What type of position enables a person to lead, enforce regulations, educate and guide subordinates and peers, and to take on the challenge to ensure that everyone on their team is accounted for, motivated and ready? As a Sergeant of any rank or Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) in the Army, all of the aforementioned are inherited responsibilities. When you are selected to be in this position, it takes initiative to do what’s expected of you when there is no additional leadership. Integrity is also expected of sergeant because they are entrusted to do the right thing at the right time, which is necessary when leading subordinates.
What it means to be a Profession
In An Army White Paper: The profession of arms (2010), a profession is described
…show more content…
It is important for a leader to understand that completing essential tasks to meet mission goals, personal development, and providing future leaders the tools to procure success are all equally important and should be balanced. Times may call for one responsibility to be a higher priority that the other, so it is imperative that leaders are able to differentiate what skills apply to certain situations. “Strategic leaders, for example, must control personnel development, evaluation and certification, and assignment and utilization processes in ways that motivate aspiring professionals as they progress through a career of service,” (TRADOC, 2010). The cycle of learning, training, and accomplishing goals creates a culture of duty-oriented Soldiers with dedicated character and leadership …show more content…
Human resource sergeants are responsible for all Soldiers within their units as well as subordinates assigned to them. It is nearly impossible for a HR sergeant to be an expert in their field without possessing the natural ability to take care of Soldiers. HR sergeants are fair and impartial to Soldiers and assist commanders in meeting mission goals. Although HR sergeants technically have one MOS, they are required to know several others to do their job technically and tactically efficient. Leaders, peers, and subordinates look to HR sergeants for guidance with personnel actions and they are never taken for granted. Without HR sergeants, some aspects in unit organization and readiness would be dismantled become someone else’s additional duty with little dedication and
The HR Sergeant provides a broader framework for the Profession of Arms. The HR Sergeant is a unique individual that lives to service others before themselves. They are experts in their field that provides assistance to the Army Soldiers and adapts to the constant changes. HR Sergeants live by the Warrior Ethos and their dedication to the mission earns the respect of their peers and subordinates. Leading by example is a way of life for the HR Sergeant. Putting others before themselves, completing the required training in order to service others, and living by the Warrior Ethos and the NCO
Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.
The question we must ask ourselves is what exactly the Profession of Arms is and what is our role as Human Resource Sergeants (HR Sergeants) what is it that we bring to the fight, what’s our contribution to the Army’s overall objective. As we emerge from years of war, from constant back to back deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, we find ourselves in an era of persistent conflicts where we find ourselves embroiled in conflicts all around the world. In a world that seems more dangerous today than it was yesterday it is important we remain vigilant and remain capable of fighting and winning our nations wars. We must never forget the ethics instilled upon us by the Army. We must hold fast to our Army Values to which our profession is
Leadership goals should always contain methods of a continuous process of learning through education, training, and individual experiences that help ensure that the message will be communicated in a confident and competent manner when leading troops. Soldiers tend to follow leaders that demonstrate and live the Army values, while displaying their confidence in every decision that affects change. Leaders are not born as organizational or tactical leaders; but grown by their genetic determinism, which is inside and the characteristics they work toward; that mold is which type leader they will become. Not just anyone can lead; you must have the desire to lead, be willing to make the commitment to being a leader, and prepare yourself properly, then you have the desire to become a leader. (Fulton, 1995).
The Human Resources Sergeant plays a vital role in the Army Profession of Arms. An Army professional must have various attributes of good character and leadership skills and the “Be, Know, Do” qualities to be called a profession at all. All leaders must embrace the challenge of balancing multiple responsibilities at once within their profession in order to accomplish any mission. As a United States Army Human Resources Sergeants, we must always consider the culture of the Army and its Profession as an important factor to mission accomplishment. Human Resources Sergeants are those who provide the services needed for admin functions which in turn fuel’s the Army Profession of Arms.
Those strategic leaders establish and balance the expertise and its potential and future operating environment. The role of those leaders is to also balance the Army's culture in terms of doing the things that need to be accomplished. This also allows them to apply the jurisdictions they learned and to balance the climate and artifacts, what the Soldier's hear, say, and feel about the unit. Also, the strategic leaders must maintain the balance of institutional support through assignment and utilization to motivate aspiring professionals. Lastly, the Human Resources NCOs must be able to maintain the Profession of Arms by investing in the development of its
In the Marine Corps, there exists an example of heterarchy nestled within a severely delineated hierarchical structure. When Marines achieve the rank of gunnery sergeant (E-7), they must make a decision about the direction of their career path. They can choose to be considered for promotion to either first sergeant or master sergeant. Both are paid at the E-8 level, but have vastly divergent occupational responsibilities. A first sergeant assumes an administrative role as an enlisted advisor to the unit’s commanding officer. Master sergeants are experts in their military occupational specialty (MOS) or job. They serve as enlisted technical advisors to the commanding officer, but also have the flexibility to step into the billet of a first sergeant
A profession is a calling, something that takes work and dedication. There are levels of training and life commitment that go into a profession. In the military it comes with career progression or self-development, be that effective leader by always striving to move forward, and become a subject expert.
It includes knowledge of doctrine, science, technology, research and development, and of the systems used in that position. The HR Sergeant must be well-versed with each Army Regulation, Field Manual, MILPER Message, and other key publications that apply to their field. A best practice is to download the references from directly from the Army Publishing Directorate to ensure they are using the most up to date regulation, and signing up weekly emails from the Human Resources Command that explain any updates to policy or regulation that have occurred recently. The Human Resources Sergeant must be considered an expert in each Personnel Information System, which is vital to one of the Human Resources core competencies of Manning the Force.
In order to understand how the Human resource Sergeant fits a role in the Profession of Arms, we must understand what a Profession is. The definition of a Profession is job that requires special education, training, or skill, often gained through lengthy years of study and practice. Deeper than that it is uniquely expert work that values effectiveness over efficiency. We as Soldiers spend years honing our craft either formally in our Noncommissioned Officer Education System or in our organic training within our Units. It is through this constant training over time that mold us into the subject matter experts of our work. Professions earn trust through their Ethic (moral values) allowing them to work with less external oversight, trusted to self-correct on its own accord. We have proven time and again that we have the
The Human Resources Sergeant is a critical function within the Army and displays many characteristics of a professional. It takes years of study, sacrifice and dedication to be in the ranks of such an elite profession. There are more policies, procedures and regulations written in support of the human resources role that brings balance to the unit and the command. The Human Resources Sergeant is the right hand to the command that influences the direction of the force.
Since January 2014, I have retired from the military/federal government position where I spent 36 plus years with 20-plus years in leadership positions. I was trained and performed duties in Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) position as Facility Manager, Carpentry/Brick Mason Specialist, Supply, Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic, Instructor and Human Resources
The Human Resource Sergeant’s Role in the Army Profession is to take care of our organization in preparing us for what is taking place now and what the future holds. As we quote the creed in stating, “I am an expert, and I am a professional”, we should be experts in our roles and carry out those roles as professionals. We are to take care of soldiers just the way we expect our leaders and counterparts to take care of us in their delegated professions. We play an integral part in everyday tasks and assignments. Similar to NCOs we are the “Backbone” of our organization.
Leadership, according to the Army doctrine, represents individuals’ ability to influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization (“Leadership” FM 6-22). However, the varying characteristics of individuals that the Army attracts may instill this doctrine in many different ways, leading to different representations of leadership. Some individuals choose to lead their subordinate in a stern matter, only displaying matured emotions and a “tough-loving” attitude to guide them in the right direction. Others
As an Army leader I have learned to appreciate the sense of accomplishment, yet guard against premature celebration when my leadership and guidance has gotten my team to the finish line. As General George Patton said, “ A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.” In my early days as an Army officer, I wanted to know the “secret” to successfully leading men in this organization through challenging waters to the top of the objective. However, I have now realized that there is no single “secret”, it is a journey of experiences, teachings and yes failures that will eventually “transform me from a mid-career officer to a senior military leader.” 1 The challenge is to open my mind and grow from a tactical/operational perspective to that of a much more broad, open minded and all-encompassing perspective, that of a strategic leader. Two mission specific outcomes of my training, experiences and self-assessment that I see myself fulfilling a role in my future are strategic advisor and senior leader at the strategic level. I will describe where I believe I stand now in regards to my goals and the path I have yet to embark upon. I believe I am on course to accomplishing my goals of transforming into a strategic leader who scans the environment’s horizon, assesses the information and decides how best to use it for the benefit of the organization that I serve and its best interests for the future. This paper will describe not only where I come from regarding