Is it legal to task units to provide SMs to staff an MWR fitness center?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 07:28:54 -0400

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Oct 1 at 2017 8:40 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 08:40:45 -0400

CPT Private RallyPoint Member BLUF Yes, almost always. And if it is a tasking already at your door step, it has been cleared though the CORP G3 and JAG as "legally sufficient" as well as your Div G3 and then handed to the Bde to fill....and now id guess in your lap...to task to a subordinate unit..welcome the the crappy part of being in the G3 staff..

Almost anything can have Borrowed Military Manpower (BMM) assigned. It starts with a request and justification from the requesting agency to the senior post command..say Corps if it is... The G3 will hold an annual, semi annual, or quarterly conference that is essentially a review of all existing BMM to decide to terminate and recall the BMM, continue the tasking, or modify it and review new requests.
There are of course some legal restrictions, but MWR is not directly one of them at least not for all positions...
There are request denied because the CMD does not feel the request benefits the unit enough or at all.
Request denied because the impact to units would be to great fill.
And sometimes denied because the requester has not done their due diligence to support the need internally..having the authorization to hire, the budget to hire, but BMM resource board after recourse board they come with a another 365 day request.

I have sat in these boards as a Divisional rep.... never seen a request I thought "Man that sounds illegal"

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Oct 1 at 2017 11:15 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 23:15:22 -0400

Yes it is. That is an agreement between the Garrison Commander and the Senior Mission Commander, executed through operations channels as SGM Erik Marquez describes. FMWR is allocated NAF level A funds, of which Fitness Center labor hours are a part. It sets a fixed level of service, in this case X hours of labor to have the fitness centers open Y hours a piece. If the Senior Commander wants more hours/days for the fitness center, then they need help in either OMA dollars or labor itself. Since the OMA dollars are tight, the BMM, aka Soldier Skill Sets (S3), is used to make the command desire a reality. Hat gift is then given to taskable formations on the installation. It is also how units end up mowing lawns, which OBTW, was a pre GWOT expectation of all units.