"Paragraph One of the NCO Creed reflects pride in the history and heritage of the NCO corps. The last sentence of the paragraph speaks to the selfless service and integrity expected of all NCOs. Paragraph Two speaks to the reason for an NCO corps: leadership. The second sentence says everything you need to know about this. And Paragraph Three recognizes the NCO’s commitment to all fellow soldiers.
Within the enlisted ranks, there is a subset of supervisors. These are the Noncommissioned Officers, the NCOs. The role of the US Army NCO was first described by Baron Fredrich von Steuben in his book, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States in 1779. His vision was that the NCO be the direct leader, trainer, and primary example for the troops of the line.
Von Steuben’s goal was to develop a professional NCO corps. He rejected the idea of rewarding good NCOs by commissioning them as officers, and sought ways to make NCO service attractive. Among these were decorations for years of service (forerunners of our hash marks), the Badge of Merit for exemplary service, and authority to carry a sword as a badge of rank.
While we no longer carry swords, von Steuben’s vision for a corps of non-commissioned officers remains into the twenty-first century. We are still the trainers, we are still the first-line leaders, we are still the daily examples to all enlisted soldiers." - CSM Kenneth Cabe
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