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@ae_rollinson

I’ve encountered two situations within the past twelve months where two Soldiers (one PFC and the other SSG) that wanted to ETS. The solution in both cases was communication. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations and forget to talk to people. I try to make it a point to learn what people are thinking to help them…[Read more]

How do others reconcile talent management with Soldiers on track to ETS (i.e. no interest in reenlisting)?

For those interested in the long version … Grab a cup of coffee and prop your feet up…let’s start with a short database lesson.

what is eMILPO: when you go to an S1 shop, sit down next to a desk to update your DD93/SGLI, you sit there for a few minutes, then you insert your CAC into an external card reader, and hopefully they have you check…[Read more]

At the request of @spatelis: here’s the short translation of the above documents:

It’s going to rock some people’s worlds (S1 or not) because it’s a significant cultural change for officers not being able to just walk into an S1, get a fix, and walk out with a new ORB in hand. I’m speculating that either anything done in TOPMIS will disappe…[Read more]

Trying to tag me using this account: @rakimball

EDIT: And that’s working too. OK, I’m going to go drink.

Trying to tag me using this account: @rakimball

The member tagging (putting an @ and then the username) doesn’t seem to be working anymore. For instance, I tried to tag myself in this post with @rakimball – no luck.

EDIT: and of course now, it’s made a liar out of me by actually tagging me. So maybe this is something impacting the admin accounts only?

The member tagging (putting an @ and then the username) doesn’t seem to be working anymore. For instance, I tried to tag myself in this post with @rakimball – no luck.

Member @jonathan.craig sends the following thoughts:

1. Talent Management needs to go beyond the OPD/NCOPD:

The basic format we’ve been beating to death (how to write awards…. how to write NCOERs….) is overused, ineffective and BORING!  Instead I’ve had a great deal of success with inviting coaches from college sports teams, business and…[Read more]

Member @jonathan.craig sends the following thoughts:

1. Talent Management needs to go beyond the OPD/NCOPD:

The basic format we’ve been beating to death (how to write awards…. how to write NCOERs….) is overused, ineffective and BORING!  Instead I’ve had a great deal of success with inviting coaches from college sports teams, business and…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

I agree with ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, in their importance of diversity on a team. The diversity of a team is broadly defined about what unique things they bring in the ability to achieve the mission. Especially how we frame problems and develop solutions.

“3-10. Effective teams synchronize individual efforts toward a common goal. They promote t…[Read more]

Things such as military bearing, decent APFT score and working well with others play into having a good OER.
The best advice that was ever given to me was from an O-6 who said “Don’t worry about it, if you’re doing the right thing your OER will write itself.” I live by it and it hasn’t failed me yet. I absolutely agree with @brock it is fair to as…[Read more]

Things such as military bearing, decent APFT score and working well with others play into having a good OER.
The best advice that was ever given to me was from an O-6 who said “Don’t worry about it, if you’re doing the right thing your OER will write itself.” I live by it and it hasn’t failed me yet. I absolutely agree with @brock.j.young it is fa…[Read more]

Good Monday morning!

From my foxhole, junior officers are the front line raters and counselors, so they are the ones who actually know what talents, strengths, etc., that their Soldiers have.  What they should be doing with this information is then communicating it higher. This can be in the form of counseling, recommendations on future p…[Read more]

Good Monday morning!

From my foxhole, junior officers are the front line raters and counselors, so they are the ones who actually know what talents, strengths, etc., that their Soldiers have.  What they should be doing with this information is then communicating it higher. This can be in the form of counseling, recommendations on future p…[Read more]

Good Monday morning!

From my foxhole, junior officers are the front line raters and counselors, so they are the ones who actually know what talents, strengths, etc., that their Soldiers have.  What they should be doing with this information is then communicating it higher. This can be in the form of counseling, recommendations on future p…[Read more]

The fact you’re asking here and now already puts you ahead of your peers. To caveat off a couple of things @logisticus mentioned.

Standout by knowing and doing your job – doing it to standard, efficiently, and effectively. If you don’t know, ask. If you want to know a better way to do something, look for it. The NG is full of young officers who…[Read more]

The fact you’re asking here and now already puts you ahead of your peers. To caveat off a couple of things @logisticus mentioned.

Standout by knowing and doing your job – doing it to standard, efficiently, and effectively. If you don’t know, ask. If you want to know a better way to do something, look for it. The NG is full of young officers who…[Read more]

“Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.

The book outlines principles to the Navy SEAL style of leadership through combat examples from Ramadi, Iraq, then explains the principle, and ends with how it applies to business.  This book will be helpful for a new Platoon Leader to truly understand the…[Read more]

Initiative – I guide myself by understanding my senior rater’s intent and taking action/making decisions to get after it. if you wait to be told to do things you may be behind a bit. Early on, I had my boss pull me off of things (learning mistakes/growing pains) which is far better I was told after, than to be asked to “jump” on this or that.…[Read more]

I agree with you here. The army got rid of the “Specialist-5” and above ranks for this reason, because NCOs are expected to be both technically and tactically proficient leaders. Conversely, I could argue that if the only responsibility they wanted to give the Army was to be technical specialists – they should never have accepted or been…[Read more]

I agree with you here. The army got rid of the “Specialist-5” and above ranks for this reason, because NCOs are expected to be both technically and tactically proficient leaders. Conversely, I could argue that if the only responsibility they wanted to give the Army was to be technical specialists – they should never have accepted or recommended…[Read more]

I agree with you here. The army got rid of the “Specialist-5” and above ranks for this reason, because NCOs are expected to be both technically and tactically proficient leaders. Conversely, I could argue that if the only responsibility they wanted to give the Army was to be technical specialists – they should never have accepted or recommended…[Read more]

read – “The Chaos Imperative” but ask yourself first these questions, as they may shape your reading lists. Consider the questions below, they’re drawn from my reflections as a JO, but really as an OC/T at a unique CTC:

1. If seniors say that Captains can’t train their units and aren’t given a fair chance to train their units, what can I do to…[Read more]

My two cents: if you feel that you would benefit from having maneuver branch / tactical level experience as a way to gain an understanding to the audience that you will be supplying intelligence to later as an MI officer, then I would encourage you to branch detail so you can gain that experience. If being an infantry grunt doesn’t make your hair…[Read more]

Something else that you might find useful is perusing this Smartbook DA PAM 600-3. Select each branch, review emphasized qualities, jobs, timelines, etc.

https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/smartbook-da-pam-600-3

Generally speaking, 2 ways to do this:
1 – execute a branch detail upon commissioning. You’ll be in one branch as a LT, and then move into another branch basically in the same timeline you get promoted to CPT and go to CCC (around 5 year mark). If you want to try out Infantry or Armor for experience, but then dive into MI or AG for a longer…[Read more]

IMHO, something can be humorous, while maintaining professional and informational features. What did you have in mind?

Yes, this is the story I remember reading. I believe this articulates what it means to be a leader. If I may take it a step further I don’t pretend to be a great third generation leader. I do know that everything I did as a commander became a role model for my soldiers. If I didn’t make it a priority then my troops wouldn’t. I can’t expect them…[Read more]

For anyone looking to do a “generational leadership” OPD similar to @cale‘s, I recommend the following articles:

http://www.usma.edu/caldol/siteassets/armymagazine/docs/2007/CC_06-07-3rd%20Gen%20Ldrshp.pdf

http://www.usma.edu/caldol/siteassets/armymagazine/docs/2012/CC_ARMY_(Jun2012)_3GL.pdf

I started getting lots of VTIP emails once I was post-command and thus KD in my branch, I think everyone gets them, so plenty of time up to make the change. Officers who want to VTIP usually try to get KD time as CPTs done as quickly as possible so that the Army opens up; not all FAs require successful company-command or other KD – some do not. Lo…[Read more]

congrats.

set an agenda, look at the time, and then trim the meeting/time some and continue working at it, you get better as you go along. there’s lots of information to disseminate and get reports on but what are your priorities and what is important to you? I enjoyed the ability to set the direction of the ship, on what to train, what is…[Read more]

I’ve been in those organizations where NCOs tuned out. Amazingly, all I had to do was (2 things) ask, and then let them do it. NCOs used to tune out when they felt there was no difference/recognition/separation between the doers and the conmen. In the days when everyone got a 1 over 1, that killed organizations, as the conmen got the same report…[Read more]

I designed a coin w/ my 1SG and Soldiers really wanted to earn one. I also gave very short briefs on Friday – 1 min. Safety Brief, touching on the top 3 safety concerns, the top 3 mitigations, and 1-2 last minute updates from S-2. I did this by practicing succinctness before hand – worked out great. I spent another 1 min. talking about the Troop i…[Read more]

This is what I view as some of the problem we as a profession have allowed to develop. NCOs are always leaders, if we are just allowing them to turn wrenches I have to ask if we as officers are not doing our jobs.

OPTEMPO is never an excuse to move move from the fundamentals of leadership at the NCO ranks. Without the time and expectation of…[Read more]

Cale, while you are right that NCO’s “need an identity” I think that you need to take into account that in a FSC, those NCO’s are literally the guys you have turning wrenches. They aren’t just in charge of a section, they also are liable to work for the battery’s and platoons within the BN. The section/platoon NCOs, the Maintenance Control…[Read more]

Training is everything and everything is training…  This was written on a wall in my basic training DFAC.  I’ve taken it on as a bit of a mantra in the years since.  So how did I as a commander handle it?

1.  Look at every training requirement you have deliberately.  What are the tasks, conditions and standards?  There are a lot of train…[Read more]

Training is everything and everything is training…  This was written on a wall in my basic training DFAC.  I’ve taken it on as a bit of a mantra in the years since.  So how did I as a commander handle it?

1.  Look at every training requirement you have deliberately.  What are the tasks, conditions and standards?  There are a lot of train…[Read more]

I took command of a brigade HHC that had similar issues.  The answer is surprisingly yet complicated to execute.  I brought every NCO in my formation into the room and had regular mentoring discussions.  First focus on the NCO identity, I began by having an NCO read the creed.  We then focused on what it meant to them.  While lavertym is righ…[Read more]

Having been in an FA FSC I was about to respond, but wanted to get some more clarification. Do you have some examples of where officers are having to lead instead of NCO’s? What has the 1SG said about what your predecessor said? Honestly, from my point of view, an FSC is and must be a very officer driven org because the NCO’s are either turning…[Read more]

Thanks for posting.  I’d actually been struggling with this a bit recently.  While I may be “OOO” I still tend to keep up with email and respond when needed.  I stopped using the OOO message if I was planning on responding, but this article gave me a new way of looking at it as a way to let people know my response time will be slower than usual an…[Read more]

The tasks never stop, do they? A bit of good news is that we have shortened the list of AR 350-1 mandatory training requirements this past year.  Hopefully, people are listening to us as we continuously beat that drum.   Over the years I have learned a few lessons on how to prioritize my list of mandatory tasks.

1.  What metrics are being re…[Read more]

Hey guys, I was branch detailed to Field Artillery and am now MI. Branch detail is a great program which is designed to give MI officers the tactical and operational experience before they become intelligence professionals advising Battalion level Commanders. You can expect the exact same LT experience as any other officer of the branch you are…[Read more]

Hey guys, I was branch detailed to Field Artillery and am now MI. Branch detail is a great program which is designed to give MI officers the tactical and operational experience before they become intelligence professionals advising Battalion level Commanders. You can expect the exact same LT experience as any other officer of the branch you are…[Read more]

I am an AC Armor officer branch detailed from MI.

Very interested in these responses as well.

This is great! My rule of thumb is that if I’m going to be gone for more than a long weekend, I’ll put something brief up. I find myself getting caught up in the trap of posting an out of office response and jumping back on my e-mail anyways and responding to messages. It’s definitely something I’ve had to work on and shake the habit.

Micah

Elliott:

A great question, and one without an easy answer. The short version is that there are periodic opportunities to move from your basic branch to other fields, including medical school, largely driven by what the Army’s needs look like in a given year. Moving into a functional area is typically done through the Voluntary Transfer Incentive…[Read more]

So we started a weekly event at our safety brief/close out event. At the end of the Friday morning sync, every leader took turns nominating one soldier for above and beyond performance that week. We would then take a vote and the winner got recognized by that leader that afternoon. The soldier got two things: one, recognition for outstanding…[Read more]