Over the past year I’ve been working slowly towards expanding my own professional and self-development ideas. How do I improve as a Leader, as a Platoon Sergeant, as an NCO, as an Infantryman, and as a Soldier? Introspection has been the driving force behind my journey of becoming better and trying to make those around me better; that’s where writing comes in, it gives me a place to put thoughts to words and words to actions. The Last 100 Yards is a project that I hope will encourage more NCOs to occupy the written realm and help them extend their influence outside of the local unit level.
Why We (Should) Write
The “Why We Write” series is meant to mimic a media campaign launched during World War 2 titled “Why We Fight”. The “Why We Fight” campaign was designed to convince, motivate, and explain to Americans and their Military the need to be at war. This was a massive undertaking involving the War Department, Hollywood, and even Disney. The “Why We Write” campaign’s goal is to explain two things: why NCOs write; and why they should write about their profession.
It’s your profession, short and simple, you’ve made choices and taken steps to become a Leader in one of the most complex organizations in the world. Whether you have 1 subordinate, or a few thousand, you make choices that impact the current, and future, state of our Military. Maybe you tell yourself that the impact you make isn’t large, or that your ideas fall on deaf ears and you’re not sure how to project them to others. In the Army, NCOs are evaluated on several things, one of them is the ability to extend influence beyond the chain of command (COC) (ADRP 6-22, p. 6-8, US Army). The Army’s definition, and what they use in evaluations is,
“Leaders need to influence beyond their direct lines of authority and beyond chains of command to include unified action partners. In these situations, leaders use indirect means of influence: diplomacy, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, partnering, conflict resolution, consensus building, and coordination.” (ADRP 6-22, p. 6-10, US Army).
This definition may also be used as a way to understand how you’re influencing the profession outside of your given duty position.
Written words carry far and leave a lasting impact on the reader. Regardless of where you fall in the hierarchy of the Military, your words will have a greater chance of reaching a larger audience when delivered in the written form. We hear all the time from Senior Commanders, that they rely on their NCO counterparts when decisions are made. This communicates one thing clearly: NCO opinions matter. If that’s the case why would you only share those ideas at your local level? Share your ideas and help our profession grow through your written contributions.
Overall, your writing is a representation of who you are and what you believe about the Corps of NCOs. We must have pride in ourselves and our profession if we are to make it better than we inherited it, and to help it grow. So, the question remains: why do you write?
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