Do we spend too much time on DTMS training schedules? What’s the purpose? Is it a waste of time? Why?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 20:56:43 -0500

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jan 30 at 2019 9:43 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 21:43:48 -0500

CPT Private RallyPoint Member please explain what you believe to be a waste of time. Help me understand this issue, as I was far removed from DTMS when I retired in late 2016.

The Purpose of DTMS: DTMS allows users to communicate and coordinate across the chain of command. It also features calendars to plan and schedule training. DTMS also maintains individual and crew training records.

To appreciate this, you'd have had to function in Black Boot BDU days. All that stuff, was maintained in a manual unit training file and a gazillion spreadsheets that in a collaborative sense, weren't. You spent half a Company training meeting correcting the shadow clerk's lists for everything. There were also a boat load of PPT slides due to BN and BDE about your training calendar, each more brilliant in their novelty and cheesery than the last. Wouldn't it be great if all that were standardized and shared without shuffling them up through a opaque network of Comandeered Ops NCOs to the S3 so they can tell the BN CDR the 5Ws on what everyone is doing. Then there is the perennial goat screw that's USR and QTB. Unless you had to build a weapons stats slide in Harvard Graphics 2.0 to be printed on a VGT transparency, save your comments. Defining what is "qualified", percentages, number of weapons vs number of people, etc sounds cut and dry until you cut a FRAGO to simplify and standardize to six companies and troops and you get six different sets of slides.....if this system rips any of that out of people's hands, worth it.

If this works half as good as this article looks, you need to praise and hallelujah. https://www.army.mil/article/140988/new_dtms_improves_training_management_tracking_soldiers_training_records

If it isn't doing those things reliably or it is flat missing the boat on what you need, I would wear out the help line number.

If your unit and HHQ isn't using it, but making you put everything in it, then I can see the frustration. Sometimes you need to go CPT to CPT with action officers to build a followership and make the juice worth the squeeze.

New DTMS improves training management, tracking Soldiers' training records

Improvements to the Army's premier training management tool make it easier for commanders to plan exercises and keep track of their Soldiers training records. The new version of the Digital Training Management System, or DTMS, launched at the end of ...