continued increased comprehension of leadership development education. Moreover, enhancing elements of my lifestyle and future professional events. Nevertheless, these facts, as well as my extensive military training and leadership position, will aid in a continual professional development in the business community. Likewise. I have discovered personally and overwhelming a

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

In support of my capstone project, I assessed and will submit a redesigned proposal with developmental recommendations for reformation of a solid POI for the SPCC that takes place at the Army Logistics University. In this, I have identified the foremost purpose for this redesign as the following: The investment in the education and training of rising leadership is vital to the long-term success of our sustainment support staff and the services provided. With this course providing training in modular force operations for newly selected command designees that enables them to function effectively throughout their command tour it is very important to make sure that the training is substantive. Therefore the main focus is to assure that training is current and emerging sustainment doctrine and leadership topics for commanders on the National Guard, Reservist and Active Duty levels is most essential.

The training and development that is part of building leaders is important, but there is a distinct difference between "training" and "development," and the authors make that clear. Training in this context means ""¦creating proficiency through specialized instruction" (Mensch, et al, 2008, p. 263). Moreover, training focuses on the "measurable aspects of technical and tactical proficiency," Mensch explains. On the other hand "development" is much broader in scope; it's a "deep, fundamental, and irreversible process," and it stretches out over an extended period of time, Mensch explain (264).

I have multiple expectations of Center Leader course. My first expectation is to start with the basics. We need to have a base to start from. By learning and understanding the regulatory guidance it builds the base from which we grow. Too many times leaders are expected to or are assumed to already have the knowledge. The Non-commissioned officer corps needs to return to the “backbone” of the Army. Through proper self-development, sharing of one another’s knowledge and institutional learning we can accomplish this. I believe the ability and the desire to research has been lost. I do not expect to be handed answers. I do not need to ask for answers. I want to be guided in the right direction to get results. I need to research information for

Success at a professional military education institution is paramount in order for continued service. Institutional training is part of the Army Leader Development Model. CBRN SLC is a three phase course, each phase is approximately two weeks long. The course is conducted as part of the One Army School System; NCOs in the Regular Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard all train together. Moreover, the Small Group Leaders are from the Regular Army and Army Reserve. The course is multifaceted and challenging geared towards ensuring graduates are capable to serve as platoon sergeants, CBRN NCOs, and first sergeant.

1. Purpose: To continue professionalization of the staff and faculty within our Institution of Excellence (IoE) and to prepare professionals capable of operating within the complexity of the operational environment. This will help us to embed mission command principles in leader development in order to meet with the Army’s investment requirements in the human dimension.

Leadership can be defined as a skill that is in demand. We expect supervisors and managers to have these essential skills in order to be a successful leader. Leadership is developed through family, friends and education. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) core curriculum is centered on developing leadership skills and attributes that go along with it. (For the purpose of this paper, when discussing ROTC, I am referring to the Army even though the Airforce, Marines, Navy, and the Coast Guard have ROTC programs.) ROTC program provides Cadets (student) with the basic knowledge that peers and subordinate look for in a leader, then challenges them to use that leadership development on a day to day bases and in stressful situations (for this paper, students will be referred to as Cadets). This paper is going to outline the ROTC programs by discussing the history of the ROTC and their ability to develop leaders not only for the military, but for future employers, the dissertation study of the relationship between leadership style and decision on ROTC leadership training, and the dissertation on a qualitative study of the relationship between

The Warrior Leaders Course (WLC) teaches junior leaders the basic skills needed to lead a small group of Soldiers. The training included basic combat skills, the duties and responsibilities of a junior NCO. WLC prepares junior Soldiers and NCOs for leadership positions and proper influence over subordinates. As a result of focus and excellent leadership, I graduated in the top 20% and placed on the Commandants

Counseling emphases is on the subordinate, by producing a plan and outlining actions (positive/negative) the service member can take to attain individual and organizational goals. This is essential for a leader to develop the subordinate and should be part of a comprehensive program for developing those they are responsible for. A reliable and dependable counseling program includes all subordinates, regardless of the level of each ones’ potential. During counseling, leaders assist subordinates to identify strengths and weaknesses and create plans of action. To make the plans work, leaders actively support their subordinates throughout the implementation and assessment processes. Military leaders have three primary ways of developing others. An Army leader will be able to provide others with knowledge and feedback through counseling, coaching, and mentoring.

In the year 2013, a review of training courses was accomplished by Air Force head quarter and training department to overcome some of the current limitations. The point was to trim the amount of absence of officers from the operational units, refresh the course syllabi and provide Just in Time training. It was felt that the basic Learning should be carried out more by Distance Education with a short Contact program. Distance Education leverages existing technology to provide learning to wider audience at different locations and that also at low cost. In addition, all the courses were graded and the Grade Point Average (GPA) is now connected with promotions. The main benefits of the new training policy is that in a careful manner, wider number of officers benefit from these courses, as some of them are mandatory for all officers to attend, current issues get speedier distribution to a wider audience and knowledge bank gets continuously updated as information ultimately would be available. There would be two sets of mandatory courses each year that itself will constitute two parts; the first part would be Distance Learning (DL) and the second part Contact Program (CP) at an assign location. The Air Warfare studies Institute (ASI) shoulders the major responsibility of initiating the leadership development program in the EAF.