Forged in Combat: Insights from SF NCOs
By Sgt. 1st Class (Dr.) Daniel W. Ross, DM, MS, NRP
1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne)
Feb. 5, 2025
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Introduction
During the war on terrorism, U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) senior NCOs played a pivotal role in leading their teams to success in the most challenging and austere situations and environments. Their leadership strategies, forged in the crucible of combat, were instrumental in shaping the future of America’s national security and Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE).
As the Army transitions to a great power competition and near-peer conflict mentality, it is essential to document and learn from these seasoned warriors’ combat leadership experiences.
This article delves into their leadership strategies, providing valuable insights for the next generation of leaders. Its purpose is threefold.
First, it is an opportunity to share findings from recent research concerning the SF NCO leadership strategies employed during the war on terrorism. Other U.S. military NCO populations can use these findings in their respective services.
Second, this article aims to inspire further discussion on NCO leadership, motivate other NCOs to incorporate some of these findings into their daily practice, and encourage future research.
Finally, it aims to promote higher education within the NCO community. For example, the Patriot Scholarship at Colorado Technical University (CTU) is a program NCOs can apply for. However, other programs and scholarships exist for those willing to take the journey.
Background
In 2023, research for a qualitative phenomenological (experiential, involving or based on experience and observation) study explored the leadership and management strategies U.S. Army SF battalion command sergeants major (CSMs) used to succeed during the war on terrorism. It investigated leadership and management strategies employed by CSMs with multiple overseas deployments during the war.
The study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 10 retired CSMs who served between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2022 (Ross, 2023). The work preserved important observational data and produced key findings regarding research-based leadership implications for the NCO corps advancing toward the next generation of warfare.
Origins of the Study
The war on terrorism presented military leaders with complex management and leadership challenges that provide significant lessons to future leaders (Patterson, 2017; Wohlgemuth, 2019). Past research explored themes concerning the crucible experiences of combat that helped transform military leaders’ leadership styles and practices (specifically wounded warriors).
Patterson (2017) built upon these concepts by identifying a knowledge gap in military leadership development and training. He explored this topic through six contemporary leadership theories.
Wohlgemuth (2019) extended Patterson’s work and highlighted an opportunity to explore whether military leaders in populations at the battalion level understand what leadership strategies to employ successfully in hazardous, austere, or extreme conditions.
Wohlgemuth’s (2019) expansion of Patterson’s research explored the leadership techniques that made U.S. Army battalion commanders successful while deployed to combat zones. This research indicated that future exploration involving populations such as U.S. Army senior NCOs could potentially yield insights into leadership development and strategies pertinent to that population (Ross, 2023).
Intended Significance
It remains necessary to document combat leadership experience from the war on terrorism as the Army transitions to a great power competition (GPC) and near-peer conflict mentality (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2015).
A knowledge gap existed related to the study of U.S. Army senior NCOs’ leadership experiences (Wohlgemuth, 2019), and other literature indicated the importance of SF leadership in post-war on terrorism competition and conflict (Richmond, 2022).
The study aimed to identify senior SF NCOs’ lived leadership and management experiences. Such a focus could illuminate trends important to the future of America’s national security and HSE.
Defense support to civil authorities (DSCA) through Department of Defense (DoD) directive 3025.1 demonstrated the importance of interconnectivity between the U.S. military and national security. This relationship remains a crucial aspect of the HSE (Buchalter, 2007; Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2024; Kapp, 2023).
The lived experiences of knowledgeable and seasoned SF veterans who fought in conflicts during the war on terrorism are essential to the narrative of national security, homeland security (HS), homeland defense (HD), and DSCA. Furthermore, documenting it provides knowledge essential to future U.S. Army leaders, managers, and warfighters (Wohlgemuth, 2019; Ross, 2023).
Study Findings
Research findings uncovered insights illuminating the meaning behind their targeted experiences. Data analyzed from the semi-structured interviews revealed major themes and corresponding sub-themes relating to the central research question:
Taking Care of Soldiers
- Soldier Well-Being
- Autonomy
Experience
- Preparation and Readiness
- Mastering the Basics
Focusing on Training
- Coach, Mentor, Advise
- Lowering Standards
Communication
- Restrictive or Poor Guidance
- Delegation
Adaptability
- Understand the Operational Environment
Integrity
Leadership presence
- Competency and Discipline
These findings, stemming from the intensive thematic analysis, can help future SF leaders and NCOs understand the meaning and context behind the population’s lived experiences during the war on terrorism. Documenting senior leader experiences in this unique population can help the next generation of SF leaders prepare for subsequent military conflicts (Ross, 2023).
Implications
Findings suggest the SF NCO population viewed caring for their subordinate Soldiers as a top leadership priority. Furthermore, the sub-theme of Soldier well-being demonstrated the study participants found that a successful aspect of leadership during the war on terrorism involved supporting their subordinate Soldiers’ holistic health.
The autonomy sub-theme indicated that part of caring for Soldiers meant safeguarding their independence and ability to complete the mission without micromanagement.
The findings further suggested they view experience as one of the most crucial factors for successful leadership and management. Concerning the preparation and readiness sub-theme, participants voiced how experience with these factors played a part in their perception of leadership when they assumed a senior enlisted SF leadership role.
The second sub-theme addressed the importance of mastering the basics for senior NCO leaders in the SF Regiment over the past two decades. Mastering basic Soldier tasks comes with experience, preparation, and readiness (Ross, 2023).
The senior NCO leaders interviewed in this study also believe that focusing on training was a vital factor for successful leadership and management during the war on terrorism (Bass et al., 2003; Kirchner, 2018; Department of the Army, 2019; United States Army Human Resources Command, 2024).
The sub-theme of lowering the standards in Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) training also emerged, indicating the frustrations of SF battalion CSMs with the quality of ARSOF Soldiers produced during the war on terrorism. The sub-theme of “Coach, Mentor, Advise” demonstrated a leadership strategy for successfully training Soldiers (Ross, 2023).
The findings also indicated that the population believed communication was critical for successful leadership and management. The interpretation of these findings suggests that communication may still be an essential attribute representing the qualities and characteristics commensurate of an ARSOF Soldier.
Aspects of communication appeared in the 1947 Office of Strategic Services (OSS) attributes; the 1986 SF Attributes explicitly stated communication as a desirable attribute. Communication disappeared from the 2010 list and did not appear in the current ARSOF core attributes (Beal, 2010; Lavender, 2018; ARSOF, 2022).
Furthermore, the delegation sub-theme highlights a key component of situational leadership (Salehzadeh, 2017; Thompson & Glasø, 2018; Northouse, 2022) the participants used to be successful during the war on terrorism.
The restrictive or poor guidance sub-theme demonstrated the failures of transactional leadership in a population that requires autonomy and creativity to succeed. The lived experiences of restrictive or poor guidance confirmed how transactional leadership discourages follower creativity and dissuades followers from going above the call of duty due to a fear of destabilizing the status quo (Van Dijk et al., 2021; Ross, 2023).
The findings implied that the population believed adaptability to be a critical factor for successful leadership and management. This major theme provided supporting evidence that the current ARSOF attributes should continue highlighting this trait.
The understanding the operational environment sub-theme transcended the data related to this theme and reaffirmed the importance and prominence of the first SOF (Special Operations Forces) imperative in SF organizational culture. SF NCOs cannot shape or adapt to the operational environment without first understanding the theater of operations.
Moreover, the findings revealed that the NCO population believed integrity in leadership to be a significant factor for successful leadership and management. These findings reaffirmed support for the Army values (loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, personal courage) and the ARSOF core attributes; both highlight integrity as an essential leadership characteristic.
Honesty and trust topics also served as a sub-theme to the overarching finding of integrity as a component of leadership strategies employed by SF battalion CSMs (Ross, 2023).
Finally, the findings indicated that the population believed leadership presence to be a significant factor for successful leadership and management strategies. Leadership presence is related to military bearing, physical fitness, confidence, and resilience.
This major theme lends credence to leadership presence remaining a significant portion of the Army leader requirements model (ALRM). The model embodies the “be, know, and do” philosophy and approach to leading Soldiers (Department of the Army, 2019; Golba, 2021).
The competency sub-theme also emerged as a pillar of leadership presence in the population. This finding supported previous research discussing how leadership competency is a primary factor in military unit performance and success because competent military leaders directly influence a unit’s effectiveness, efficiency, and quality (Sefidan et al., 2021).
Furthermore, the discipline or military bearing sub-theme transcends the attributes of character and presence in the ALRM. Findings demonstrated how discipline played a role in senior SF NCO leadership presence, reaffirming that NCOs maintain responsibility for upholding standards and discipline, as well as training, educating, and developing other individuals (Department of the Army, 2019; Ross, 2023).
Conclusion
A Phenomenological Study of U.S. Army Special Forces Senior Noncommissioned Officer Leadership Strategies during the Global War on Terror represents a drop in the ocean of research on NCO leadership during the war on terrorism. Notably, the research draws inferences about the SF and broader ARSOF community. Nevertheless, NCOs across the Army — and possibly sister services and allied nations — may find value from the findings.
Furthermore, the article intends to inspire further discussion on NCO leadership, motivate other NCOs to incorporate some of these findings into their daily practice, and encourage future research.
Finally, the article aims to promote higher education within the NCO community. The CTU Patriot Scholarship is a program NCOs can apply for. However, many others exist for those willing to take the journey.
References
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