Last week was an interesting week for my version of conversation discussing the noncommissioned officer leader. I was a part of a few spirited debates around a few of my recent posts here on Substack, one since deleted topic that was debated in private social media circles. Buried at the bottom of the thread was an innocuous comment that said something to the effect of: that is fine and good, but who is willing to put their personal reputation on the line and invest the time to do something about it? It was a rhetorical question sure, but one worthy of revisiting, because today a few of us are putting some skin in the game. Actually, six visionary Soldier’s for Life and I have been working for almost two years on creating an independent NCO-focused 501(c)3 nonprofit research & policy institute, the Institute for Advanced NCO Leadership, to serve as an anchor point for capturing the traditions of the NCO Corps from outside of the institution.
In the 3d Quarter 2011 Joint Forces Quarterly Colonel Matthew Moten, USA, wrote “Who Is a Member of the Military Profession?” where he laid out his views and definitions of professions in general, but particularly asking if being an NCO was akin to being a part of a profession, like a plumber, an electrician, or a pipefitter are in professions. In reading the article I was able to check the boxes in many of the points he made minus one, and that was, having an “autonomous jurisdiction over a body of professional knowledge.” He was right, the NCO corps is missing that , and we believe that gap is a symptom that is affecting our profession today. Our appeal is that today’s career professional enlisted leader needs a set of unwavering essential customs and conventions that remain as enduring characteristics of our community.
My past writings have tried to argue that an independent institution is in fact curating NCO Corps wisdom and heritage, but I could only find them from within the Army enterprise. Yes, there are a few great membership-based veteran and service organizations that we think highly of, AUSA, NCOA and EANGUS to name but a few. But their agendas are not crafted in the way as Moten’s article intended and the NCO Corps as a “profession” does not have a disciplined knowledge system outside of the organization that is minding our mores and values, and investigating future initiatives.
We believe that leaving jurisdiction of the truisms and culture of the NCO as a profession to the institution runs the risk of becoming a cult of personality, especially considering that by design our own NCO strategy is “nested in the guidance and vision of our leaders." Beacuse of that, our habits are changing all the time. Asking the institution to guard our intellectual achievements is how Germans say, “den Bock zum Gärtner machen,” or “hiring a goat as the gardener.” After much thought and a lot of conversation, a few professionals (and friends) and I set out in 2022 on “Project Dobol” named after CSM (Ret.) Theodore (Ted) Dobol, the first NCO promoted to sergeant major. This project is about getting to our roots.
For this initiative we created a not-for-profit “think tank” similar to other Army think tanks, like the Combat Studies institute (Command and General Staff College), the Strategic Studies Institute (War College), and the Modern War Institute (West Point), but this one is to solely focus on the enlisted leader. Today we proudly announce that the Institute for Advanced NCO Leadership, or I.am.NCO, is a living, breathing entity.
We have gone through the legal steps to create a start-up, and we espouse our mission, vision and goals, so consider this our initial communication gesture. But know, our core purpose is that we have organized exclusively “to conduct rigorous research, expert analysis, and offer policy recommendations for enlisted leader development.” Read our introductory message on our website at iamnco.org. Today’s message here on this NCO Guide Substack will be my final as over the next few days this will transition to become I.am.NCO and serve as a repository for NCO discourse and thought-provoking initiatives.
Bear with our team as we follow the tried-and-true method of crawl, walk run, at this juncture as we stand upright and proudly stride into the next phase of the project. Our behind-the-scenes team have begun to assimilate a number of enduring NCO initiatives that began with squad-leader.com, Battle Command Knowledge System, the NCO Historical Society and the NCO Guide. A recently was our Fellowship program and a new collaboration with other subject matter experts and organizations. Our Board of Directors have been pushing the volunteers toward action, which you may see as you explore our online hub.
This total effort will allow for a recoupment of the investments made by our nation in the education and development of the modern enlisted leader. But realize that our capability to conduct NCO-focused applied research using our patented methodologies© is limited as now our next stage is to generate capability and resources. Our number one effort will be in securing adequate funding through a series of targeted enterprises and collaborations that will engage our subject matter expert community. Stand by for great things to come.
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