Essay: Respect, military bearing, and professionalism
This is a corrective essay based on respect, military bearing and professionalism for disrespecting a Non Commissioned Officer otherwise known as Sergeant. The essay relates to the military principles defined by the US Army and Exemplary Conduct, and how these principles build a strong foundation for better operations.
According to the US Field Manual, the term military bearing refers to a well-established commanding presence and a projected professional image of military authority. The US Field Manual outlines key operational terms as holding the commanding presence and professional image of authority, which determine the ability of an army officer to respond to specific values and principles like military bearing, discipline among regular officers and sergeants as well as respect within the entire operational unit.
In all the military operations, the Field Manual holdings subject Field Commandants and Non Commissioned Officers to a projected decision based on military bearing. The main concern in this case in for a military leader to remain disciplined, courteous, confident and bearing the skills of persuading or providing motivation, good directions and purpose to their respective subordinates with an objective of completing an assigned mission. In all these circumstance, the American Soldier Creed provides guidelines on how military subordinates should conduct themselves on daily basis, on or off duty without defaming the position of other officials.
In other words, the principles mentioned above represent what most military organizations in USA believe in, and governs the most important customs and courtesies. All members of the military must therefore abide by these principles or may face legal repercussion and punishment that may lead to ultimate split in ideas and process execution. A military officer according to the Field Manual 6-22 should be proactive and not reactive, and should always observe a sense of composure and not discomposure as well as remaining calm during the most stressful or annoying situations. As already mention, military leaders must demonstrate their composure even in chaotic situations or in cases where civilians respond in panic and discomposure.
In a battlefield, both non-commissioned officers and officer in duty must respond by making tough and swift decisions even if such decisions will affect the lives of their fellow soldiers. This is because during chaos, the subordinate are completely depending on the right decisions of their sergeants believing that such decisions provide the best alternative solution to end the chaos. The level of discipline and ability to make quick decisions offer the best opportunity for troubleshooting, and any given situation, whether life threatening or not, must be handled with the highest level of professionalism, but according to the military operational standards. The military operational standards require that an officer or subordinate must act in ways specific to codes of conduct. Following the needs to make decisions that improve performances within and outside military bases, the attributes of obedience, integrity and professionalism still remains core as already stated. Under these three premises, the Non-Commissioned Officers, the Field Officers, and the military subordinate must show obedience to duty calls and disciplined performance in all their assignments. It is the jurisdictional mandate to understand that Non-Commissioned Officers assign tasks just like the Officers in duty, which soldiers with the right sense of duty must respond to accomplish without complains or showing disrespected. This means that military subordinates or soldiers should seize any rising opportunity that enhances self-improvement as well as accept responsibility from their supervisors with a flexible mind. In the course of duty, soldiers, leaders and those who are led must show genuine concern and work as a team in order to accomplish the mission. With a flexible operational mind, respect to the call of duty and commitment to service, the soldiers are able to fulfill the desires of the army organization rather than feeding self-interests.
In the event of accomplishing the mission, the soldiers must also remain clipped to the fact that integrity is the only way to achieve in life. The Non-Commissioned Officers, the Field Officers and the Army Subordinates must take responsibility of their actions and ensure that their actions are dependable and consistent to information relayed within the military camps. Integrity in all aspects of life ensures that the process of decision-making corresponds to the position held by an army officer or a soldier, and therefore the delegation process becomes easy to manage. The personal attributes of a soldier or an army subordinate must always give Non-Commissioned Officers and Field Officers the easiest time ever while looking at the best strategies to apply in a battle.
The situations arising in battle fields require prompt decisions and actions of professionally competent military leader. Without respect and competencies, a military leader may not be able to delegate duties in a way that meets the required standards. However, a leader who is competent and respectful gains the command over other soldiers, and by authoritatively delegating his position to people with diverse skills and experiences, the military leader or a Non-Commissioned Officer develops, maintains and uses the full range of human potentials to develop strong defense base. Like in any other organization, the military base must ensure full control of its potentials, which is critical towards mission accomplishment. A leader who shows respect to his subordinates obtains respect from the same members of subordinate, and always serves by giving his troops constructive information, which serves the purpose of maintaining military disciple. The kind of respect demonstrated by soldiers in their execution processes show the level of concern the soldiers have, and that they are fully aware of the controls and responsibilities given to them by virtue of their military service. This goes in line with proper training for soldiers in readiness to take control of chaos as well as protecting the interests of the society they serve.
In general, showing disrespect to a Non-Commissioned Officer or any other military leader for that matter is a pure show of lack of commitment to the State Military. When a military subordinate decides to disrespect those above him or her in terms of rank, there are higher possibilities that any duty assigned will not be performed under such a command, and therefore it is the jurisdictional right of the leader to sue the solider for disobedience and neglect to duties. Therefore, the Exemplary Conduct requires all commanding officers and those below them to show good examples of virtue, subordination, and honor before demanding the same virtues from their fellows. The conduct also requires military officers to take an active course in respecting the conduct of every subordinate, guard against dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct suggestively according to the principles of the Army.