As a Junior Lieutenant I often made the mistake of expecting too much, or too little, of an NCO or an enlisted Soldier based on their rank/experience. Some of this is mitigated by the Platoon Sergeant, who understands the human dimension of your Soldiers capabilities. I didn’t, and you don’t, need to go into this endeavor unarmed and unprepared.

Did you know the Army specifies at each skill level, from PFC to SFC, the knowledge expectation of that NCO? The Army provides you a template of expectations for your Soldiers and they have two great, underutilized, tools to help you do so.

The first place to look for these expectations are within Soldier Training Publications (or STPs) from apd.army.mil. 

The second place is at Army Career Tracker, which can help you quickly rotate between MOS/Skill Level and create a very simple chart for you to visualize what that career path looks like for those Soldiers.

Why is this important?

1. Expectations & Training Management. Officers have a responsibility and a duty to develop junior leaders. If as a Lieutenant, or a Captain, you are expected to develop two levels down – then it might be a  wise investment to open that SGT or SSG skill manual and actually look at some of the skills those NCOs should be performing. It gives you a baseline of understanding whether or not what you are asking of that Soldier could be above what they have been trained/developed to do and might require additional supervision or training to mitigate risk. (**As a side note, you can also look at the LT/CPT/MAJ charts if you still aren’t sure where the Army thinks you should be).

2. Evaluations/Awards.I find these especially helpful in determining if a Soldier or NCO was performing above or outside their grade. For those NCOs who have already been to their NCOES, it is very helpful in determining what schools and jobs you should be recommending them for that their branch expects for them to fill. This might be easy for you to write about a Sergeant who is in your MOS, but this might be more difficult if you are an HHT commander looking across a very broad spectrum of MOS’.

3. Development. Almost all of the STP’s have a chart that is a reflection of the one displayed at act.army.mil. See the one attached. as an example This gives me a great idea of what schools I need to fight to send my NCOs to, or ones that I need to be willing to send them to in order to both enhance their skills and contribute to the greater Army. There are important things for Soldiers to do other than ALC and Drill Sergeant. They provide excellent guidance on what boards will look at for enlisted Soldiers.

Final word, remember these are what the Army expects of these Soldiers but they are guides. Every Soldier is different and has had leadership in the past that may or may not have held them to the standard or trained them to standard. There is also not enough time for them to be able to achieve proficiency in every task within their MOS, counseling helps you highlight what you think is most important to the unit’s success.

-Steve

**ACT is a great tool, if you don’t know how to maximize it, send me a message and I’ll assist.