This writing practicum will assess the student’s ability to write a short reflective essays. This assessment is non-GPA and does not apply towards your DA Form 1059, Service School Academic Evaluation

Basic Leaders Course

Reflective Essay 2

“Non-commissioned officer 2020 strategy”

BLC Class 007-20

Primary Instructor: SSG Elliott

Submitted by: SPC Briones

Roster #: 181

The Army’s ultimate responsibility is to win the nation’s war. For us, as an Army leader, we must develop character and competence while achieving excellence. Mastery of different skills is essential to the Army’s success in peace and war. A true leader is not satisfied with knowing only how to get an organization through today. A true leader must also be concerned about what we will need tomorrow. Non-commissioned officer (NCO) 2020 strategy shifts the culture of training and education of NCOs to support the success in challenging environments of the future. The three distinct lines of effort of the NCO 2020 strategy include Development, Talent management, and Stewardship of the profession. A thorough examination of the NCO 2020 strategy will help break down three distinct lines of effort and explain how it applies to the Army’s leadership.

Developing leaders is a progression. NCO 2020 strategy follows a sequential process. To be selected for promotion, we need to differentiate ourselves from other Soldiers. Furthermore, to succeed in positions of greater responsibility, we should develop ourselves through education, training, and experiences. As leaders, we can track our Soldiers’ learning through Army Career Tracker (ACT). This tool will help us monitor our career development and receive advice from our leaders. Most of the time, we are too focused on accomplishing the mission, and we forget our career and education. We need to seek out opportunities to increase our knowledge and skills. To be competent, we must have a certain level of expertise and experience hard and realistic training. Now that I completed Basic Leader Course (BLC), I have more skills and knowledge under my belt. As a result, I developed confidence, and I am ready to take on the next and more difficult challenges.

Talent management includes broadening assignments to expand our proficiency and leadership. Broadening assignments will increase our cross-cultural exposure and expand our awareness of other environments. As a leader, to grow professionally and personally, we need to step out of our comfort zone. Pushing ourselves to accept uncomfortable challenges builds resilience to meet the challenges of a world that grows more complex every day. When we branch out and experience something new, we can see things from a different perspective.

One of our fundamental responsibilities as a leader is to teach Army values to our subordinates. The trust that the American people have in us depends on how well we live up to Army values. We must teach the Army values through action and example to help our subordinates develop the attributes in themselves. We are the backbone of the Army. We need to maintain and enforce the standards guided by the Army doctrines. We need to act professionally at all times. As leaders, we need to think through our decisions and do our duty. We are the stewards of our profession, and we must strive to become the very best leader we can be.

Army leaders embody the warrior ethos and value continuous learning. We lead by example, train from experience, and maintain and enforce standards. Today, the world is more complex than before. Nothing stays the same. Things will only get more complicated in the years to come. We must adapt to meet the challenges of 2020 and beyond. NCO 2020 is about transformation, education, leadership development, accountability, and building a strong NCO corps. The Army of the future will require mental agility, teamwork, and resilience from Soldiers to meet the challenges that grow more complex every day.

References

U.S Department of the Army (2012). The Army Leadership: Army Doctrine Reference Publication 6-22

https://armypubs.us.army.mil/doctrine/index.html