Brock,

Great discussion theme!  UCMJ and its application can have wide reaching impact on an organization’s culture.  As a young E4 I remember a buddy getting an Article 15.  Looking back it was justified and correct but what still galls me is that an NCO did the same thing and was just counseled.  When I challenged my leadership about this ine…[Read more]

Brock,

I’ll echo Rose’s mention of how GCSS-Army assists in the dispatching process. You can also use it to digitally sign licenses, which is a time investment up front, but helps cut down on Soldiers’ losing theirs and you having to resign them.

A frustration I had was the way computer monitors and televisions are accounted for. For most TVs…[Read more]

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.

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]

@brock.j.young, I concur with your assessment about the “forgetting who you work for”. While the Army does serve the American people, this doesn’t mean that we serve the DA Civilians who work in our organizations, at least in the sense of exercising our official duties together. There are military personnel (me, for instance) who are rated by DA…[Read more]

Heather,

I love your comment that in an engaged team things just happen. What has to be present for things to just happen? Have you ever been in an organization where you felt comfortable to make things happen? Have you been in an organization where you didn’t feel comfortable to make things happen? What made the difference?

Finally, how do…[Read more]

Heather’s responses:

Engagement:
1. Think about your last OPORD. What systems of control do we
commonly use in mission planning? Is there a minimum needed to execute the mission?
I’d argue that the majority of paragraph 3 — Execution — is
mostly a control mechanism by dictating the “who”, “what”, and “when” for
nearly all tasks. For example,…[Read more]

Senior Rater Counseling is very important, make no mistake. However, I have only received one once, when I was in company command. One could argue that this is probably the most important time to receive one though, since company commanders are very influential. The counseling was not written, nor supported by anything concrete. Words and…[Read more]

I’ve never been a staff OIC, nor worked in an S1 shop. However, my time as an AIT commander was very much impacted by the S1 shop. I’m not sure if it is a systemic issue for AG MOS’s, but our S1 personnel were not cutting it, either.

As you’ve seen, patience was mentioned above. I would also encourage this, while also providing counseling,…[Read more]

Thanks, I agree there is a need for solid planning in the NG and sometimes it is lacking…

Its true soldiers get paid for working in NG status, it isn’t pro-bono but it isn’t always enough to keep food on the table.  I have many soldiers who lose money when they are on active duty.  They’re proud of their service and are able to balance the t…[Read more]

This one is very near and dear (perhaps the wrong word…?) to me. My current and previous (command) assignment were heavily impacted by both of these issues.

As far as the leading of civilians, to be clear, I have never been the de facto supervisor of a civilian. However, during my command, I was essentially a counterpart to a GS12 civilian a…[Read more]

Brock, great feedback.  I think though that is a component of the Guard 4.0 that gets overlooked we have State and Federal responsibilities.   While an ASMC like mine is going to do pretty much the same mission regardless most other units that will not.

I think you make a great point about quality training driving retention.  However, as an M-d…[Read more]