Different Standards for Different Ranks
Abstract
A serious ethical issue that I have encountered over the years is that some commissioned officers and senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) believe that because of their rank or position certain standards do not apply to them. As the previous First Sergeant (1SG) of a senior level organization, me and the company commander dealt with this attitude quite frequently. This type of attitude, if left unchecked, can lower morale, destroy teamwork, and create a work environment that is unsuitable for the accomplishment of the unit's mission. In the Army we have standards that everyone must meet or exceed. While a standard may vary based on age or gender, it is not meant to vary based on rank or position. Failing to meet these standards is supposed to result in such things as: poor performance counseling, bars to reenlistment, additional training, entrance in to the overweight program, or substandard evaluation reports, as well as a multitude of other possible courses of action to raise a substandard Soldier's performance to acceptable levels. However, some commissioned officers and senior NCOs seem to believe that these "tools for improvement" are for the lower enlisted Soldiers and not applicable to them. Some of the same people who preach about enforcing the standards, holding Soldiers accountable for their actions, or "leading from the front" are the same people who are often delinquent in these same areas. In the pages that follow, I describe several situations in my previous units that overwhelmingly show this ethical dilemma and how it could have affected the unit.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 03, 2008
- Accession Number
- AD1117447
Entities
People
- Darrin A. Kinder
Organizations
- United States Army Sergeants Major Academy