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Why should all Soldiers be leaders? Is there no place for a GOOD soldier who is simply good at following those who have the skill set to lead? Different folk have different gifts. It stands to reason that if the Army has leaders, it must also have followers. Please consider that this may be a "Devil's Advocate" question intended to spark discussion.
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Army
Army
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 6
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Every Soldier needs to be a good follower. Good followers make great leaders. That is not to say you should go blindly into the dark. There are times when we need to question the validity of our orders. You may still need to execute the order if it is not illegal or imoral, however, we should all be looking back to see if those were the right choice and learn and grow from them. So should every Soldier be a leader - YES - that is one of the foundations of the Army - if needed the lowest private should be able to take charge and accomplish the mission.
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SSG (Join to see)
Beautifully said SGM Dale. Soldier's aren't robots, it is necessary to apply critical thinking skills in our line of work.
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Simply put, you're always one bullet away from being in the next higher position.
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MAJ Joseph Parker
Talk about concise! Said like a Ranger, SSG Barin! Every soldier and officer should be trained in leadership...and followership. We are all leaders and followers at one level or another. If the aid station is wiped out and the most junior medic is the only one standing; he/she becomes the BN doc. If the Commo PLT is AWOL and an E2 is the only one left, he/she is the PLT LDR; and if a gunner is killed the asst. becomes the gunner and somebody else fills in as the assistant. During operations nobody much cares about the shape of the rank patch. Tell you what won't fly: any SM (regardless of rank) saying "that's not my job!"
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Not every Soldier is a good leader, and not every Soldier should be culled to be a leader. I would love to see us go back to the days of Technical Sergeants or Specialist (5-9). These ranks could be for those fields or Soldiers who are technically proficient but aren't "leaders." Having deployed with an ESC and having been in the G1, I've seen clear examples of NCOs who aren't leaders but are very good at their jobs. They ended up treating "their" Soldiers more like children than like the adults they are.
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