Can a soldier be forced to attend an Audie Murphy board?

Can he be forced? Yup. If the chain of command tells him that that is his place of duty for the day, so be it. The can not however force him to do well. Having said that, if he is sharp enough to get selected, then he should be mostly prepared already. If his Blues are not inspection ready at all times then he is failing himself. His knowledge of his MOS should be good enough to get him through. Don't spend 8 days worried about how you are going to fail. Instead take the time to focus on how to win.

Are you kidding me? He should be honored that his first sergeant sees the attributes of a solid leader within him. See the problem is, a lot of people want to get promoted, but no one wants to set themselves aside from their peers. Right now, he and his peers are probably on an even playing field; this will surely set himself a side. Besides, if he's a focused and true noncommission officer (one that truly take care of and knows his soldiers) he will have no problem. Just focus your 8 days of studying towards learning the SAM Bio, motto, history, and refresh yourself on Army programs. Remember, It's scenario based pertaining to taking care of the welfare of your soldiers. I am a proud member of this prestigious club! Airborne!!!

Two things, if the upper echelon thought so much of him then it should of been communicated long before this. Second, if this was a last minute "We have to send someone" mistake, then the communication should of been, "that we need you to go to get the experience and we want you to prepare for the next board ", and send them to that one as well.

I had a similar situation only it had to do with a promotion ceremony. I had an airman that was all about doing his job. He was one of my go to guys but he wasn't about being in the limelight. I could give him a task and no matter how difficult, I could count on him getting it done. As far as recognition goes, he was good with a thank you, a handshake, and of course the recognition he got on his enlisted performance reports. He got a promotion and my supervisor told me to ask him if he wanted to participate in the upcoming promotion ceremony. He told me he had the option. So I asked him knowing what he was going to say. Of course he said no. I told my supervisor and he passed it on up the chain. The next thing I know, my flight superintendent called me in his office and told me to stress to this airman the importance of tradition. I told him how the airman is and also told him that because he doesn't like that kind of attention, his answer would still be the same. Super told me to talk to him anyway, and I did, under the impression that he still had a choice. He again said no and I took that back to Super. He got pissed and told me at that point that I was to go back to that airman and tell him he has no choice in the matter. At that point, I suggested that me and the Super go visit the 1st Sgt. When we did go, I laid out the case that twice this airman was given a choice and then the Super decided he had no choice. I made the statement that if the Super wants to change it, then he should be the one to tell this airman he has no choice. The 1st Sgt agreed with me. If you give them the option to choose, you stick with their decision. If it is mandatory then you stick with it. As far as the scenario here about the Audience Murphy board, If it is mandatory that everybody at some point go there, that's one thing. But if you have a soldier that you thing should go before that board, then you should give him or her enough time to prepare so they can be competitive and not look like an idiot standing there. And 8 days is not enough time to prep for any board no matter how sharp a troop is. . . Just my thoughts.

Short answer: Yes, you can be forced to appear at a board.

Long answer: I personally am against it because if a Soldier doesn't have the initiative and confidence requisite to WANT to progress professionally then we do the Soldiers connected to that person a disservice by forcing progression. I saw several comments about how the board boosts promotion. We all know this to be true. But is the person who doesn't handle adversity well, who backs down from a challenge, the one you want to have pass the board and be selected ahead of his peers for anything?

I say this because, at least in my experience, we are pushing Soldiers to progress who aren't ready in many cases and this is an extension of that. Think about that NCO you know who can't be trusted to perform and how you think "who ever recommended this guy?"...

Is there more to this story?

This article needs to be taken down. I was the RIA SAMC President at the time and this Soldier studied for months and well prepared, and inducted. He could not wait to go to the board. We kind of held him back so he would be prepared. Do not believe everything you read on the internet!

He better go! It's done wonders for my career

The military is supposed to be about preparedness. You should be prepared for anything, at all times. We all know that you can't be 100%prepared for everything. That being said, the command has given this soldier a challenge, that they feel he is up to. Go in there, and show them what you know. They don't want to know what you can memorize in two to four weeks. They want to know that you can rise to the challenge and excel, off the cuff. After all, that's what being an NCO is all about...leading soldiers, making decisions, and using the knowledge that is deeply embedded in your brain, all with little to no time for preparation.

It seems that many of the people reading these posts never heard of voluntold. It happens often when boards are coming up and no one actually volunteers. Then the 1SG/CSM along with Company/Battalion CDRs tell someone they are selected to attend. Very common occurrence, however the selected soldier usually does agree to attend and try their very best. In a few last minute cases it hurts the soldier because they are left with inadequate time to study and otherwise prepare. Once in 1CD DIVARTY, I was called by my CSM the night before an Audie Murphy Board. The sponsor for an Audie Murpgy Board Attendee was put in the hospital that day with a heart attack. I was a MSG, BN Commo Chief, former 1SG waiting for report date for USASMA (SGM's Academy). I was told, no excuses to be at 1CD HQ the next morning in dress greens or blues ready to Sponser this SSG. I barely knew the guy, he was in my company but not my platoon. I begged out of the next mornings PT to get with the SSG to get our stories strait, as the Sponser is required to speak about and on behalf of the candidate. I know for sure my last minute emergency pick hurt the NCO's score. Because they asked me questions about him I did not know. I immediately told the board members I was a last minute replacement for the sponsor who was put in the hospital with a heart attack. They were all BDE and Div CSM's, every one of them told me it wasn't their problem and would not be taken into consideration if I missed any questions. However he was given the option of allowing me to answer a question he did not know the answer to. If I got it correct he would be selected if I got it wrong he failed and would not be inducted into the Audie Murphy Society. He agreed and I knew the right answer, so he got in. Just figured I would put this out there that voluntold happens virtually every day. We just try our very best to make do, in situations that really do suck.