Respect is defined as a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important or serious; and should be treated as so.
A Non-Commissioned Officer is defined as a subordinate officer (such as a sergeant) in the army, air force, or marine corps appointed from among enlisted personnel. Noncommissioned officer has through his or hers experience, been placed in a position to lead, supervise and train soldiers.
A Non-Commissioned Officer is a highly respected role in the Army and those in that role demand respect, and deserve it. To become an NCO you have to be doing something right. You are getting looked at as doing above and beyond your peers. As an NCO you are the one setting the standard, you have soldiers looking up to you, seniors looking down at you and even your peers watching you and judging every move you make. To be an NCO is a hard task, a task made ever harder when you have soldiers that disrespect you, disregard what you say or make you look anything but stellar in front of others. If you are wrong you deserve to be called on it, but tactfully especially by a subordinate.
We are taught the golden rule in elementary school; do unto others what you would have done to yourself. That is the short version of respect. If it is engrained into our minds at such a young age why is it so easy for people to forget what it means, or forget how to show respect? Yes, respect is earned. As a private I have not really earned anyone's respect, in turn I have not done anything to lose anyone's respect either. Speaking as such, I should be treated on a mutual ground. If I respect you, I deserve to be treated as well as I treat you. In the Army that is not a right that is mandatory. NCOs can treat you however they please because they have earned the respect of their peers, seniors and subordinates alike. Almost every NCO I have ever met has treated me with unwaivering kindness and respect, until I mess that up. Respect is