The Importance of Telling the Story of the Army NCO

Noncommissioned officers (NCOs) translate the orders of an officer, provide guidance to both officers and junior enlisted personnel, and take over in an officer's stead. This is one of the main things that separates the United States military from that     of many other militaries worldwide. Our NCOs can continue with a mission even without direct officer oversight. Sure, officers   still play an integral part in the machine, but accomplishing the mission does not necessarily rely on an officer's command for it to get done. NCOs accomplish most missions by exercising disciplined initiative.

Enlisted servicemembers, particularly NCOs, have an inherent grasp on what it means to be a Soldier that differs from their officer counterparts. Most officers' first experience in the Army was either in one of the service academies or the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Their experience with officers and NCOs is structured and controlled. The enlisted servicemembers' first taste of the military was in basic training with a Drill Sergeant teaching them skill level one tasks with expertise. There is little instruction on planning, leading, and orders. This is by design and works wonderfully.

The writing and publication world has long been a place for “educated” people, officers with degrees, professionals with advanced schooling, and those with a large following. To combat this, one of the things that NCOs need to do more of is write. Write about tactics. Write about what works. Write about what doesn’t work. Write about good leadership…and bad. Write about their unique views on the military. Write about how they would change things if they were the Sergeant Major of the Army or Army Chief of Staff for a day. The medium for this writing does not matter, nor does staying within the APA 7 guidelines, as most of our schools are moving toward. Sure, sounding intelligent is great, but articulating and communicating the information so more people can digest it is even better. After all, we’re not here to teach Advanced Physics or Honors Mandarin.

Furthermore, there is no need for NCOs to cater to those above them. The goal is to cater to their peers and subordinates. After all, their knowledge is meant to help the Soldier. Everything an NCO has to share is relevant to the force, whether it be about hating structured physical training, having personal beliefs about how the Army is moving philosophically, or simply sharing their experiences.

Some believe that writing is a waste of time while serving in the Army. Too much time is already taken up with all the requirements placed upon the force. While this is true, a significant amount of good can come from sharing the NCO story. How NCOs interpret a plan and implement it cannot adequately be taught. It cannot be easily explained as each NCO has a different perspective on accomplishing a mission best. This is why writing is an important and necessary evil that NCOs must begin to accept.

With the recent pullout from Afghanistan marking the end of an era from Global War on Terror, the lessons learned from this have already started to become lost to Soldiers exiting through the SFL-TAP program. This knowledge needs to be captured for use by future generations of Soldiers. The process does not have to be labor intensive either. For instance, take some notes on paper or your phone notepad. Sit down once a week for a couple of minutes (5-10 total), hell, even during the duty day, and explain your notes. The structure does not matter, nor does the length or vocabulary. Curse up a damn storm if you must…in fact, I encourage it. Be real, be authentic, be you. It is therapeutic.

While officers can write about how they “lead” a raid on a building in the Iraqi desert with their platoon, an NCO can tell you what the door was made from. While an officer can tell you when they directed a shift fire or called a SITREP to higher, an NCO can tell you with explicit detail what the eyes of the person they took out looked like. While an officer can tell you the exact mission timeline, the NCO can tell you how long the mission felt to him and his or her Soldiers, where seconds feel like minutes and minutes like hours.

The NCO is where the science of warfare and the learned art of warfare that an officer has meets experience. That NCO will be the person who can put some ungodly plans into action and make them work. They will be the voice of reason but will also smash the round peg through the square hole.

How they do this must be captured in some way, whether recorded or written. The raw, unfiltered information these people have needs to be captured exactly how they picture it. And there is no better way to get it than from their pen or words.

Did you notice how this writing is not 100% APA 7? Did you notice that I encourage people to be authentic when writing? That means you can use expletives to get your point across if needed. Remember, you are doing this for Soldiers and NCOs first and foremost. The group that has a unique fascination with cursing and vulgar language.

Don’t let the fear of collegiate-level writing, publishing, or sounding stupid stop you from writing something of use for the force.

Do you need help with it? Have no fear. I got you, fam…or however you kids say it these days.

MSG Sean Sweeney is a current student at the Sergeants Major Academy, Class 74. He has served in the Army for over 19 years in various Infantry units including Special Operations, Airborne, Mechanized and Ceremonial. Additionally, he has also trained the next generation of Soldiers and Officers as a Drill Sergeant and ROTC Instructor.