Human Resources NCO: A Profession Essay Example

Being a Human Resource Non-Commissioned Officer is a vital profession in today's Army. The article, An Army White Paper, The Profession of Arms states, "Professions produce uniquely expert work, not routine or repetitive work." (2). Human Resource NCOs hold the title of a professional in and out of the office due to the professionalism and expert work we have to perform every day. Although Human Resource Non-Commissioned Officer's primary expertise is in admin work, they must still be knowledgeable in everyday warrior tasks and drills. Human Resource NCOs are soldiers and are soldiers before anything else. 

First and foremost, it is a Non-Commissioned Officer’s role to accomplish the mission and train and mentor young soldiers who come up through the ranks in everyday tasks. Our job is to mold them into competent and confident soldiers in which can someday be successful leaders. How can we expect our junior enlisted to be successful leaders one day if we do not show them what "right" looks like? As Non Commissioned Officers, we have standards and guidelines outlined in front of us to uphold. Expecting nothing but the standard enforces discipline within our ranks. If we as leaders let "something slide," we just set a new standard, and it is not the correct standard put in place by our leadership. 

If we can mold our young soldiers into moral-ethical experts, we can lead them in any direction we need them to go, or they can go towards a goal they would like to achieve in their career. “Moral-Ethical expertise enables the Army to fight wars and employ combat power morally, as the American people expect and as domestic and international laws require.”(7). This quote does not just stand on combat grounds. We 

have to be moral and ethically grounded in every MOS. In Human Resources, it is our job to support the combat forces along with every MOS. We can wear many hats, and sometimes it is not easy mentally or physically. We have to remind our soldiers we have a job to do and other soldiers to support. As an example, being in a casualty liaison platoon in a deployed environment can be mentally taxing. Why are we there, though? What is our purpose in theater? Casualty Liaison teams send reports of casualties up the chain of command. They track and keep records and send accurate reports up needed in order to notify family members. It is a big job in itself. Being a Postal soldier is an essential job. To an everyday individual, they may look like just a “mailman” in a uniform. We provide another way to connect with a soldier’s family. Not all deployed environments have a good internet connection to the outside world. Sometimes mail is all a soldier has to connect with their newborn child or their parents. We have to remind our soldiers of these of the “why?” If leaders provide a purpose to young soldiers and help them understand why what we do is essential, they will have a better grasp and more than likely will have more pride in their MOS and mission. 

Being a Human Resource Non-Commissioned Officer is more than pushing paperwork. Our sole purpose as Non-Commissioned Officers is to take care of soldiers on the front line and mentor soldiers on how to take care of theirs as they move up in the ranks. We have to take the utmost pride in our profession because it dramatically affects every MOS in the Army, whether they are an Infantryman or a Cook. Every soldier deserves to be awarded, paid, promoted, etcetera. We, as Human Resource soldiers, process those personnel actions. We have to make it happen, or the Army will.