What is the difference between the amount of action seen by Officers and Enlisted men in the US military?

Question

The reason I am asking is that it seems as though there is some amount of contempt held for Officers by some Enlisted men for not being as active in the field work as they should be. I would like to join the ranks as an Officer, but I would not want to join the military only find myself in a position that seems meaningless and abused to some people. I just want to do my part in making this country better and frankly, I'm not intersted in any job that holds the significance of a "pencil pusher" when there are men putting their lives on the line for the same freedom and country. As it has been portrayed to me, it seems that Enlisted men do the fighting and the Officers move up in rank. I would just appreciate some clarification.

Just a side note, I don't know much about the conduct of Officers and Enlisted men and I am making no accusations. I appreciate the work that ALL of the men in the US military are doing for my freedom and the freedom of my fellow Americans.

Answer 1

Well, there are good officers and bad officers. There are also good enlisted troops as well as bad enlisted troops.

Generally, you can't categorize ALL people from any category into one. All in all, MOST officers are decent folks. There are a select few who make some bad waves and create a bad image for the rest of us. In the same way, MOST enlisted troops have a general respect for their leadership. There's always a few bad apples who have some deep seated resentment. Even though these enlisted troops make up only a small portion of the military... well, as you can see, even you've heard the rumors. Again, most enlisted troops will joke around about it, but they're willing to recognize that each officer is different from others.

As to pencil pushing... that's up to you. My first office was quite removed from my work center. My second day in the office saw me dragging my desk (by myself, mind you) down the hall and INTO my work center. I'm the type who likes to be in the weeds with my Airmen. The next week a piece of equipment broke down and I opted to work the same extended hours as my troops until it was fixed. I couldn't help, but hell, for 70 hours a week I could provide coffee and learn how to work the equipment. Hell, I think some of the younger airmen had a good time teaching me how they do their jobs and watching me try to duplicate some of their more minor technical skills.

Ultimately, as an officer, how your troops are going to feel about you is going to depend vastly on how you treat others combined with discussion with your troops. I encouraged my airmen to ask questions about anything they wanted. My answers always include 1) the by-the-book response and 2) the way I personally go about my business. Have lunch with your troops. Get down and dirty and ask them to teach you how they do their jobs. Learn their first names, who has kids, what stressors they have and how you can help them beat those obstacles. Get to know each other. Provide leadership, but provide it AFTER you've taken the time to learn AND to gain insight from your SNCOs and NCOICs. Being a good officer isn't that hard, so long as you don't let the potential go to your head.

Answer 2

Both are necessary for completing the missions set out. There is a high degree of contempt between some officers and enlisted, but in most cases they get along as cooperating units. Even higher rated (ranked) military personnel resent each other. A Seaman First Class looks upon a Master Chief Petty Officer as a blowhard, because he knows not what it took to get there. But commissioned officers normally do not go right out on the front lines, unless you are a Navy Seal. This is to keep the officer from being disabled or killed. Just like the CEO does not normally go down on the shop floor and punch a press, the officer does not usually do the grunting.

Answer 3

I can tell you from the last project I was on, we were better off with three E-7's in charge than we were with one officer. We only hold contempt for officers that don't do their jobs correctly, because that in turn affects us. If they don't listen to the senior enlisted leader, than how are we, the enlisted, supposed to be heard?

My recommendation to you would be to do whatever you feel is the best thing for you. You can definatly go enlisted to officer pretty easily, and in certain branches they want you to have a college education once you get up to E-6 and E-7. Depending on which branch of the service you join and the field you are in, advancing as an enlisted or an officer can be difficult. Just a fair warning about the OCS training with the Army, usually unless you a) graduate in the top 5% of your class, or b) you have a really specialized degree in something that they need (i.e. engineering or medical...you get my drift) you won't get the choice on which field you go into. The best officers are definatly the ones who were enlisted first, because they understand us and don't undermine us because we aren't officers. I'd recommend looking into schools like Norwich University, because you don't have to pick which branch of the service you want to be in until a few years into college and once you do, you go through that branchs' basic training. Hope I helped you some, take care and good luck.

Answer 4

I'm enlisted in the Army. I'm not speaking for ALL, but most enlisted personnel have no respect for an officer that goes through ROTC and goes to OCS and gets into the military. They come out with an arrogant and snobby attitude. The officers who were enlisted at one point get a lot more respect from us because they have been in our position.... they know what it's like to be enlisted. They know basic military knowledge, they know how to march, they have been there, done that.... I'm in a medical unit and quite frankly none of the enlisted in my unit have any respect for the officers. They have this "I'm better than you because I have a college degree" attitude.

Yes the military does need enlisted and officers to function. They do play a role in our military. Some officers are down to earth, don't mind getting dirty, dont mind doing stuff that more commonly an enlisted member does.

Answer 5

It depends, in a traditional war, Infantry Officers up to the rank of Brigadier General have been in first wave attacks (such as Normandy), and Lieutenant General McNair was killed in action a few days after D-Day (by friendly fire). But above a certain rank, officers don't generally go out on routine small unit patrols,which are typical in unconventional wars. But it is hoped that they would have experienced them while Platoon Leaders and Company Commanders. Also, in a war like Vietnam or Iraq, just driving between command posts puts anyone at risk of action.

One other thought comes to mind, the Combat Infantry Badge cannot be awarded to anyone over the rank of Colonel, although it was once (by act of Congress). It was award to General Stillwell, he led the march out of Burma (to China) when the Japanese took over Burma. I'm not sure whether he was a 2, 3 or 4 star at that point, I'm guessing 3 or 4.

Answer 6

Well, you ask a tough question, my personnel response is the Army could function with out the majority of its officers, the NCO Corps trains and runs the military on a unit level, officers are needed (or better educated NCO's, Masters, PHD etc) at higher levels. The amount of "action" an officer sees verses an enlisted soldier, well figure this, 1 Platoon leader for each platoon, one commander for each company, one commander for each battalion and so on. More enlisted see action than officers due to the structure of the system as opposed to the officers ability or bravery.

Answer 7

Officers and enlisted are essential. Both are needed. The enlisted will be involved in more action because thats the nature of the beast.
To be an officer is to be a leader and without leaders all is lost. Thats why its such a big inner-circle celebration when one side kills an officer opposed to enlisted.
Many officers are taught separation and to think themselves as the elite. Therefore many young officers have a snobby attitude when they 1st come in and some maintain it.
Like I said both are essential. Go for an officers position. Why settle for less when you can get more?

Answer 8

Man, I'm going to be straight up honest with you, I don't know how it is in other career fields, but in my career field, E-1's have more leadership and MUST have more leadership qualification than just about any officer I've seen. But it really depends because in my career field, life and death is on a fine line so who are you going to listen to, an officer that never really gets adequate training in saving someone's life? Or some really young Privat or Airman or whatever (in this case an Airman); that trains to keep people alive even as a combat troop?
You're gunna grab that 6 month Airman by the arm and say 'save me dam you!' because that officer most of the time is going to cower and hide.
I'm NOT saying that officers don't know anything or get training like such, or take initiation, but any that I know outside my career field are pretty lowgrade, our officers eat their wheateys lol

So all-in-all bro, it's really based on the job and how and where you want to be for the next 2-6+ yrs of your life.
Do you really want to be that back office guy working paper (95% of career fields), that only gets he respect that if you don't do what he tells you, he's going to court martial you, or just play Mr. Badaz, or do you want to be that troop that puts his hand on the lives of others, that puts his hands on the mission from either the flightline or the field. That's for YOU to decide brother.
But I made my decision, that's why I'm proud to be an Airman, and SF Airman.

Answer 9

no, not at all. the military is like any company, while you are at work, the officer is in charge and you'd better know your place...he needs to know his place and not give anyone preferential treatment. after work, if you wanna grab a beer or have thanksgiving with his fam, go ahead. Regardless if you're on a first name basis outside of unifrom, it's good to have SOME sort of comraderie with the ppl who might need to watch your back someday. As for relationships between anyone higher or lower ranking than you, those are severely discouraged and punishable by ucmj. So, dating within the mil is permitted only to those outside of your unit in a close promiximity to your rank.

Answer 10

I will tell you that there are some officer jobs that are completely meaningless, and they suck.

Most jobs are very important.

I don't see the contempt you are speaking of by the majority of Soldiers (except for individuals, like "the commander never leaves the FOB he makes the XO go everywhere"