Respect Nco's

Respecting NCO’s is important in in a garrison environment is important because it instills good order and discipline. Order and discipline are needed in all aspects of the Army. Without it, ultimately people could die or suffer grievous bodily injury. Order and discipline is what keeps your head down in a firefight. Order and discipline is what keeps you standing tall in 100 degree Georgia heat during a change of command ceremony that you don’t want to be at. Non-Commissioned officers are known as the backbone of the Army. They have the responsibility of leading soldiers and getting the job done while the Commissioned Officer creates the conditions to get the job done. In my opinion, NCO’s are leaders more so than the officers. Throughout my time in the military I have been able to be under the leadership of both good and bad NCO’s. The good NCO’s showed me the right way to do things. While in Afghanistan, one of the two team leaders really showed what it means to do the job. If I had difficulty carrying out a task he’d either show me how to do it properly, or a more efficient way of doing it. But he did it in such manner that I began to figure it out myself. I was able to quickly and effectively meld into that team after being moved there from my previous team leader. He would always place his soldiers’ needs before the needs of his own. When the unit we were supporting ordered us to carry out guard shifts, though we had orders that superseded that, he stepped up to the plate and took the brunt of it. He stood not only the tower shifts he was assigned, but took mine and the other soldier assigned to the teams place.

On the other hand, my first team leader in Afghanistan was the complete opposite. To me, a Private First Class at the time, it seemed that his own needs were paramount to my own needs. For example, my personally owned vehicle had been the care of a soldier in a different company when I deployed. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the