Can you make an Army Reserve soldier text you every morning as part of a counseling plan of action?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:13:51 -0400

Army Reserve question for starters - I know this would be totally moot in the Active Duty realm. All I know about this particular situation is the Jr. Enlisted SM is being counseled for previous communication failures.

There is a junior enlisted in an Army Reserve unit who as part of a counseling is being told to text their first line leader every morning. Is this lawful, and if so is the soldier required to be compensated for their time since they are not on orders? If the soldier does not comply, is this then failure to follow orders?

Edit: Thank you for the responses. For clarification, I am not involved directly in this situation - the leadership development is not of the soldier or NCO but my own as I observe this situation. I personally don't think this is an effective method of developing the soldier (though I can objectively understand the logic behind the plan of action) - but it is the potential for this to escalate beyond a simple counseling if the Jr. SM fails to follow the Plan of Action that concerns me.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2020 6:23 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:23:09 -0400

Some folks are of the mind that if the army didn't provide phone or the phone service they can't.

Response by GySgt Gary Cordeiro made May 26 at 2020 6:38 PM

GySgt Gary Cordeiro — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:38:51 -0400

Micromanaging is not leadership. The leader needs to mentor said soldier, lead by example or resign from your position.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2020 6:43 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:43:22 -0400

You are getting into the grey area of leadership development sir. If SM is a reservist, you cant really "order" them to text you unless activated or drilling. Yes you can say its failure to follow a lawful order, will you win this fight when it goes in front of legal, not a chance.

Response by Maj John Bell made May 26 at 2020 8:13 PM

Maj John Bell — Tue, 26 May 2020 20:13:57 -0400

I have no idea what can or cannot be done for extra military instruction or extra duties with a reservist when the reservist is not in a duty status.

I think you have to look really hard at any form of extra-military instruction or extra duty that seems silly at face value. Perhaps there is a genuine lesson to be learned from texting the senior every morning, but off the top of my head, I can't think of one.

In general, when assigning extra-military instruction, it was for an actual skill set or responsibility in which the Marine proved deficient. It wasn't punishment. It was getting the Marine to an acceptable level of performance. Extra military instruction might be assigned before, during, or after normal working hours.

If I was assigning extra duty as a punishment, I never used "busy work." I assigned the Marine something that was going to have to be done anyway, or would improve the quality of life of his fellow Marines. I just made sure it was done when the rest of the unit was secured for the day. I also found that pre-reveille performance of extra duty was a good way to increase the "misery index."

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2020 9:19 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 May 2020 21:19:21 -0400

BLUF: What duty status is the service member in when they are “texting” every morning.

They are not subject to UCMJ if they are not in a defined “duty status”.

The Chain of Command May be in trouble if they don’t put the Soldier in a Duty Status and subsequently require said Soldier to do something while not on duty.

UCMJ application Per: 10 U.S. Code § 802. Art. 2. Persons subject to this chapter
(a) The following persons are subject to this chapter:
(1) Members of a regular component of the armed forces, including those awaiting discharge after expiration of their terms of enlistment; volunteers from the time of their muster or acceptance into the armed forces; inductees from the time of their actual induction into the armed forces; and other persons lawfully called or ordered into, or to duty in or for training in, the armed forces, from the dates when they are required by the terms of the call or order to obey it.
(2) Cadets, aviation cadets, and midshipmen.
(3)
(A) While on inactive-duty training and during any of the periods specified in subparagraph (B)—
(i) members of a reserve component; and
(ii) members of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States, but only when in Federal service.
(B) The periods referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following:
(i) Travel to and from the inactive-duty training site of the member, pursuant to orders or regulations.
(ii) Intervals between consecutive periods of inactive-duty training on the same day, pursuant to orders or regulations.
(iii) Intervals between inactive-duty training on consecutive days, pursuant to orders or regulations.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2020 10:06 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 May 2020 22:06:58 -0400

Can you? In the sense that you can expect any TPU or MDAY to reply to an email, text or answer a phone call from any leader in between drills, sure. Just like we expect TPU and MDAY leaders to reply to emails, participate in training meetings, disseminate information, and complete evals and awards in between drills without compensation, as we cannot pay a TPU or MDAY for anything less than being at a place of duty in uniform for a minimum of 4 hours.
If that leader wants a text every morning, it should be a reply to a text from that leader.

But I can't imagine what role a daily text would play in a plan of action for a TPU or MDAY outside of summing up a PT session that morning.
I would think the plan of action would be more effective (positive or negative) if the plan was based on requirements communicated as a lawful order to be executed during drill period, with the consequence of receiving a negative counseling and no pay for unsatisfactory performance if not completed.