What the major challenges to being an NCO in the current generation of the military? What are some unique solutions you have used?

SGT Robert Wager — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 07:24:31 -0500

What are some of the major challenges to being an NCO in the current generation of the military? What are some unique solutions you have used?

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Jan 25 at 2020 8:09 AM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 08:09:22 -0500

Major Challenge #1: kids are addicted to the web and all sorts of connected doohickeys.

Major challenge #2. Some bias... kids are not used to strong leadership and try to find an escape from their screw ups rather than face them, learn from them, and move on. Not all but many.

Major Challenge #3. From the get go, recruiting effort is focused on benefits rather than service. Therefore many of incoming kids just want to cash out after ETS rather than serve from their own hearts. Not their fault but recurring. Army is the biggest sinner!

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 25 at 2020 10:51 AM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 10:51:22 -0500

Been out awhile but tried and true will never fail you. Be firm. Be fair. Treat all with dignity.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 25 at 2020 1:44 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 13:44:12 -0500

The culture of the Army changes about every ten years. You'll hear people complaining about how "This generation of Soldiers...", but they themselves are a relatively new generation and have only been in around 10 years, which is still pretty new. A decade ago, we were at the height of the surge. If you joined, you knew you were deploying immediately and multiple times. People joined for two main reasons: combat and massive bonuses. The drive to serve was different than it is now. Ten years prior to that, when I first separated, we were under the "Be All You Can Be" Army, and people joined for different reasons. Back then, your average SSG had been in the Army ten years, had three kids, and base pay didn't cover enough so that 2/3rds of them were on Food Stamps. You served knowing it was a training Army and a foreign peace keeping Army with conflicts like Bosnia and Kosova.

Back then, people joined and stayed because they believed in a greater purpose. It was the "suck it up" Army. Serving in the most elite units meant something different then. It was about quiet professionalism.

Today with our kids growing up on social media it's the "look at me" generation. Where our parents shied away from airing dirty laundry, this generation shares everything. It's not good, it's not bad, it's just different.

The point is that their motivations are different. For many of them it's about quality of life, and they don't want to be treated like crap just because their team leader is having a bad day. People say they lack selfless service, but this is one of the most empathetic and selfless generations. It's the first generation to make it culturally unacceptable to bully people, or to not take others feelings into consideration. They are very selfless, they just no longer believe the politicians who lead them have their best interests in mind. So, why would they willingly suffer and sacrifice for some politician's third and fourth order effect? Here's an example: President decides he needs to move a unit as a show of force. One of the IRF units. That causes another unit to have to shift its deployment schedule. That leaves an unfilled NTC rotation. Now another brigade has to do two NTC rotations within six months of each other. If that IRF had been mobilized to fight ebola, like it was a few years ago, the Soldier can feel that they are part of the good fight. But what about when you're being mobilized to guard a border wall being constructed?

Point is, we have different motivations. The difficulty is that the most difficult thing is to understand others motivations. In any generation, you have to get people to "buy in" if you want their participation. What motivates us to buy in changes between generation and even as we age. This generation more than any other I've seen, genuinely wants to make the world a better place even if they have to give up their own money and creature comforts. This is the first time in a very long time we've heard people asking for more taxes. Not since the end of WW2 when the US was staggering from the economic brunt of almost going bankrupt from years of war. Back then, people came together too. This generation is one of the most connected and therfore most communal generations we've had. If you want to motivate them, as someone wise once said, "Always appeal to their nobler motives first" (I read that in Dale Carnegie's book, How to win friends and influence people). You just have to understand their noblest motive first.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 25 at 2020 5:25 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 17:25:44 -0500

Limiting the projection of my beliefs and expectations on others is my base foundation.

I understand that those I lead aren’t me, and may not want to be like me. Likewise, they are not me, and I am not them. All I require is dignity and respect- as they too are entitled to.

Some may call this emotional intelligence... I call it empathy; which is key character attribute of army leaders. Reference ADP 6-22 ch. 2-1.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2020 9:45 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 21:45:15 -0500

I joined in 2013 (22 at the time), so perhaps I have a different perspective.

1. A lot more soldiers now use the army as a career bridge - they have other goals and the military offers a way to get college paid for or to get technical skills they can use later on. Others use it to get other government or civil service jobs. Many end up staying long term, but it was never their main career. Definitely something I see a lot as a reservist. I understand it poses challenges for maintaining a long term force, but I don’t think we should interpret this mentality as laziness or lack of motivation - in fact many of my soldiers balance very busy lives and are quite competent soldiers, but will not stay in for 20 years.

2. My “generation” trends toward collaborative work. I can agree that this sometimes leads to friction with structured,leadership. It does sometimes cause issues with “political correctness”. It does, however, lead to some very innovative solutions, and with capable leaders a lot more can be done as a result.

3: we are a generation that has been integrated with technology. This does cause problems - especially from a political and OPSEC prospective. It does also mean you have a generation of people who know how to research, find relavent information, and process it quickly. Nor does it mean we have an across the board “soft generation”. The reality is we have a generation of soldiers who may be able to make complicated decisions more quickly.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2020 10:05 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:05:51 -0500

Cant smoke Joe's anymore? Bet. APFT improvement for daily PT: Pushup Day, Situp Day, Run day 3x per week..Or pt tests multiple times per week.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 28 at 2020 1:06 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 01:06:47 -0500

Personally, I came into the military during “force shaping” in 2012. As a young Airman I witnessed SNCOs and officers throwing their junior members under the bus on a daily basis rather than mentoring them. There was a constant frenzy of weeding people out that just needed a slight kick in the ass in the proper direction. As an NCO I respect all ranks above and below me, but I still struggle to respect anyone on a personal level that participated in that complete break down of comradery. Unfortunately, there’s still a large group of these leaders hanging around doing the same things like it’s still 2014. The biggest challenge for me has undoubtedly been trying to keep my Airmen in a healthy frame of mind while teaching them the skills and discipline they need to make it in today’s military.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jan 28 at 2020 2:54 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:54:48 -0500

SGT Robert Wager Good Question. No I Don't have the Answer but I Would Like to Add "Perspective". I am a "Vietnam Era" (Entered Shortly After) Veteran. Drug Use and Abuse was Rampant in the Armed Forces (No Urinalysis that wouldn't become a Thing until 1980 or 81 or so). Sailors didn't have to do PT After Boot Camp until 1980 or 81 or so. We had a Lot of Doped Up and or Really Fat Sailors, So Any Hearkening back to the "Good Old Days" when We Were Tougher, More Strict Seems Utterly Ridiculous to Me.

Response by SSG Harry Herres made Jan 1 at 2021 8:44 PM

SSG Harry Herres — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:44:20 -0500

Be honest, never con them, back them when they are right. Listen to them!