I’ve received one Sr. Rater counseling, 9 years in, as an OC/T and it was valuable because it covered some do/don’ts and techniques as well as career goals.

I’ve sat down with another Sr. Rater as a troop commander and he also listened attentively and provided some solutions to my answers to his questions which centered around what I thought my weaknesses were.

So, to the point and solutions-based is valuable to me.

I’ve counseled my lieutenants as commander, regularly and with some I did a better job than others, but looking back, its hit or miss, some of it my fault, some of it their fault, and some of it, the oft-used excuse- the op-tempo’s fault. What I did do well was, provide them with tools, resources and references to assist them in doing their jobs as Platoon Leaders.