Are the opinions, ideas, and voices of junior enlisted ever taken seriously by senior leadership?

ENS Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 21:39:04 -0400

From the bottom looking up, often times the junior enlisted community feel as though their voices aren't heard - that often senior officers are too busy to "waste their time" on the junior guys. Though, this may not necessarily be true looking down, does senior leadership take the junior enlisted seriously? Is the moral of a unit important to them and at what lengths is leadership willing to go?

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 7 at 2016 10:15 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 22:15:39 -0400

Ignore the opinions and suggestions of inferior leaders at your own peril. I once warned my superior's that they were taking an unnecessary risk. They agreed that it was a risk but felt that it was acceptable. When I disagreed, they told me to write a Memorandum for Record which I did. When the risk was realized and their superiors came looking for blood, I clad myself in that MFR and was immune to the buck passing. To the general's credit, he took his punishment like a man and then rewarded me for my attempt to save him the disgrace.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2016 11:27 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 23:27:55 -0400

Many of the officers I worked with were approachable. If you develop a working relationship within your chain of command, I have found most officers were open. Granted, the hardest lesson to learn is timing!

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 8 at 2016 12:05 AM

SN Greg Wright — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 00:05:32 -0400

At Captain's Mast my CO told me, quote, "Wright, your ASVABS are higher than mine, what the fuck are you doing?" So I think mostly they listen. But there's a big difference between book smart and life smart, le sigh.

I once refused a command from a harbor pilot that had the potential to result in Very Bad Things in Valdez, AK. He wanted me relieved. Instead, the Captain (in the only incident of this happening that I've ever seen in both Naval and Civilian careers) took the con and and relieved the pilot. (There's only two places in the world where Captains can't do that, and Valdez, AK isn't one of them.) Why? Because I was right.

Response by Cpl Rc Layne made Aug 8 at 2016 12:09 AM

Cpl Rc Layne — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 00:09:57 -0400

From observations made while in the middle, nope don't pay any attention at all.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2016 2:57 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 02:57:32 -0400

I obviously like touting the benefits of small units with close-knit teams, and here again is no exception... The most successful units I've seen do take the opinions of junior enlisted Service members very seriously. As an EOD Technician, I typically operate with one or two 'subordinates', commonly an E5 and an E4 and I've been kept safe on numerous occasions because I have listened to their input. As I've moved up in rank, however, I see that one area there is possibly a disconnect is when one moves out of the tactical realm of thinking and into the operational one. I remember as a younger Soldier, I felt there was a lot to say that wasn't being said and a lot to address that wasn't being addressed... now that I look back on it, many of those things my peers and I had brought up which we felt fell on deaf ears actually didn't make sense in operational realm thinking. The problem was, none of my NCOs ever explained the tactical, operational, and strategic realm. Once I got my first PME on those, so many light bulbs came on for me, and so now I attempt to teach operational thinking to my E4s and start dabbling in explaining strategic thinking to my E5s and E6s.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2016 3:29 AM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 03:29:49 -0400

Absolutely! I've been in some exceptional units and some, not so much. In the exceptional units the senior leadership made it a point to get out a visit the troops on a regular basis. To personally look them in the eyes and ask for and listen to the feedback of the Jr. enlisted. In-line with what SN Greg Wright mentioned with regards to the ASVAB scores, in today's all volunteer military, there are many Jr. Enlisted with under grad and graduate degrees. That said, you don't have to hold a degree of any kind to have a great idea or suggestion. The enlisted corps is the back backbone of our military and in many cases they are the experts in their field. A good leader would be foolish not to take them seriously. Personally, I will always listen to suggestions/recommendations from my Airmen and NCO's, some I will take and run with, others I might not, but I'll always take into account what they have to say.

Response by CPL Anthony Slaughter made Aug 8 at 2016 4:06 PM

CPL Anthony Slaughter — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 16:06:11 -0400

The day that a leader does not have time for his subordinates (aside from extreme circumstances), is the day that he is no longer fit to be a leader.
-1SG Jon Stanley

Response by SGT Eliyahu Rooff made Aug 8 at 2016 5:20 PM

SGT Eliyahu Rooff — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:20:30 -0400

My own experience has been that the better educated the officer or NCO is, the more likely he is to listen to input from others. One of the nice things about being a medic was that most of the MDs were happy to hear what we had to say, especially if we'd seen something they missed. First time I learned about that was when a radiologist was reading a chest x-ray for a trauma patient. He'd just dictated onto tape about the multiple broken ribs and was closing the report when I interrupted to ask him, "Do you want to say something about the pneumothorax?" He looked at the film again, raised his eyebrows and said, "Holy crap! I really missed that!"

Response by SSG Drew Cook made Aug 8 at 2016 7:36 PM

SSG Drew Cook — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 19:36:49 -0400

True leaders always listen.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2016 9:14 AM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 09:14:10 -0400

With the advent of black socks and wearing headphones I would say that yes, their opinions and gripes are heard.
As to the microcosm of squad and platoons, it depends on the leadership style of the unit.