What is cool about being an NCO or Staff NCO??

Question

What i dont get is, if you can become an officer and have rank over all enlisted men, why do some people choose to make careers out of being an NCO or SNCO?? Is there some benefit that i dont know about?? i dont understand...

Answer 1

My husband's answer (from a Staff NCO):

1) Officers have to kiss a lot of butt and there are a lot of politics involved with being an officer.

2) You get to work with junior Marines on a closer level and be more of a mentor towards them and at the same time you are also helping junior officers become stronger leaders by giving them sound advice.

3) Junior Marines respect you more because you've been in their shoes and your dealings with them is a little more hands-on.

You have to ask yourself if you like to be the one outlining the objective and telling someone to find a way to accomplish that objective for you....or do you like to be told an objective and be responsible for planning a solution, playing an integral role in supervising and helping in accomplishing the task? It all depends on the level of involvement that you want to have. Officers take care of the big picture - SNCOs and NCOs take care of the details that make up the big picture. All roles are important and vital to the well-being of the organization as a whole.

Answer 2

You have to have a bachelor's degree to be an officer. If you go into the service fresh out of high school you can become an NCO before others in your high school class are done with their college degree. Also, in most cases Privates respect and look up to their senior NCO's much more than their officers. It has been said that "Officers lead units. NCO's lead soldiers." For some NCO's it is a personal choice to stay enlisted. Others just really aren't college material but can still make a great career for themselves as an NCO.

Answer 3

Because its very simple. To be an officer you have to have a 4 year degree just to get in. To be enlisted you just have to graduate high school and work up the chain- degree not required. By the time an enlisted person gets a 4 year agree assuming they didnt have one to begin with, they already have a few years in and understand the importance of being an NCO rather then starting all over again and being a LT.

People that have degrees to begin with 99% choose to be officers vs enlisted.

enlisted isnt so bad to especially when your an NCO. When your an NCO you get to mentor young adults and shape there lives. In the officer corps they dont really mentor you as much as enlisted, and they expect the officers to already know everything.

EDIT: I agree with sgt allan. Being an NCO is a noble career, but as an officer you have the opportunity to one day be a Colonel or a 4 star general and work directly with the president. In reality though the odds of one being a general is very very slim, becase POLITICS playing is a huge game in the officer corps. NCOs also play politics, but it is much more rampany and affects more careers in the officer ranks. I like being an officer, and I work very closely with my insubordinates NCO's. I understand the relationship, because I served on the enlisted side as well. I always listen to my NCO's and give them the support they need.

Answer 4

Some people like to have hands on the switch. I have been an NCO for a while and I love training Soldiers and passing down my Knowledge. As an officer you don’t inter act with soldiers as much as an NCO and there fore you don’t get a real feel for you them. I can tell you every thing about my soldiers and there families, from how they react to stress and combat to how they treat other people. i can tell you who in my squad is capable of shooting a Nat off a fly but from 300m away while being yelled at by some SSG like me to get his but under cover. It is the NCOs’ job to make sure a soldier is ready for his war time mission and capable of completing any mission given him in a timely manner. It is the officer’s job to give us the mission and the equipment need to complete it. We Plan and execute the missions in accordance with the intent of the commander. A good officer listens to the advice of his NCOs’ and works with him. Most NCOs’ have a lot more experience than the officers above them. Just because you have collage and a commission does not make you an expert at combat tactics and procedures. For instance I have 15 years of service I have been to war three times I have been wounded and survived. My platoon leader has been in the military for two and a half years and never been in combat before this deployment. Who do you think is more capable of training and preparing the soldiers for what will happen. Some one that read about it in a book or some one that has had his boot on ground in combat. To me and the Army the choice is very obvious. That is why the NCO Corp is known as the back bone of the Army

Answer 5

I was a senior NCO (E7) for 12 years and was most satisfied with my accomplishments and tasks set before me. What's more, I performed the tasks of captains and majors routinely during my military career while working with the levels of the surbordinates under me.

Had I wished to go beyond my enlisted status it would have been as a warrant officer specializing in cryptographic MOSs or as a helicopter pilot. I was quite satisfied doing what I did.

Answer 6

Senior NCO's are the backbone of the military. They generally know more about that branch of the service than anyofficer, but the just don't have the powerlike officers.

Answer 7

officers dont "punish" the enlisted , its the nco and snco task to keep his troops in line..I would never be an officer in my life, i like the enlisted side, its also an ego thing.Enlisted troops perform the work under the orders of the officers..I guess you have to be in it to see what i mean, nothing against my officers, its just that they are officers and im not, and that motivates me!!Semper Fi

Answer 8

holy sheep s##t bat man F**K the officer the real working men and women now days come from the enlisted side of the track they know the jobs better than the officers because they are not some snotty nose kid that needs there diaper changed yes they have the power but they are the ones who set in the rear with the gear the only good officers come from the ranks that's how the officers learn their job

Answer 9

I guess the reasons are different for everyone. If you don't have college then you can't be an officer, so that rules out some people right there. If you like working closer with the people under you, then that would be one reason.

Answer 10

Those high ranking officers have to have a sgt to take care of them. Sgts cover for them when they get to drunk to think or get caught up in sex scandels.