Hey Reservists... What do you do to train and mentor your men off duty?

2014-04-12T03:45:52-04:00

I transitioned from active duty to reserves just a couple days ago and recently completed my 3rd drill.  One thing that I am adjusting to is not being able to have all the time I am use to from active duty to lead Marines and trying to shove a months worth of training and mentoring in a weekend.<div><br></div><div>What do you do to keep your men up to standards with their active duty counterparts?  What do you do, if anything, while off duty for your men?  Any recommendations for a leader coming off active duty and into the reserves to help the transition? </div><div><br></div><div>I am experimenting right now with different ways of communicating with my platoon off duty and creating plans to better make use of the limited time we have during drill.  Any suggestion would be great!   </div>

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2014 4:49 PM

2014-04-12T16:49:09-04:00

I utilize Army Career Tracker with my squad. It allows me to track their SSD progress and I give them additional courses with end dates to improve their initiative to self develop. My team leaders call them through out the month just to say "Hi" and usually end up with numerous questions or what if's.

I push every resource I can use like a bible verses to them on drill weekend.

MilitaryOneSource, Our G1 college enrollment site, ATRRS, and ALMS. (plus 40 more)

My platoon has an Alert Roster we manage every month, their school enrollments (or schools they'd like to attend), clothing issues, CAC card issues, PT results and so on.

My team leaders choose someone each drill to have a class or course of instruction prepared so that Soldier teaches the squad something, sometimes its even civilian related, like best ways to manage finances with limited funds. (as one of my guys is an assistant manager at BOA)

Acclimating to a drill weekend will take some time. Accepting, time management and reverse planning is the only thing we leaders have in our bag to accomplish these feats. It becomes frustrating sometimes to not knock out the things you really wanted to, but like I tell my Soldiers, we aren't one weekend a month, we are ambassadors of the Armed Services 24/7 so if something needs to happen during those 28 days, I expect them to have it done on personal time, that's our unique commitment and selfless service. Which is to include the only MAJOR concern most reservists have and that's Physical Fitness Standards.

My company gives Soldiers a day off drill for completion of their SSD, literally the only way to compensate a Soldier for doing military obligations during their family/personal time. Good Luck and just remember, We Are Not Active Duty, We're Reservists. I say that because "yes" even I do it, is become complacent. I zone out and focus my month on my family or career issues and place them before military concerns. It's a juggle, and since I do it, I can't really bash my Soldiers for coming short. Communicating with them is vital in the reserves, really "knowing" what malfunctions they have is key to getting them back on track and mission oriented. The only "real" time we have to shine is during Annual Training. Did I say Good Luck?

Response by SGT Tom Rowan made Sep 2 at 2015 2:51 PM

2015-09-02T14:51:35-04:00

When I was in the reserves, I was a platoon sergeant, to keep in touch out side our weekend stuff, we had a local softball team, I used this team as my primary for mentoring, I focused on traing during our weekend together, and focused on hearts and minds during the game, practice, and get together-es.