To Be or Not To Be Counseled?

SFC Randy Purham — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 07:54:59 -0500

In my "illustrious" (loosely termed) 15 year career, I have seen an increase in the lack of counselings (Monthly, Quarterly, Good/Bad Performance, etc.) to Soldiers. Yet, Leadership are quick to say a Soldier is "jacked up" what and where is the guidance - personally/professionally being given? Being here on AJ, volunteering at the USO, I speak with several JE (Junior Enlisted) from various units and backgrounds and virtually everyone says they are not/have not been counseled - ever - by their NCOs.  Some even have no clue what they need to do to advance in LIFE in general. Where as Leaders, have we forgot/failed? The question I have often posed and caused a little ruffle is - Who fault is it? Squad Leader/1st Line, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant or does the blame reside on the Officer side of the house?

Response by 1SG Steven Stankovich made Dec 17 at 2013 8:02 AM

1SG Steven Stankovich — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 08:02:43 -0500

I believe that it is an issue of "command emphasis." Now that does not mean "Commander" emphasis, it means the unit command group. If counseling is not emphasized and pushed from the top down, there is means to hold anyone accountable on the bottom for not doing it.

I am in a unit now where I do not have any junior Soldiers. I do however have a SFC and a SSG who work for me. You better believe that I counsel both of those NCOs. It is as much for their professional development as it is a tool for me to use when it is time for their evaluations to be done. It is much easier to cut and paste from quarterly counselings into an evaluation than it is to dream stuff up on the spot. And in doing that, there are so surprises to anyone when the evaluation is complete and ready for signatures.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 21 at 2013 3:55 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 15:55:19 -0500

I agree with MSG Stankovich, however I would also add that I think the problem is bigger than the command emphasis. I think most command teams do care that SM's are not progressing and that counseling should be a focus in every team. I would also add that I think the Bigger picture probably has a lot to do with it. We no longer work in a military which has a weekly focus group or PLT SGT Meeting and then you roll out on your tasks until the next week. Now our weeks are interrupted by tasking after tasking.. Email after email.. The digital age has moved in and we have not tried to slow the speed of that engine, we let it roll continually.

I think additionally, we answer to an even higher authority, one that may not be focused on the individual, but more how an individual appears in the media and today's focus. We receive tasking for training after training, PII, TARP, Thumb drive awareness, etc. etc... Most of them in response to some sort of incident or situation which has made its way to the media... The more time we spend on a reactive environment the less time we have to personally mentor and counsel.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 6 at 2014 12:08 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 12:08:29 -0400

I started reading this post based on the title. Now that I have read all the responses I can see there are similar issues happening all over the Army which I am dealing with now. I have recently implemented a policy in my platoon that directs my subordinates to be counseled every month, and I dictate what 75% of the counseling will say from the start. I have also, informed my NCOs that they will be counseled monthly and quarterly, but that is dictated by the quarterly counseling. You may look at this and think, 'ok, that is what is supposed to happen'. You are correct, but because of 13 years of war, the bulk of our forces have no clue what the Army was like before, and all those 'old timers' are no longer a direct influence on subordinates or have already exited the Army. All the standards and questions NCOs used to ask and know have slipped away, and have to be relearned. The problem is that like most of the comments here show, there is very little time to execute, and even less time dedicated to the Soldier. In a recent discussion with my BDE CSM, we talked about having a dedicated day to 'PMCS' our Soldiers. There is a dedicated day in the week to conduct maintenance on vehicles that have not moved in two or three weeks, but there is no day dedicated to Soldiers that have a different experience every day.