[PKop]

> I've heard in the military officers that served in the enlisted ranks before commissioning are more effective and supported by their troops than those that come straight out of OCS

100% true. The difference is night and day.

Both with their own self confidence to lead a group of enlisted and specifically senior enlisted who in my unit, almost always would have had more front line combat experience than the officers, which meant knowing when to overrule and when to defer to their judgement.

And simply the day to day small and large decisions/choices both during training & deployment were always more informed when backed up with prior enlisted experience.

[sa46]

I agree with the sentiment but I'm not so sure about 100% and calling it night and day is exaggerated. I've had anecdotes both ways. I think there's some important factors to consider:

- Units send their best enlisted folks to become officers.

- For entry officer jobs like a platoon leader, the prior enlisted will have a massive knowledge advantage. Once an officer hits company command (~5-6 years), I'd say the difference evaporates as the focus should be at a higher level.

Some of the downsides of prior-enlisted officers are:

- Leaning to much on their experience and micromanaging enlisted subordinates.

- Focusing on low-level details rather than "officer-business" like long term training plans and orders preparation.