IamNCO Policy Initiatives, Take One
Quick survey to help prioritize NCO Policy Issues
If you are wondering about the latest happenings at the only Think Tank focused on the Noncommissioned Officer, the Institute for Advanced NCO Leadership (IamNCO) is not standing still. We had our quinceaƱera-like coming-of-age celebration in September when we first announced the establishment of the Institute. And then, in October, we took it on the road when the Executive Director CSM (Ret.) Lance Lehr, Director of Education CSM (Ret.) With some help from our Director of Outreach CSM Phil Johndrow, Matt Lord and I descended on the annual Association of the United States Army to see and hear all the latest Army initiatives. Building an entirely new organization from scratch is challenging when resources are few, but there are examples of what we hope to become. But first, we must get our messaging right.
Getting Our Agenda Right
Think tanks play an essential role in setting research goals and a policy agenda and in prioritizing some subjects over others; that is where we have found ourselves. We have been studying what the inaugural board and directors believe are non-operational policy proposals that could enhance enlisted retention, relieve some of the burden on the Corps, and enhance the prestige of senior noncommissioned officers and the NCO Support Channel. Our staff of volunteers have banded together to make twenty-two recommendations for consideration to set a platform on which the Institute is to be founded. Now, we would appreciate your help defining our top issues for the betterment of the NCO Corps.
This Veterans Day weekend is a perfect time for reflection and honoring the sacrifice of our military and their veterans. It is also a time for you to contribute a few moments to help us rank and order some of the subjects our team came up with. It is not a pretty list and isnāt perfect, but it is a start. The top priorities are only our initial topics and will help us focus our resources, energy, and research toward deemed necessary objectives. It also gives us goals; we need to crowd-source what is essential to NCOs today.
Here is the ask. Click on this link and go to our totally anonymous survey. Then, rank the 22 issues from the priority of importance to you to the last. Is something missing on the list, or would you like to add something for consideration? Then, could you comment here on the Substack article and tell us what you think? We cannot be an organization for NCOs if we do not listen to the voices, so we need your help.
If you'd like to go right to the survey, you can do that now by clicking here. Youāll need to review some of the suggested topics below and rank them in order from the link below. You may notice in the actual survey there is a single entry that says something else; feel free to order that for the one burning issue you think is missing and then comment below. We need 500 responses by Tuesday so that we would appreciate your help now. All you have to do is click the link, use your mouse to grab a topic, and move it up or down the list until you rank and order them all. Then, hit the green submit button. Itās that easy. And itās anonymous.
Jotform Survey Questions
You can get a glimpse of some of the suggested topics below, and the list is not all-inclusive. Some may be a bridge too far, and some may not be aggressive enough. You tell us. They are in no particular order.
1. Advocate that the Secretary of the Army warrant the Sergeant Major of the Army
2. Recommend the Army develop a structured mentorship program
3. Suggest the Army codify in policy the NCO Corps as a distinctly separate Army cohort
4. Recommend the Army develop a way to make decentralized leadership a reality
5. Expand the role of NCOLCoE at Bliss as the NCO Corps proponent and as a direct report to the Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army
6. Determine how to streamline administrative burdens (Process improvement and Digital tools)
7. Strengthen the profession by balancing Traditional Roles with New Responsibilities
8. Advocate that Commandant positions of Regimental NCOAs should be nominative positions
9. Form an independent study to investigate the current and future roles and responsibilities of the NCO Support Channel
10. Conduct research to identify the right priorities for tasks that, by being scaled back or deleted, will provide more time dedicated to warfighting skills and skill enhancement for soldiers
11. Advocacy for NCO concerns: pay, benefits, support for families
12. Ensure the Army Maintains Leadership in a Joint/Multinational Force Environment
13. Community engagement with the broader military community, including other NCOs, officers, and enlisted personnel, to promote collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and mutual support among military ranks
14. Move SGM-A to Ft Leavenworth and petition Congress to afford it Title 10 USC 7371 authority and compensation for its faculty
15. Recruitment and Retention
16. Adapting to Technological Advancement/Evolution
17. Influence Navigating Ethical and Moral Dilemmas
18. Advocate for Rank-centric AI-facilitated exit interview with all NCOs upon ETS or retirement
19. Advocate for professional development opportunities such as training programs, workshops, and mentorship opportunities
20. Secure funding for 12-month post-exit Rank-centric AI-facilitated follow-up with all NCOs upon ETS or retirement
21. Expand the Role of NCOs in Strategic Decision-Making
22. Provide pay parity for nominative senior enlisted leaders that last into retirement
Thank you for taking the time to help us with this survey, and we salute you.
/topsarge
Chairman, IamNCO
We def hope for iteraction and involvement by NCOs of THE Army in whatever capacity we can get it, official or unofficial. There are many private, non profit, academic and industries where active duty soldiers serve as Fellows while on broadening assignments, or training with industry. We would hope to one day be in that category. In the meantime, just by communicating with us, that is a start. We are seeking SGM-A student projects, graduate and doctorate students, and research psychologists interested in helping us research and study these topics once we get them nailed down. It will be through that type of work that we can identify some of the answers you are asking about. At this point we think some of these 22 items are issues, and we don't yet have a position on them. But through the research we conduct we hope to be able to talk pro or con with supporting data, backed up by investigative research, to convey a message. We want your help in these areas and would be glad to continue the dialog, stay tuned and stay involved. Thanks! -dan
We def hope for iteraction and involvement by NCOs of THE Army in whatever capacity we can get it, official or unofficial. There are many private, non profit, academic and industry where active duty soldiers acting as Fellows serve on broadening assignments, we would hope to one day be in that category. In the meantime, just by communicating that is a start. We are seeking, SGM-A projects, grad students, and research physiologists interested in helping us with these topics once we get them nailed down, and it will be through their work they we can identify some of the answers you are asking about. At this point we thing some of these 22 items are issues, and we don't yet have a position on them. But through the research we conduct, we hope to be able to talk pro or con with supporting data, backed up by investigative research, to establish a position. We want your help in these areas and would be glad to continue the dialog, stay tuned and stay involved. Thanks! -dan