Military Review English Edition November-December 2015 | Page 96

skills with little emphasis on leadership. These technical
schools rarely elaborate on leadership principles, indoctrinate leadership abilities, or encourage unilateral decision
making to facilitate mission accomplishment. This lack
of emphasis on junior leadership can handicap a platoon
leader by having an entire platoon awaiting its officer’s
instructions without the willingness or ability to independently resolve problems within the scope of their own
competencies in order to carry out the mission.
Change the pay system. As the U.S. Army realized
following the Vietnam War, you eventually “reap what
you sow.” In order to attract quality recruits, the pay scale
for enlisted personnel should at least be comparable to the
civilian sector’s wages. In nation-states that are postconscript, this can be a subject of great controversy and may
create negative headlines in the national press. The United
States faced similar problems following the Vietnam
War when defense budgets were slashed. Nevertheless,
restructuring defense spending methods is a matter of
national priorities and an important component of reform. In addition, pay tables should be configured so that
promotions are encouraged, earned, and awarded with a
monetary incentive. This goes along with the enhanced
military prestige and increased levels of both authority
and responsibility for the promoted NCO.
Transform the promotion system. A professional
NCO corps requires a merit-based promotion system
where upward mobility is encouraged, competitive, and
rewarded. This may require modifying the way NCOs
are traditionally promoted in other countries. In many
armies, career soldiers are compensated based exclusively
on their time of military service. In contrast, while the
U.S. Army also rewards time in service, the rank and
pay grade of each NCO is also determined based on an
individual’s merit.
Over time, U.S. Army NCOs build individual profiles
based on their job performances, which are evaluated for
promotion by more senior NCOs and officers. Promotion
boards for junior NCOs (corporal through staff sergeant)
are decentralized and conducted locally, but promotion
boards for senior NCOs (sergeant first class through sergeant major) are centralized and conducted annually.\.
Adapt the evaluation system. Assuming a desire to
emulate such a merit system for promotion, the NCO
evaluation system of a given army may need to be revamped as well. It should continue not only to evaluate
technical skills but also to place a much greater emphasis
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on evaluating leadership—an emphasis that reflects the
changing relationship between the NCO and the officer.
Empower the NCO support channel. In the U.S.
Army, the chain of command is reinforced by the NCO
support channel. The NCO support channel serves as an
administrative and operational “backbone” supporting the
officers’ command positions and military authority. While
this system is not required, it certainly has been effective
for the U.S. Army. Therefore, it should be considered by
armies in other countries desiring to mold a professional
NCO corps that works efficiently and effectively with
their officers’ corps.
Change the of ficer mind-set. A reforming army’s
officer corps may need to be entirely retrained as well.
Many U.S. Army officers were very resistant to what some
perceived as a radical change in doctrine in the 1970s.8
They mistakenly thought that empowering their subordinates would hollow out their own power base. This type
of resistance can be expected in any army attempting to
implement similar changes. However, with military orders
mandating change, along with the support of senior and
midgrade officers who buy into the changes and possess
the ability to foresee the long-term benefits of enforcing
these improvements, this innovation will eventually be
accepted and endorsed.
The benefits and ground rules must be explained thoroughly to the entire officer corps—from cadets to general
officers. Benefits from NCO empowerment can include,
for example, improved logistical support, equipment
maintenance, and personnel accountability. Additionally,
delegation of authority to NCOs for conducting individual and small-unit collective training without constant
direct supervision saves officers time and eliminates duplication of effort. Empowering and trusting NCOs with
these responsibilities greatly increases small-unit cohesion,
morale, and technical and tactical proficiency.
Improve the personnel management system. Finally,
improvements must be made to enlisted personnel management systems in changing armies. Many armies have
not invested deeply in their enlisted personnel management systems, which may make the creation of a competitive centralized promotion board and a professional
career track for NCOs difficult. Having gone through the
evolutionary process of establishing an enlisted personnel
management system initially in the 1970s, the U.S. Army
is still in the process of modifying its own system. For
example, it is currently streamlining its personnel system
November-December 2015  MILITARY REVIEW