US ARMY QUARTERMASTER CENTER & SCHOOL Historical Vignettes

"R" IS FOR RESPECT

There’s an old saying among Army leaders: "Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of you."

THE ARMY’S STRENGTH LIES IN ITS PEOPLE . . . "More than any other single factor of combat readiness," a former Chief of Staff of the Army once noted, "it is the way soldiers feel about themselves, their fellow soldiers and their outfit that is most likely to carry the battle."

For the Army to work properly there must be a bond between the leader and those being led. A bond that rests not on authority alone – but on professionalism, good will, and above all MUTUAL RESPECT. The chain of command must respect soldiers, and the soldiers must have respect for the chain of command.

Even with the very founding of the U.S. Army in the Revolutionary War, NCOs were instructed to treat all soldiers in their care with dignity and respect. That principle was well-stated a hundred years later (in 1879) by GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, who wrote:

"The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh and tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an Army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey. The one mode or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself."

Today the Army defines RESPECT as (Quote) "The regard and recognition of the absolute dignity that every human being possesses; incorporates diversity and compassion." An even easier way is to think of it as The Golden Rule – treating fellow soldiers exactly the way you would wish to be treated.

HOW IMPORTANT IS "RESPECT" IN THE MILITARY?

WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS ONE OF THE ARMY’S SEVEN CORE VALUES?

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