US Army Leadership Development Strategy for NCOs
This paper presents a strategy for developing future United States Army leaders, grounded in key Army field manuals and regulations including FM 1-0 (Human Resources Support) and AR 350-1 (Army Training and Leader Development). The author, drawing on operational experience as a senior leader, outlines four core strategies: setting standards and requirements for leadership development, providing timely and constructive feedback, creating professional development opportunities through institutional and operational learning domains, and enhancing leadership capacity through coaching and mentoring. The paper also summarizes HR support functions—including personnel accountability, strength reporting, and retention operations—as foundational context for understanding how leader development fits within broader Army organizational goals.
- Introduction: Overview of Army doctrine guiding leadership development
- Human Resources Support Functions: HR roles in personnel, readiness, and operations
- Setting Standards and Requirements for Leader Development: Course prerequisites and personal development standards
- Providing Effective Feedback: Feedback principles illustrated by formation incident
- Creating Professional Development Opportunities: Institutional and operational learning domain programs
- Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership Growth: Leader influence through coaching and mentoring subordinates
- Conclusion: Four-strategy synthesis for developing future Army leaders
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds each strategy in specific Army doctrine (FM 1-0, AR 350-1, AR 600-20), lending institutional credibility to the author's personal recommendations.
- Personal anecdotes—such as the formation incident and reconditioning physical readiness training—ground abstract leadership principles in concrete operational experience, making the argument persuasive and relatable.
- The structure is clear and sequential: foundational HR context is established first, followed by four distinct, numbered strategies, making the argument easy to follow and evaluate.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively integrates doctrinal citation with reflective practice. Rather than simply summarizing Army regulations, the author connects each regulation to a personal leadership decision or outcome, demonstrating how doctrine translates into on-the-ground leadership behavior. This synthesis of policy and experience is a hallmark of professional military education writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an introduction identifying the relevant Army publications and framing the author's intent. It then provides a doctrinal overview of HR support functions before presenting four numbered leadership development strategies: setting standards, providing feedback, creating development opportunities, and coaching and mentoring. A brief conclusion synthesizes all four strategies around the core triad of experience, education, and training. References follow in APA format.
Introduction
Senior leaders and Sergeants Major must develop the leadership skills of soldiers for organizational success. Human Resources Support (FM 1-0) and Army Training and Leader Development (AR 350-1) outline the best approach for developing future Army leaders. Army Training and Leader Development describes an organizational framework for developing the next generation of Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) based on three learning domains: self-development, operational, and institutional (United States Department of the Army, 2017). Senior leaders and Sergeants Major should also consult the following publications: Theater-Level Human Resources Support (ATP 1-0.2), Army Command Policy (AR 600-20), Legal Support to the Operational Army (FM 1-04), and Soldier for Life – Transition Assistance Program (AR 600-81). These publications are useful when developing leadership programs in the Army. This paper conveys a strategy for developing future US Army leaders based on the above readings and operational experience.
Human Resources Support Functions
The functions of HR support are described in Field Manual (FM) 1-0: Human Resources Support. They include providing HR services and personnel support, manning the force, and conducting HR planning and operations (United States Department of the Army, 2014). HR services consist of essential personnel services (EPS), postal operations, and casualty operations. EPS refers to HR functions that affect the quality of life and status of soldiers, including evaluation reports, transfers and discharges, and military pay and entitlements. Postal services involve receiving and dispatching mail, selling postage stamps, and mailing packages. Casualty operations involve tracking casualties at the unit level, providing casualty assistance, and issuing next-of-kin (NOK) notifications.
Personnel support includes Army band operations, command interest programs, and morale, recreation, and welfare operations (United States Department of the Army, 2014). Welfare operations include sports programs and recreation support. These joint activities boost teamwork among soldiers. Command interest programs refer to programs that address the needs of soldiers, such as the Army Substance Abuse Program, the Sexual Assault Prevention Program, Army scholarships, and continuing education. Army band operations focus on music that supports military operations. Over the years, music has been used to instill the will to fight and win among soldiers.
HR planning and operations specify the means through which HR leaders will achieve their desired HR environment. This involves assessing the current HR environment and forecasting HR requirements based on the progress of military operations (United States Department of the Army, 2014). HR support also operates HR mission command nodes, which allow HR personnel to access HR databases.
Manning the force functions are broadly classified into five categories: personnel accountability (PA), retention operations, strength reporting (SR), personnel readiness management (PRM), and personnel information management (PIM) (United States Department of the Army, 2014). PRM involves assessing the combat capabilities of the Army as well as individual readiness. PA refers to the management of location and duty status of every person attached to a unit. SR indicates the combat power of a unit. Retention operations focus on the development and retention of soldiers. PIM involves the collection and analysis of HR information about units and personnel.
Setting Standards and Requirements for Leader Development
The first strategy is to set clear standards and requirements for leadership development as described in Army Regulation (AR) 350-1: Army Training and Leader Development. For example, soldiers become eligible for the Structured Self-Development (SSD) program after successfully completing the following courses: (1) Initial Military Training (IMT), (2) Basic Leader Course (BLC), (3) Advanced Leader Course (ALC), (4) Senior Leader Course (SLC), (5) Master Leader Course (MLC), and (6) Sergeants Major Course (SMC). The SSD program fosters continuous learning and serves as a prerequisite for attending Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) training schools (United States Department of the Army, 2017).
Generally, soldiers develop as leaders throughout their careers through a continuous process that incorporates experience, training, and education (United States Department of the Army, 2017). To set the requirements for optimal leadership development, it is essential to learn the strengths and weaknesses of unit members. Doing so enables leaders to address weaknesses and build on strengths more efficiently and effectively. This approach also cultivates a sense of personal responsibility for development among unit members. In practice, this means frequently attending reconditioning physical readiness training for soldiers who need additional assistance passing the Army Physical Fitness Test, offering direct support that reinforces both standards and morale.
Conclusion
The Army's development of its future leaders is critical to organizational success. The four strategies outlined in this paper — setting standards and requirements for leadership development, providing effective and timely feedback, creating professional development opportunities for soldiers, and promoting leadership learning through coaching and mentoring — collectively reflect a comprehensive approach. All four strategies incorporate experience, education, and training, the three elements that are vital when developing future Army leaders.
References
United States Department of the Army. (2013). Field Manual FM 1-04: Legal Support to the Operational Army (March 2013). Retrieved from https://armypubs.us.army.mil/doctrine/index.html
United States Department of the Army. (2014). Field Manual FM 1-0: Human Resources Support (April 2014). Retrieved from https://armypubs.us.army.mil/doctrine/index.html
United States Department of the Army. (2014). Army Command Policy: Personnel-General (AR 600-20).
United States Department of the Army. (2016). AR 600-81: Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Program.
United States Department of the Army. (2017). AR 350-1: Army Training and Leader Development.
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