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The Role of the Non-Commissioned Officer

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REVOLUTIONARY REGIMENTAL STAFF

• Three field officers.• Six staff officers.• Four staff NCOs: A sergeant major. A quartermaster sergeant. Two lead musicians.

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THE COLOR SERGEANT

• Led the color guard.

• Maintained proper alignment and cadence.

• Focal point on which men dressed.

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REVOLUTIONARY COMPANY

• Four officers.

• Four sergeants.

• Two musicians(A fifer and a drummer).

• Eighty “rank and file” soldiers-

Four corporals

Seventy-six privates

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CIVIL WAR REGIMENTAL NCO STAFF

• A sergeant major.

• A quartermaster sergeant.

• A commissary sergeant.

• A hospital steward and,

• Two musicians.

P205/MAR 98/PLDC/VA-4

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GENERAL PERSHING’S MESSAGE

“NCOs must love initiative and hold what ground they gained to the utmost. It often happens that a sergeant or even a corporal may decide a battle by the boldness with which he seizes a bit of ground and holds it.”

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NCOES 1971

• The Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course(BNCOC)

• The Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course(ANCOC).

• The Sergeants Major Course(SMC).

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PREREVOLUTIONARY PERIOD MILITIA

• Created for protection against Indians on the frontier and warring European powers.

• Blended French, British, and Prussian traditions.

• Involved in first fighting between colonists and British in American Revolution.

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THE BLUE BOOK

• NCO selected by and responsible to the commander.

• No NCO could transfer and retain grade.

• Stressed NCO responsibility for the care, discipline, and training of soldiers.

• Initiated a Company Descriptive Book.

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CIVIL WAR RESULTS

• Deadlier weapons ended the use of linear formation tactics.

• Eliminated the color sergeant’s role.

• All NCOs to receive training in giving commands.

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WORLD WAR I

• Raised the status of the NCO corps.

• Reemphasized the the use of small unit tactics.

• Prepared NCOs for the age of modern warfare.

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WORLD WAR II

• Placed greater demands on NCO leadership skills.

• NCO retained grade upon transfer

• Forced the creation of a new specialist rank “techs.”

• These technical specialists proved essential to winning the war.

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KOREAN WAR

• Opening months of war demonstrated the neglect in training.

• Majority of fighting took the form of small unit actions.

• Emphasized the need to maintain a well trained minimum amount of forces to meet the worldwide Communist threat.

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VIETNAM WAR EFFORT

• First forces used as military advisors.• Success depended on small unit

leadership.• Airmobility made the role of the NCO

more effective and of greater importance.• This war belonged to the platoon

sergeant, squad, patrol, and fire team leader.

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TRIUMPH OF PROFESSIONALISM

• Elimination of the draft.

• Implementation of an all volunteer force, the Modern Volunteer Army(MVA).

• Created a new enlisted rank structure.

• Noncommissioned Officer Education System(NCOES) initiated.

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TRIUMPH OF PROFESSIONALISM (Cont)

• Implementation of the Enlisted Personnel Management System(EPMS) to regulate all career development for enlisted personnel.

• Evolution of the Noncommissioned Officer Development Program(NCODP) which emphasized “doing” rather than “testing.”

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