A Short History of the NCO

Abstract

This monograph is a short history of the U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer (NCO). The history of the United States Army and of the noncommissioned officer began in 1775, with the birth of the Continental Army. The American noncommissioned officer did not copy the British. He, like the American Army itself, blended traditions of the French, British, and Prussian armies into a uniquely American institution. As the years progressed, the American political system, disdain for the aristocracy, social attitudes, and westward expansion further removed the U.S. Army noncommissioned officer from his European counterparts and created a truly American noncommissioned officer. The history is divided into the following wars/time periods: the American Revolution, the War of 1812, Expansion Westward, the 1820s and 1830s, the Mexican-American War, the 1850s, the Civil War, the Indian Wars, the 1880s and 1890s, the Spanish-American War, Modernization, World War I, the Interwar Period, World War II, the Post-World War II Era, and the Modern Era. The work is produced in the hope that it will prove useful to the wide variety of NCOs in the field and to visitors of the U.S. Army Museum of the Noncommissioned Officer who seek additional information on NCO history.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1991
Accession Number
ADA494749

Entities

People

  • L. R. Arms

Organizations

  • United States Army Sergeants Major Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • American Revolution
  • Ammunition
  • Civil War
  • Congress
  • Education
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Geography
  • Guns
  • Health Services
  • Insurgency
  • Machine Guns
  • Militia
  • Noncommissioned Officers
  • Personnel Management
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.