NCO Duties, Responsibilities and Authority

Question 1

What FM covers the duties, responsibilities and authorities of a NCO?

Answer 1

FM 7-22.7

Question 2

What is Responsibility?

Answer 2

Responsibility is being accountable for what you do or fail to do.

Question 3

What does Individual Responsibility make a soldier accountable for?

Answer 3

It makes them accountable for the personal conduct.

Question 4

What is Command Authority?

Answer 4

Command authority is the authority leaders have over soldiers by virtue of rank or assignment. Command authority originates with the President and may be supplemented by law or regulation.

Question 5

What are the two most important responsibilities of a leader?

Answer 5

Accomplishment of the mission and the welfare of their soldiers.

Question 6

What does Command Responsibility make a soldier accountable for?

Answer 6

Command responsibility refers to collective or organizational accountability and includes how well the unit performs their missions. For example, a company commander is responsible for all the tasks and missions assigned to the company

Question 7

Where would a soldier find a noncommissioned officer’s role in reference to the chain of command?

Answer 7

AR 600-20

Question 8

The authority of command that one individual exercises over others is aquired as a result of what?

Answer 8

Grade and assignment.

Question 9

What is a NCO’s principle duty and responsibility?

Answer 9

training.

Question 10

Name some basic responsibilities of a NCO?

Answer 10

1. Maintaining discipline
2. Maintaining government property
3. Training soldiers
4. Ensuring the welfare of the soldiers
5. Executing the mission

Question 11

What is authority?

Answer 11

Authority is the legitimate power of a leader to direct those subordinates to him or to take action within the scope of his position.

Question 12

Every soldier has two responsibilities. What are they?

Answer 12

1. Individual responsibilities

2. Command responsibilities.

Question 13

What is power?

Answer 13

Power is the ability, either physical, mental or moral to have a positive control over the actions of others.

Question 14

What are the five types of power?

Answer 14

1. Legal
2. Reward
3. Coercive
4. Referent
5. Expert

Question 15

What is legal power?

Answer 15

The power derived from law and regulation.

Question 16

What is reward power?

Answer 16

Power derived from the capacity of the leader to provide desired rewards to a soldier for good performance.

Question 17

What is coercive power?

Answer 17

Power which influences a person to perform or behave in a maner contrary to how that person desires to behave at the time.

Question 18

What is referrent (charismatic) power?

Answer 18

Power derived from the leader’s personality and is effective as a means of influencing soldiers to the extent they respect and admire the leader.

Question 19

What is expert power?

Answer 19

Power derived from the leader’s accumulation of knowledge, skills and capabilities.

Question 20

How do you determine the amount of supervision needed to accomplish a task?

Answer 20

By considering your soldiers’ competence, motivation and commitment to perform the task.

Question 21

To insure your soldiers understand and are carrying out the task, you should do what?

Answer 21

Supervise the task.

Question 22

What is general military authority?

Answer 22

General military authority is authority extended to all soldiers to take action ansd act in the absence of a unit leader or other designated authority.

Question 23

What are the four fundamental steps in supervising subordinates in the accomplishment of a task?

Answer 23

1. Assign the task
2. Set standards
3. Check progress
4. Determine if standards have been met. (follow up)

Question 24

What is supervision?

Answer 24

Keeping a grasp of the situation and ensuring that plans and policies are being followed; the are of checking without undue harassment.

Question 25

What are the three different types of duties?

Answer 25

1. Specified
2. Directed
3. Implied

Question 26

What is specified duty?

Answer 26

Specified duties are those related to jobs and positions. Directives such as Army regulations, Department of the Army (DA) general orders, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), soldier’s manuals, Army Training and Evaluation Program(ARTEP) publications and MOS job descriptions specify the duties. For example, AR 600-20 says that NCOs must ensure that their soldiers get proper individual training and maintain personal appearance and cleanliness.

Question 27

What is directed duty?

Answer 27

Directed duties are not specified as part of a job position or MOS or other directive. A superior gives them orally or in writing. Directed duties include being in charge ooofquarters (CQ) or serving as sergeant as sergeant of the guard, staff duty officer, company training NCO and NBC NCO, where these duties are not found in the unit’s organization charts.

Question 28

What is implied duty?

Answer 28

Implied duties often support specified duties, but in some cases they may not be related to the MOS job position. These duties may not be written but implied in th instructions.