Modern U.S. Army greatly benefits from non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who have varied sets of knowledge unrelated to military activities. For example, NCOs in Panama sometimes need to learn about new skills, tools, and duties outside of regular NCO missions (Jones, 2016). Cates and Quitugua (2018) state that “significant changes were proposed in the way the U.S. Army approaches its education and training.” It is vital for them to be experienced, mature, and able to communicate with locals in their language.
There are numerous cases where NCOs who go beyond their military specialty during their service provide essential help to the mission. NCOs in Panama, who are coordinating with SENAFRONT forces, often partake in activities unrelated to their military occupancies, such as car maintenance, or budget calculations. With their help, the U.S. Embassy in Panama was able to operate as higher efficiency and achieved overwhelming success in vetting on human rights (Jones, 2016). This was necessary to ensure that human rights are not violated in the country because the Leahy Law prohibits from providing help from military forces to foreign subjects who violate this law (Jones, 2016). Nowadays, the U.S. Army recognizes the considerable impact of non-standard approaches by NCOs in such missions and promotes the development of cross-training.
In conclusion, the outcome of every operation lies in the ability of soldiers to cooperate and come together as one in order to solve a problem. The improvement of skills, expertise, and expanding knowledge of every soldier should be mandatory (Cates & Quitugua, 2018). NCOs with a rich knowledge base and a broad set of skills can provide the most benefit and ensure that the operation will be successful.
References
Cates, S. D., & Quitugua, R. P. (2018). How might NCO courses improve output? NCO Leadership Center of Excellence & United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. Web.
Jones, C. K. (2016). NCOs take on multiple roles to ensure success in Panama. NCO Journal.