Mentoring - great in the U.S. Military or in large part a myth (lacking)?

2013-11-27T17:17:02-05:00

It is inherent in essentially every Grade (E-1 to O-10) (E-1's can still have a claim in "mentoring" such as for Civilians to join their Branch) to Mentor those subordinate to you. While I've come across many great Mentors in the USAF, there have been many who just 'appear' to be approachable. These types are 99% oriented towards their 'Career preservation' in the ever downsizing Military, and only exhibit about 1% (mostly in public) to offer to help mold, groom, and guide others. As a former Prez. of the Air Force Cadet Officer Mentor Action Program's Emerald Coast Chapter, it would be good to see some thoughts on the subject matter...

Response by SFC James Baber made Dec 12 at 2013 10:32 PM

2013-12-12T22:32:43-05:00

I think mentoring was more prevalent during the pre-9/11 Army than it is today, a majority of leaders are worried about losing their jobs and any junior that comes to them is that potential replacement for their jobs, so it is not as prominent anymore, at least from what I saw before retirement just a few years back.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2013 8:27 PM

2013-12-15T20:27:57-05:00

This is a very tough question to answer because in part this purely based on an individual's career and the leaders they have served with. Unfortunately, the loss of mentorship is not something that went away during the 9/11 Army, it really didn't exist much growing up through the ranks. Over 18 years of service I have met two people that provided me with some mentorship along the way and after reading some of the earlier posts, respectfully, I have to disagree with a few of you. Leaders pick the soldiers they want to mentor, and the reason I am saying this is because you know that soldier or junior leader that has it! You want to spend that extra time with them teaching and developing them on your experiences and are more than willing to spend that extra time to do it and the reality is you don't have the time or energy to waste on someone you know doesn't. Now, I'm not saying these soldiers don't deserve mentors, they sure do. They need extra coaching on the smaller things like passing a board or making that first PCS move or helping with their decisions when they decide to ETS but in part this is not what I call true mentorship but more like coaching. 

Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2014 5:31 PM

2014-03-21T17:31:23-04:00

I think mentoring is a great aspect of the military. Leaders and followers mentor each other in different roles and aspects. I have been mentored by ineffective and effective leaders. The ineffective leaders indirectly mentored me on how not to lead by their actions. The great leaders took me under their arms and groomed me for leadership. However, in order to be an effective leader, you also need to take the initiative seek out those great leaders and ask them for mentorship. Mentoring doesn't just fall in your lap, sometimes you need to seek it.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 25 at 2015 4:04 PM

2015-04-25T16:04:44-04:00

One of the tenets of my command philosophy was growing the soldiers professionally and personally. The litmus test was could the unit run without me? We should give greater priority to mentorship. Often mentorship occurs between a junior and senior who like each other.