Introduction
The Romans are known to have rules the world for over three centuries and no other country or ruler is known to have done that ever. The very first Non-commissioned Officers (NCO) group is known to be developed by the Romans, at that time they used to work in a group of ten soldiers having a specially assigned NCO and they used to be extremely well disciplined and efficient.[ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
The NCO groups have become an integral part of the US Army, the history of NCO groups dates back to some 240 years and since their development they have grown, sustained and have become really trustworthy. Hence with all the time that they have spent serving the nation, they have become a very important aspect of U.S. defense and will definitely sustain the trust and recognition developed all this while.[ CITATION Hor02 \l 1033 ] In this paper we will look at the history of NCO groups and will also study about the duties that they perform.
Once the American Revolution started, there was a bit of conflict between the colonists and the troops from Britain at Concord and Lexington, this actually created the need to introduce a combined fighting force. In order to fulfill the need as mentioned before Continental Congress announced the requirement of ten rifle companies from New England and New York in June 1975, now these troops were a beginning of the Continental Army and they soon became a part of the US Army. The continental army started working, however being new into the system they faced many challenges in the initial three years with general discipline, organization and training etc..[ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
In 1977, when Benjamin Franklin was in Paris, he recruited a Prussian Captain, Baron Friedrich von Steuben; he was introduced to General Washington by Benjamin Franklin as a Lt. General and was finally accepted to look after the Valley Forge as Inspector General. General Steuben later became one of the most important assets in the creation of the NCO Corp and his experience with the Prussian army also helped a lot. The start of the creation of NCO Corp took place when General Steuben hand picked hundred men and made them assemble at the Valley Forge to form the “model company”. This company was segregated into smaller groups and they were given important trainings related to discipline, firing drills, manual of arms and training strategies to train other soldiers. [ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
General Steuben’s was of training was harsh and strict and this is what, induced discipline in the army which was lacking initially and after the completion of training under Gen. Steuben, the trained soldiers were sent to different wings of the army to provide further training and share their learning a the valley forge with other soldiers. The above system of regular training and development really helped to improve the Army tactics and resulted in a defeat of the British. This was the time when the importance of the NCO corps was first understood and soon they became a very important part of the army. [ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
In order to ensure that the decorum and consistency of the NCO corps does not degrade, as time passes by, General. Steuben wrote a manual which incorporated the details about the military training and procedures. This book included everything the general guidelines to complex Army hierarchy related information and was known as the “Blue Book“, some of the traditions and ceremonies as mentioned in this book are still a part of the NCO Corps culture today. [ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
The eighteenth century warfare included very linear tactics during the war and there was a regular need to work on improving the army, considering that there was mostly a use of manual techniques, leadership and discipline proved to be a very important point of consideration in those times. Since the time the NCO groups were created there were many hierarchical and organizational changes that come however one of the major changes noted by the History is the Army becoming an all-volunteer force in the year 1973. This step was taken with the motive, that it will enhance the ability of the Army to work and develop itself on the principals of leadership, personnel management, motivation and training. [ CITATION Hor02 \l 1033 ]
There was another very important addition to the NCO Corp training and development in 1971, where the Army decided to ease the transition for NCO Corps and developed three new wings of training namely the Basic NCO Course (BNCOC), the advanced NCO Course (ANCOC) and the Sergeants major course. After all these developments and changes coming to the NCO corp in the years that we have discussed, it is determined to become a great development channel for the soldiers, and enabling them to learn extremely advanced professional skills and understand the utility of the latest technical innovations. [ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
NCO Corps: An analytical approach to the duties performed
The American NCO was developed, capturing the advantages from various other armies like the British and the Prussian army and being a unique blend of these it has a very distinct set of traditions and Heritage, thus the duties performed by this wing are very well executed, disciplined and effectively driven. The initial role of the NCOs was related to the supervisory efforts of training and development happening in the troops, however with the advancement in technology it was required that resource management is done in a better manner and therefore without really leaving the existing role of color bearers and file closers, the NCO’s took a new responsibility of finding the enemy centers and patrolling etc. [ CITATION Hor02 \l 1033 ]
The Indian war in the later part of the 19 centuries involved the need to bring small units into action and NCO’s played a very important role in those kinds of situations. Similarly the war with Vietnam guerrillas in 1899-1902 was one of the really deadly wars and skirmishes; it was the NCO’s in that time which helped to develop the expertise in the newly recruited and inexperienced troops to defeat the enemy. There are some major duties of the NCO Corp which are followed regularly and give us a fair idea of the kind of role that they play as a part of the army.
Training and Development
This is one of the oldest and the most important roles of the NCOs, and they provide the training to the US army in order to develop the soldiers to military standards. There are multiple types of trainings which are given and include soldiers’ skills, military occupational specialty, primary marks man instruction, weapon system and even driving skills. The information and training provided by the NCO consists of the latest and most advanced information structure. The training structure of the NCOs is divided into three basic roles, the first one is to provide training to the soldiers, the second is to maintain their own level of information and expertise and lastly to improve the standards through new improvements and initiatives. [ CITATION Hor02 \l 1033 ]
During the WW II and the Korean war, there were several instances where the commanding officers were not there for the troops and that is when the NCOs took the initiative to lead the soldiers, they also ensured that they supported the new recruits and never stayed behind in taking charge and leading as and when required. Vietnam war was one of the extremely difficult situations sthat the Army had to face at that time and considering that the battle field consisted of many hills, mountains, rivers and streams etc., there was a separate strategy altogether which was required in order to fight the circumstances. NCOs ensured that they develop that strategy and prepare small squads with different roles and responsibilities, to ensure that they collectively work in order to fight all the challenges that they face in the battle field.[ CITATION NCO05 \l 1033 ]
The duties of the NCOs in a post war scenario have not changed since the last two decades however, it is very important to see that the function they are performing has become more realistic now, on one hand where the training and development continues to be the primary task, the most important advantage is the continuous modernization which happens regularly due to the improvement initiatives taken by the Corp. It is pretty clear that despite there are several well defined roles and responsibilities of the NCOs there is no doubt in the fact that they are always ready to volunteer if there is anything more required form them according to a situation. [ CITATION Hor02 \l 1033 ]
Conclusion
We have looked through a long period of sustained efforts and services rendered by the NCO Corp and since the time of its establishment it has been involved in some really important duties of the US army and there is no doubt in the fact that NCOs have a huge role to play in the existing worldwide image of the US Army. The highlight of this team is the effectiveness and discipline that it has driven the past through centuries and has handled training effectively, which is supposed to be one of the most important sections of military.
With the above scenarios of the various wars that we have seen in the past, it is a proven fact that the NCOs have been extremely supportive during any adverse situation that the US army has ever faced. According to the needs, they have always been flexible and have provided the required leadership and expertise in order to motivate and develop the new recruits and soldiers. Hence looking at the discussions and all the above mentioned information we can deduce that NCOs have come a long way since the time they were established and they really are one of the most important success factors of the US Army in today’s scenario.
Works Cited
Horn, Bernd Lt. Col. "A T I M E L E S S S T R E N G T H : T H E A R M Y ’ S S E N I O R N C O C O R P S." C a n a d i a n M i l i t a r y J o u r n a l (2002): 39-48.
NCO Training . The Noncommissioned Officer Corps: On Training, Cohesion, and Combat. Informatory. Pentagon: The Information Management Support Center, 2005.
