Frame and Ink: Not specifically to your question for ignoring junior enlisted, but certainly I saw a number of times when new LTs ignored the advice of their NCOs. Those incidences did not end well. I was fortunate that arriving at the end of February 1982 to my first assignment as a Rifle PLT LDR at the 1/509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Vicenza, the unit was at 100% strength on NCOs; including most of the PSGs, all of the 1SGs, and the Battalion CSM were Vietnam veterans. The quality of these NCOs was outstanding to say the least. With that amount of experience in the unit, I don’t recall a case where a junior enlisted had experience not covered by any of the NCOs. In those days, it was not uncommon for the average PSG to have 16-18 years of service or the average SQD LDR to have 10-12 years of service (not the same today). My first PSG took me under his wing saying that one of his jobs was to make sure that he trained me to be a good platoon leader. I am forever grateful for his tutelage in showing me the right way for the relationship between a PSG and PLT LDR. In later assignments, I cannot say that I always took the advice of my respective senior NCO…but I never ignored it. In those rare cases where I didn’t take his advice, I let him and the rest of the NCOs know why.
Wow, thank you for sharing that with me. I also feel it resonates better when you give people your "why". I remember in my younger enlisted days and even as a new NCO, what I did not see was the battalion or brigade level big picture. My PLT LDR was excellent at explaining the why to our whole platoon.
I have had the PLT LDR whose answer was "because I said so". We never held that against him to his face, but we did after he left our presence.
Thank you for your service and your leadership and sharing your experiences.
Frame and Ink: Not specifically to your question for ignoring junior enlisted, but certainly I saw a number of times when new LTs ignored the advice of their NCOs. Those incidences did not end well. I was fortunate that arriving at the end of February 1982 to my first assignment as a Rifle PLT LDR at the 1/509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Vicenza, the unit was at 100% strength on NCOs; including most of the PSGs, all of the 1SGs, and the Battalion CSM were Vietnam veterans. The quality of these NCOs was outstanding to say the least. With that amount of experience in the unit, I don’t recall a case where a junior enlisted had experience not covered by any of the NCOs. In those days, it was not uncommon for the average PSG to have 16-18 years of service or the average SQD LDR to have 10-12 years of service (not the same today). My first PSG took me under his wing saying that one of his jobs was to make sure that he trained me to be a good platoon leader. I am forever grateful for his tutelage in showing me the right way for the relationship between a PSG and PLT LDR. In later assignments, I cannot say that I always took the advice of my respective senior NCO…but I never ignored it. In those rare cases where I didn’t take his advice, I let him and the rest of the NCOs know why.
Wow, thank you for sharing that with me. I also feel it resonates better when you give people your "why". I remember in my younger enlisted days and even as a new NCO, what I did not see was the battalion or brigade level big picture. My PLT LDR was excellent at explaining the why to our whole platoon.
I have had the PLT LDR whose answer was "because I said so". We never held that against him to his face, but we did after he left our presence.
Thank you for your service and your leadership and sharing your experiences.