Posted on Jul 22, 2015
SGT(P) Jennifer Brande
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When I was assigned to a very small unit of 3 people, I had a soldier who had more years of service than I did, but was the same grade as me (E-5) but was irritated that I got the waiver to be slotted into the E-7 Position and he was in the E-6 slot. The major reason was he had been a Sergeant for 7 years and REFUSED, not was not able to go to NCOES. I come from the AD mentality that no soldier should be allowed to be promoted prior to attending the appropriate level of education and our Commander was derelict in his duty by allowing him to remain with the rank over 2 years when this soldier refused to go to school.

Needless to say this soldier was pissed off that I was in the higher graded position (I actually attended NCOES prior to my promotion) and made it a point to be unbelievably obnoxious during our deployment because of this. The commander also stated that he did not want to demote him because then he would have to go back to another unit that did not want him.

Since the deployment the commander retired and the soldier is still in the military but has a very poor record of being personable and that is a huge deal in our field of Public Affairs, but is very proficient in his job.

If you were in this situation, either as a leader or unit member how would you have handled this situation?
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Responses: 11
1SG Military Police
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I would have counseled him regarding his refusal to attend NCOES, recommended the commander counsel him as non-recommended for promotion, and pushed for a bar to re-enlistment.
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SGT(P) Jennifer Brande
SGT(P) Jennifer Brande
9 y
Thank you so much MSG because that is exactly what I had recommended to my commander but his response was that he would have have to send him back to the co-located public affairs unit that didn't want to have him due to his poor attitude and that he was less than an effective leader. I just wanted to make sure that what I had recommended to him was the right move.
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1LT Chaplain Candidate
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Favoritism destroys organization by promoting incompetent individuals to position they shouldn't be occupying. It is a cancer that destroys an organization slowly.
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SGT Christopher Hamman
SGT Christopher Hamman
9 y
Absolutely!
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MSG Intermediate Care Technician
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What MSG James Webb said, do exactly that.
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