How could army active duty incorporate junior enlisted skills better?

2021-08-20T13:00:07-04:00

I’ve recently came back to active duty from the guard. One thing that I have noticed is that in the guard leadership knows that you have experience in other fields and put it to use when possible. I feel like if active duty would incorporate some of that retention rates would be higher and the overall force would be better for it.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Aug 20 at 2021 7:55 PM

2021-08-20T19:55:04-04:00

Really, strange as an IIb I never handled logistics till I went to Battle Staff course. We never built much of anything, I seldom if ever used my college in Mechanical Engineering or Business Admin. NG and USAR have more varied missions than many AD units. Did Hearts and Minds often, be seldom anywhere to help a community.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2021 8:08 AM

2021-08-21T08:08:30-04:00

I think one of the issues that traditionally occurs on the active duty side is that the Army judges intelligence level in GT scores and not experience. In the same instances, there Soldiers with high GT scores doing jobs that require no critical thinking. I understand that some join to bring the fight to enemy and they don't really care either way. There are a few who are experts in their respective fields that the Army really doesn't care about. If an LT has a degree in human resources why not send him/her to a branch that supports his field. Its just the nature of the beast I guess.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Aug 21 at 2021 8:43 AM

2021-08-21T08:43:42-04:00

Well yeah, the Guard is filled with E-4s and E-5s in their 40s and 50s.
Very different population. Most of the Actives junior soldiers are recruited out of high school. We don't have that many junior Soldier with any real world experience. Some, sure, but not many.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2021 10:14 AM

2021-08-21T10:14:58-04:00

It's weird that people always believe that retention rates are poor. The Army exceeds its retention mission every single year, including the last minute mission increase we get every year when recruiting fails to make it's mission.

Guard and Regular Army are completely different beasts and when you try to get one to be like the other it ends up a mess. Remember that scene in the movie 300 where Leonidas asks what they're jobs are? Those potters, farmers and merchants are the Guard, those full time Soldiers are the Regular Army. One isn't better than the other, they just both do certain things better than the other.

Those Soldiers in the Regular Army you work with don't have any life skills outside their MOS. The majority of them joined out of high school and unless they grew up on a farm or working a family business, they only have the skills they learned in the Army. But that's all they do, so they do Army stuff very well, much better than most of the Guard. They also move every three years and their leadership switches out every year or two, so you don't have as much time to build deep relationships, but you do build a lot of relationships.

Contrast that with the Guard where everyone has a job other than the Army. You have full time carpenters, electricians, mechanics, police, firefighters, and every other skilled and unskilled craft represented. Most of the Soldiers with a deep knowledge of Army tactical and technical information came from Active duty at some point, or have been serving for decades. The people don't move between units very often so you build deeper relationships because you may work with the same people for five or ten years with little overturn.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2021 10:40 AM

2021-08-22T10:40:33-04:00

Good luck. The Army has been talking about certification for trade skills and that couting as your apprenticeship. Non starter. Unfortunately those that make those decisions are more concerned with all the bs instead of common sense troop building. But be careful of what you with for. If they find out you have a skill, you will get used and abused. But unless you are Audie Murphy or 270 pt score it will count for nothing.