As a specialist who has completed BLC, am I authorized wear of the NCO Professional Development Ribbon?

SSG(P) (Join to see) - For many regulations there are ways to get around them, get waivers, or find exceptions and so forth. Some don't apply to people in certain circumstances and some organizations have their own internal policies that supersede published Army regulations. Others are so far outside of my need to know for my particular MOS except for those "once in a career" situations that there is no reasonable assumption for me to have ever known there was a regulation for it. You will always be in a position to be learning and there will always be something you don't know or even knew existed.

However, many regulations are subject to interpretation and are not explicit in how they will be executed or enforced. If I am not someone who specializes in personnel actions and S1 functions, I can easily misunderstand or misinterpret the verbiage for a regulation as it pertains to an award. Other times I don't have the time to sort through hundreds or thousands of pages spread across multiple FMs, ARs, pamphlets, Commander's Policy Letters, MILPERS and so on. That's why we rely on Subject Matter Experts for many things. There are also frequent updates that are released that can be difficult to find.

All that said, I agree that people should make an effort to try to look things up. However "google it and ctrl F" is still a poor answer even if it is a simple question.

SFC (Join to see) - So are you advocating that Soldiers not educate themselves with regulations? That is how you get leaders who do not know the answers to simple questions. If you do not know what you are eligible for, you likely won't get it. If you don't know your rights, you will likely be bullied into accepting an Article 15 that would never stand up had you gone to court-martial. Do you think those of us who know regulations just woke up one day with those regulations in our heads? No, we seek out pertinent regulations and read through them. Knowledge is power. Refusing that knowledge is willful ignorance. But, do what you want. Just don't complain when The System screws you over because you didn't know any better.

SSG(P) (Join to see) - At no point did I say soldiers shouldn't educate themselves. However educating yourself means doing more than just opening a manual. It includes seeking out those who have expertise in the subject, and as a leader you should be willing to share your knowledge and not cop out by saying google it. You'll learn that as you step into the next level of leadership...or then again maybe you won't since you seem to be set in your ways.

SFC (Join to see) - I agree that knowledge and experience should always be disseminated. That's why I'm on here-- to spread the knowledge and experience that I have learned. I have never used the "Google" cop-out. I do tell Soldiers to do some research rather than me spoon-feeding them the answers. Feed a man for a day and all... But the bottom line is that we should always be training our subordinates to take our jobs.