ARCOM for calling out inappropriate use in Social Media. Appropriate or not?

She does not deserve an ARCOM. She does not deserve an AAM or any medal. At MOST she deserves a certificate because she was just trying to do her job as a NCO. Her statement “I looked them up, introduced myself and explained to them why they were stupid." falls short of the professionalism I expect of a senior NCO. Since the NCO Creed starts with "No one is more professional than I", I believe there is a learning opportunity in this for the 1SG and also an opportunity for her to share her experiences.

Since she was so quick to let the director of the Army SHARP program know about these service members transgressions, she must have some knowledge and interest in the program. I would have her appointed as a SHARP representative for the Brigade, Battalion and Company, and I would have her prepare a presentation on 'Monitoring Social Media of your Service Members'. After her Battalion and Brigade Command Sergeants Major were satisfied with the presentation, I'd make sure she had the opportunity to present it to every unit in the Division as part of the Divisions SHARP training program, as long as it did not interfere or take away from her assigned duties.

Her move to turn them into the director of the Army SHARP program rather than an immediate supervisor or someone in their chain to deal with the problem tells me she was either to lazy to find out about their immediate supervisor or chain of command or was looking for recognition she ended up with.

The Soldier's who attacked her and who were wearing uniforms in their profile photos are evidently not only not professional but also not the sharpest tools in the shed. It would probably behoove a serving member of the armed forces to not 'put themselves out there' by using a profile picture in uniform.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a politically driven award. The Soldiers and former Soldiers that besieged her with aggressive unprofessional typed comments should have been put in check, but not by the HQDA Director of SHARP. That was a spiteful "oh yeah, I will make sure you get hemmed up move". She went about her correction wrong. You should always handle situations on the lowest level. Her comments in reference to the situation are unprofessional and demonstrate a serious lack of real leadership. As SNCO's we are supposed to correct deficiencies not take a personal vested interest in destroying Soldiers. By going to the highest level, she spotlighted and put on blast the entire organization for which these Soldiers belong, all without allowing the leadership an opportunity to fix the situation. In my professional opinion this SNCO wasn't deserving of an ARCOM, a COA, or a Coin. If anything, I believe she should have been counseled for not upholding the creed in reference to "Officers of my unit will have maximum time to accomplish their duties, they will not have to accomplish mine." She "CC'ed" the HQDA SHARP Director and therefore elevated this situation to a level that was unnecessary and involved a whole lot of Officers that had better things to do then to police up some unprofessional Soldiers on the internet. Our duty as NCO's is to enforce good order and discipline for Commanders, not run to them for recognition or for them to enforce the regulations for which we are supposed enforce.

Granted this is all based off of my "Monday Morning Quarterback" assessment of what has been written. There might be more to the story or it maybe distorted in the conveyance of these articles, but I stand by my assessment based on what I can see.

Finally, we all have a duty and obligation to teach, coach, and mentor our next generation and it is getting increasingly more difficult with Social Media and other forms of technology. Never pass up an opportunity to make a correction, create a professional learning point, and reinforce good order and discipline. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD....STOP THE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED STYLE OF LEADING! "BACKBONE!!"

Joe's should be able to have their options, but Joe needs to fix his privacy settings.hahaha

An ARCOM for any soldier should mean that they went "Above & Beyond" the expected actions scope and requirements of a soldier 1-2 pay grades above their current one.

My first ARCOM was earned by doing more than looking at the internet and sending PM's or leaving posts on other peoples Facebook pages.

My recommendation?

She did her job digitally
Award her a Digital Award that can be added to her Facebook page

I can say this, because I have called out stupidity myself. NO. Congratulations for being an NCO and pointing out that some have exceeded the limits of good taste, morale and discipline. She is deserving of a pat on the back and the knowledge that she has done the right thing, which is to step up upon seeing something wrong.

The reason that this got brought out, is because she also fired off notes up channel regarding a program, which generated a Command response.

my .02

Correcting idiots goes with the territory. Too many would click away and punt on doing what she did.
However, in my humble opinion, the press release indicates to me that she was given an ARCOM because the Army wanted to celebrate a leader who was aggressively supporting their SHARP policy. It is propaganda. She did a good job. But an ARCOM? Please.

Sorry.. I find the whole thing ridiculous. Her statement, to me, showed no maturity whatsoever. She told them why they were stupid (as opposed to explaining good order and discipline and the importance of image while in uniform) or telling SHARP where they were lacking (as opposed to any other option because that had nothing to do with SHARP)
As my British friends would say, "Poor form, ole man" (woman)).
I will say that it's a new day with social media but if the troops were acting up downtown, what would have been the proper response and would it have been award worthy. Sometimes we take this crap too far.
What do current members think about it???

That could have been a bullet comment on her NCOER.  Soldiers deploy and stand guard, patrol, security convoys and come back with an ARCOM after a years deployment.  

If you are a combat arms guy this stinks, but in MI i guess this is big...  In no way am i bashing the 1SG for her actions, but an ARCOM????

SFC (Join to see). OMG!!! I am the last person to get wound up by the award of a medal intended to reward heroic conduct at the risk of one's life. Did SECDEF Hagel or LTGEN McConville even bother to review the criteria for the Army Commendation Medal ??? What the blazes does the citation for this medal say???

The next thing you know we will be awarding Bronze Stars to people who never even visited a combat zone.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

Army Regulation 600–8–22 . . . 3–18. Army Commendation Medal . . .

a. The ARCOM was established by War Department Circular 377, 18 December 1945 (amended in DA General Orders 10, 31 March 1960).

b. The ARCOM is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving in any capacity with the Army after 6 December 1941, distinguishes himself or herself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. Award may be made to a member of the Armed Forces of a friendly foreign nation who, after 1 June 1962, distinguishes himself or herself by an act of heroism, extraordinary achievement, or meritorious service which has been of mutual benefit to a friendly nation and the United States.

c. Awards of the ARCOM may be made for acts of valor performed under circumstances described above which are of lesser degree than required for award of the Bronze Star Medal. These acts may involve aerial flight.

d. The ARCOM may be awarded for acts of noncombatant-related heroism which does not meet the requirements for an award of the Soldier’s Medal.

this is a slippery slope here. Award worthy, no, her job, yes. It's a weird realm that we are entering. On one hand we need our Soldiers to remain professionals at all times but are we invading their privacy by cyber stalking them? There is a fine line we as leaders are walking by trolling a Soldiers page and it is only a matter of time that someone goes to far. If a 1SG has enough time to be trolling then they aren't doing their job to the fullest. Police these kids up in your spare time but becareful not to go to far. As for the original question, I am shocked that the COL signed this award. At the root of this issue is simply an NCO doing her job. This situation deserved a coin and a handshake, but not the blatant abuse of awards and decorations.