Backbone of the Military

If you’re reading this and you’re a non-commissioned officer (NCO), thank you. If you’re reading this and you’re a junior enlisted member or an officer, thank an NCO.

Time and again, I have worked with, learned from, and observed the true magic a good NCO can conjure. The names of generals line the pages of textbooks, but I’m willing to bet that whatever orders and plans those smart generals came up with could not have happened without a pool of action-oriented and mission-focused NCOs at the helm.

As a junior enlisted soldier, I pristinely recall the great and humble tasks my NCOs completed. They got down in the mud (sometimes, literally) and took the time to train me on technical tasks. They are the ones who formally and informally counseled me and provided me with tools and courses of actions to choose from when growing my professional and personal repertoire. Even with excellent and impactful officers buzzing around, it was the NCOs who taught me to care about the details and build resiliency. As a private, I recall one of them saying, “If we don’t care about the small details (in reference to the ribbon rack on a Class A uniform), how can we care about the big details?” Although I remember this sentiment fondly, my true appreciation for these professionals at arms did not fully manifest until I became an officer.

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Christopher Jones, a professional man who knew (and I bet still does) what needed to get done while having fun. After I completed the training requirements to serve as a newly minted platoon leader, I was absolutely blessed to be assigned SFC Jones as my platoon sergeant while assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. As expected, I knew that I would be deploying within six months of signing into the unit. The training and preparation that laid ahead did seem daunting, but I quickly learned that my platoon sergeant would be the key to my team’s success.

SFC Jones was a listener when it was time to listen, a talker when it was time to talk, and a doer when it was time to do. He was fair and impartial, ensuring every medic took their turn to perform third shift duties (primarily involving cleaning in which he would say, “a clean clinic is a happy clinic”) at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA and in the Role II medical clinic in Ramadi, Iraq. When it was time to inject excitement, he did just that. During the medics’ annual training, his voice would reverberate across the camp as he splashed fake blood on the training scene in order to get the trainees’ adrenaline pumping. When it was time to “take a knee (a phrase he would use quite often),” SFC Jones would practice what he told our soldiers, and sit on the bench outside the clinic on Sundays, drink tea and read his Bible. And when it was time to have fun, he participated, somewhat begrudgingly, but always had a good attitude. SFC Jones was never too good or too cool to participate with the rest of us. I even convinced him to do karaoke with me and some soldiers on a boring Iraq Saturday evening in the back classroom (we sang “Love Shack” by the B-52s). 

There are so many SFC Joneses out there who are model leaders. NCOs are the people who put leadership theory into action. Not only do they have to be technical experts in their fields, but NCOs must manage people with limited resources. The balance between taking care of people under a variety of conditions while meeting all mission requirements is a task that cannot be fully understood by those who have not faced the challenge in the civilian world. There is no comparison. In Jocko Willink’s book, The Dichotomy of Leadership, he describes this exact mindset. There were certainly times when SFC Jones had to enforce disciplinary standards against soldiers who did not properly clear their weapons or were degrading the morale of the unit even though they had just worked on the same patient together. A good NCO must be able to enforce standards and oversee the well-being at the individual level while simultaneously stewarding the accomplishment of the unit’s mission. It’s not easy and takes someone special to effectively do it. Too often, I observe leaders at varying levels too timid to speak the truth and take unfavorable action for fear their career could be damaged or a friendship might be dismantled.

Every position I have been assigned has resulted in me meeting another SFC Jones. I could not have reached this point in my career without these amazing individuals who internalize a warrior mentality and who put others before themselves. Needless to say, I do encounter non-SFC Jones-type NCOs now and then. That is when I invoke the spirit of the great NCOs before me and take the time to re-train and get in the mud with them by setting the continual example, documenting what needs to get documented, checking on them, getting them resources, and ultimately, holding them accountable. NCOs are human and, sometimes, they need a guiding light just as they have provided to others.

NCOs are the backbone of the military. They take care of people while getting shit done and, hopefully, even with a little laughter along the way. What more could we ask for?