What's Harder - ENLISTED or OFFICER?

Senior Officer: Plans what has to be done. Junior Officer: Figures out how to get it done. Enlisted: Is the person that actually does it.

I entered the Army as a draftee in 1969 and rose to the rank of Sgt, E5) and went to Infantry OCS. As an NCO I liked the closeness with the enlisted men and as a company grade officer I was able to do the same. Once I became a Major (Field grade) I lost that closeness. It is really illustrated in "Band of Brothers" when Dick Winters has to leave Easy Company and go to Battalion Staff. I know that feeling and always had a special spot in my heart for the NCOs of the company I grew up in. That was the 82d Abn, A, C, HQ companies 4/68 Armor, later the 3/325 Infantry and Division Staff. As a Lieutenant Colonel, the fun was over and I started seeing the politics. As a Colonel, I knew I had to leave, as I could not play the politics and I was in close contact to career politicians and diplomats. Upon 30 years I retired. I look back on being a buck sergeant as the best days of my military career.

I was a scout for 7 years. I was really good at it so I promoted quickly and made E5 in 2 years. I was a terrible NCO because I couldn't separate myself from my guys and it ended up getting me demoted to E4 because one of them got arrested while I was out partying with them. At first I was super disappointed but instead of running the range, I got to shoot. Instead of training, I got to do the stuff and it made me realize not everyone is supposed to lead, and that young soldier probably needs a good mentor from that seasoned E4 just as much as a good team leader or commander. Maybe more.

Being a officer is like being the book smart guy while being enlisted is more of the street smarts guy

As a junior enlisted I remember looking at the officers thinking how nice it must be. Then I got promoted to an nco and suddenly all those added responsibilities really showed how stressful leadership positions are and that the grass isn’t always greener.

The pay difference between Officers and Enlisted should make that soul crushing admin work feel ok. I was at the Pentagon and these 04s were pissed having to write an retirement award . I told them I’ll gladly do your award’s for a month pay difference as an e6 . They didn’t say much afterwards. Ha

Both ranks have their challenges. As a former Senior NCO I can attest to this. I met only a few officers I would follow to the death. I have only met one enlisted person in that same aspect. One officer was a 2000 Academy Grad. Right out of the shoot he was a leader. He made excellent decisions, was always there for his men and women, and had unbelievable Character. He is retiring in 24. I retired in 12. I will be attendence to give him a final salute.

I found real stress being an NCO and having young lives in my hands. It actually made me appreciate officers all the more as that burden of command is real, and stressful. All phases and chapters of a soldier's life are a challenge . Physically, being lower enlisted is the hardest, it will put miles on your body that you will only realize when you hit 40. The bonding I felt as lower enlisted cant really be replaced by anything at all .

not from Usa but i can sense most of the emotions of soldiers across globe are more or less same. Make ur nation Proud <3

I wish I'd had this advice (and your other excellent advice) in 1986 when I joined the Army.  I went infantry and airborne and was assigned with 2/504, 82 ABN, saw combat in Panama and then left after my four years for college. While in university I expected that I'd graduate and then go back in through the OCS route. My best experience was serving 18 months as my company commander's RTO on our battalion net as it really gave me an excellent view of my little operational world and a very good relationship with an officer who I learned to greatly respect. My CO tried to get me to go to West Point prep, but I was too immature at the time to grasp the opportunity. While in university I became interested in civilian law enforcement and gravitated toward that career path. What really stopped me from going back to the Army was the soul crushing busy work and all of the hurry up and wait that I experienced while I was enlisted. Again, a broader view and more maturity would have helped (as well as your great advice had it been available), but in the end I picked police work and was hired after graduation. I worked my way through the ranks and recently retired, but I've always regretted that I did not resume my military life as an officer. The responsibility and focus on producing results in a combat arms or SOF life simply can't be found elsewhere. You're doing a wonderful job helping young people and I wish you'd been around dispensing this advice about 35 years ago!

Spent half of my career as an enlisted infantry (2 combat deployments) and the other half as an Engineer Officer. The officer role was way more stressful and mentally draining. Engineering Officers get lots of stressful field work. While others sleep, the officer is planning and fixing all the sh&t happening the during the operations. Officer schools are impressively hard and passing ratio sometimes very low. Obviously, benefits are way better for the officer (especially retirement pay).

Dude, your breakdowns are so legit. Such a good resource for young or future Soldiers to make informed decisions and draw inspiration. Personally, looking back on my short career which had 1 GWOT deployment as a Junior 11A... I think the best jobs are deployed O1/2 and E5/6. If you are a young person, watch every single one of these videos (work out) and study history. You will be so much ahead of peers.... I also left, mainly because time on BN staff was soul crushing after Scout PL. I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to work for a week, only to have the old man (BNCO) go 100% the opposite direction of my proposed plan.

Officers have two benefits. Pay and post career opportunity. Maybe not as a junior grade officer, but in Canada when you progress to the rank of Major, you will have a variety of cushy jobs available to you in the public service or mid tier government positions. As well as the excellent pay as you gain experience. As an extra bonus it is quite a respected position in society, if this matters to you. An enlisted soldier may be shat on by their relatives/peers, but officers don’t usually get that unless it’s work-related.

It took me 2 years to make Sgt in the army infantry. I had some great platoon leaders in my time, one's that wanted their NCO's advice during tactics but had some that thought they knew everything and failed at missions and blamed the NCO's. We were on the 50 cal firing range and this lieutenant of ours wouldn't listen to the NCO's running the range, he pulled himself out of the turret without clearing his 50 cal like he was told and hit the trigger. It fired a round into the back of a 113 in front of us and took off the arm of one soldier and killed another. Needless to say he lost rank and was kicked out of the army. Some officer's really care about their men yet some just believe they are God's gift. They should be taught to listen to NCO's that have been there many years longer than them.

Reminds me when I was a Cadet, and I was spending the summer at Sector San Francisco. While I was there, I got the chance to do some training on a 47' MLB. For those who don't know that is the big Motor Lifeboat you see training in the surf in pairs. The Sector Commander took the opportunity to ride along and while talking to him he was hoping to hit some big waves and get soaked. Both boats took some waves over the bow, and everyone was soaked. I have never seen an O6 so happy in my life.

Awesome video. No nonsense, no bias break down. Wouldn't expect anything less from you sir. o7

It was briefly mentioned but the Warrant Officer is kind of a hybrid. Where rank is normally gained by sacrificing "doing stuff" for "admin stuff" it's different from WC. They are technical experts. Their advancement is more based on their subject expertise, not their people managing skills. They are keepers of knowledge so they are officers, not, they are officers so let them have knowledge. He's the guy or girl nobody f's with because in the end we all rely on the technical experts. Like em or hate em.

Retired officer who was previous enlisted - I would also add that the ASSUMPTION that being an officer is harder comes from the fact that fewer people are capable to be an officer. This is not actually because it's harder but because it's a rarer skill set. Similar but nor the same.

I was a 1LT (LTA) from the Singapore Armed Forces, originally trained for Artillery gunnery but ended up being posted to the admin side of a radar battalion (didn't get to do what I trained for). For someone like me, admin work took up 90% of my life. Alot of the time, being a junior officer is like being the mediator between the higher ups and the subordinates. Dealing with the expectations of senior officers and trying to relate to my subordinates was pretty challenging especially since most of us are conscripts and did not choose to serve therefore lacked interest.

Also - I felt like you're a preacher and I need to give you an amen when you said that staff work is soul crushing.