Any advice for writing counselings?

It sounds like you and the SSG have a good discussion going and everything he has said is correct but keep in mind what the COL and CW3 have said as well. What helped me a lot in the past was to write down my thoughts on a piece of paper, takes those thoughts and a counseling form to my 1st line leader and ask him/her to help you fill the counseling form out correctly.
Also ask you 1st line leader if you can counsel him, role play it if you will then ask for a critique. Also think about counseling you have had in the past good or bad and how they went. But definitely use your 1st line leaders, that's their job to MENTOR you. Good luck SGT.

This guy was a greeter at Walmart but always came to work late. The supervisor said he was well liked but, what did his old employer say about being late. He said: they usually said GOOD MORNING GENERAL, would you like a cup of coffee? Compliment them on the good things and say this was OK but I know you can do better, DO NOT DOWNGRADE THEM. Good luck and CONRATS ON THE PROMOTION.

Fm 7-22 appendix b is a great read. Also armywriter.com is a good source for a general frame work. This counseling is a report card for your soldiers to identify what they are good at and what they need to work on. I have had some real shit counsellings saying I was perfect and that didn't give me anything to work on. My first line just didn't have the balls to tell me what I was lacking in. Do this the right way and explain to the soldier why you wrote what you wrote. Don't be a lazy e-5 that doesn't put any effort into their work.

Study the paperwork; look for input from others who work with him/her and old supervisors; Compare this to recent performance, volunteer activities, professional growth and standards met. If he did everything required, then start in the middle of the road. Add the negatives and positives of the current cycle to see where he/she stands. Next, compare what you came up with, with where they were at the beginning of the cycle. Start by writing what he is doing right or at least improving in, then move into what he/she could do to improve or to be more competitive, then close with a positive note (sometimes all you have for this is a word of encouragement). Be truthful and don't worry, there will be plenty of corrections from higher up. So, don't stress, just get it done in a timely fashion.

If you have not completed SSD{1}, and have not completed WLC, go, because Wlc will go over counselings, or get with a Senior NCO, they are very happy to show off those management skills

Figure out your mission. Based on your background and experience, write what you want and expect from your team. Make some bullet comments. Gather your team and give a brief synopsis of what you want. Tell them what you expect from them and what they are going to expect from. Follow with a one on one counseling next. Make you keep track and counsel them at least every 6 months.

Counselings need to be clear and concise. Actions and events need to be as objective and unbiased as possible, but specific. FM 6-22 can provide you some insight. I also like USA CSM(Ret) Mark Gerecht's "The Mentor." Counseling is probably one of the most challenging aspects of leadership, but when done correctly it can help both Soldiers and Leaders become better at what they do. Do try to focus on positive ways to correct deficiencies.

1st Drill and 2 corrective action counselings eek, you got your hands full. Ok so when you get a new crew member or team in your case each you need to start with an initial counseling for each soldier in your team. This will layout what your expectations are to them and it will open a discussion with each soldier to why you expect what you do and what they can expect from you. Once you have layed down the ground rules then you can follow up with corrective action counseling. In your case I am assuming that the individuals you are disscusing have gross violated an AR or something along those lines. In these cases counselelings are actually pretty easy to right. In the Part 2 of the DA - 4856 briefly state why the counseling is taking place. (Event oriented counseling - Neglected range safety and injured another soldier) Part 3 will have much more detail about the event. (On 20July2015 PVT Snuffy, while firing an AT4 at range 1234, in Camp DooWhatYouWantToo, failed to ensure the back blast area was clear before firing and severely injured another soldier) In this block you would also quote the regulation that he violated if there is one for the situation. For the plan of action you will write down what the corrective action is and when you expect it to be done. Ideally you will create this plan with the soldier during the counseling. Sometimes this is appropriate and other times just write it for them. Being a reservist what many people often forgot is to close out the counseling by following up after the corrective action has taken place to ensure that the plan was sufficient to solve the problem.

read and attempt to understand fm 6-2 appendix B.. then look on armywriter.com. I think I saw someone else say that. I will tell you, after 13 years in I am still seeing higher ranking NCOs that do not understand the counseling process. Ask your senior NCOs if they have examples they can pass on to you. I personally save all of the counselings I write. When a new NCO gets promoted or comes to the unit, I give them an email full of examples :)

FIRST, get in deep with FM 22-100 and ATP 6-22.1
However, ArmyWriter is where you can find tons of example counselings. Remember these counseling sessions should be conversations with your soldier snot just reading them what you wrote.