Thank you Brock!

it’s been an ongoing issue as our higher HQ has not been able to provide clear guidance. At the BN Level we’ve opted for having our XO as the only reviewing person for all grammatical errors. Unfortunately at the BDE level there is about 4 people checking for grammar so it has become more of a “writing style” then anything else.

There is a way to balance both your universes.  It just takes a deliberate amount of planning and recognition that sometimes you will have to chose one over the other.  AGR is  an option, sometimes though you have to start on ADOS type orders while you work the AGR route.  It isn’t impossible to have both a great reserve career and civilian car…[Read more]

Logisticus,

I’ve tried in the past.  The issue is getting the active to work week-ends….   Recently, requested something similar at Campbell and was told that sure, but you need to come in during the week.

We have worked with Active Units in Europe before especially during Saber Guardian and twice with USF-K with a Yama Sakura and an Ul…[Read more]

I have had several soldiers start positions overseas.  Its a conversation you need have with your commander.  Long term you may need to look at going over into the reserves.  Personally, I would consider ING for a year.  There are several issues that are going to impact you.

1)  You have 2 years to complete a BOLC or face an admin disc…[Read more]

Writing from on the road, so short post. My supply sergeant passed the attached on from his last NTC rotation.

Having a “civilian sector background” I can honestly say that “building long lasting relationships” is everything. At a very young age I was taught that when you leave a job, it is best to leave on good terms and living an open door behind you so that if you ever need to go back or need assistance, that door still open and people will take the…[Read more]

Thank you ae_rollinson!

Awards are getting just a bit better, unfortunately our higher, higher HQ has been pretty nit picky and BDE has been unable to provide us with a standard.

What we’ve opted to do is have our BN XO be the last reviewer and he is technically our standard so far.

I will ensure to use this tool to help Co & 1SG get a better…[Read more]

Good afternoon @jake-bouley; spoke to my husband who is a 92A and has been to a JRTC rotation before their deployment. This was his input, hope this helps or at least provide some guidance
Okay. So looking at JRTC /NTC rotations you will most likely need about 30 days of unit supplies to sustain your day to day operations in while you are…[Read more]

Sapper School (like Ranger School) is officially designated the “Sapper Leader Course” and it is open for all branches. However, attending these schools costs money and it can occasionally be a challenge to get authorized to go by your unit (who will need to pay). Units will often refer to their TOE (table of organization and equipment) to tell…[Read more]

Good questions and comments and more questions. I’m no guru, but I’ll attempt an answer and maybe some of the smarter folks on the forum can offer their insights as alternative perspectives or reinforcement.

I prepared mentally through a not so humble process of relative comparison. Roughly ~50% of my lieutenant buddies would not graduate Ranger…[Read more]

George,

I think an important piece to this is peer feedback.  Despite your best efforts you may not always get good feedback from your troops.  Or as I’ve frequently seen, troops with just one or two assignments may not know anything different than their current assignment or the dreaded in my last unit….

A trusted peer can be a great m…[Read more]

I feel very hot and cold about social media. There’s certainly times that I love it and being able to keep in touch with certain people in an easier fashion than individual emails, text messages, Christmas cards, or phone calls. But … I have security concerns about these platforms as well (caveat / confession — yes, ack this varies on the p…[Read more]

@vanezzaospina / Hmm, you asked for writing tools. Maybe providing Attachments to the BN Memo of the specific award templates could help? Also, have you talked to your BC and/or CSM? Depending how closely you work with them, getting one (or both) of them to put this out to Command Teams (likely during Command and Staff) could be helpful to both…[Read more]

@vanezzaospina / Here’s the resources that @rakimball mentioned. Maybe you’ll get some ideas from this!

@smehr – thank you for the feedback and the positive comment!

I recommend you also take a look at some of the interviews as well as the leader’s log to delve into some of the challenges and opportunities Commanders are facing.

Here is the latest command interview.

LINK or address at:…[Read more]

Wow, that sounds amazing! Do you have a conop or more info on the planning/execution of the event? For example, hw long did you have for the “healthy discussion.” I feel oftentimes there are misunderstandings that can easily be solved by having honest conversations and feedback. Your method, when done properly, seems to be very effective.

Social Media… you’re doing it wrong.
 Sorry #NotSorry for the #Clickbait title. I felt like it was appropriate for the topic. I’ve wanted to write this post for a long time. Thank you to the JOF team for giving me the incentive to stop procrastinating. 
 If you haven’t heard, social media is a thing. We can ignore entirely the debate around your…[Read more]

cplenge/ basic writting skills! It seem as though the recomendors are making the achievements sound too eloquent and forget the basic rule of writting K.I.S (keep it simple)

gregoryhacker/ we do have a BN Policy Letters which states our timelines as well as standard citations. The problem is mainly with the achievements, recommenders are w…[Read more]