How could I have handled a Soldier displaying gang affiliation on social media better?

good to go warning + time what more could you ask

As previously stated, you did the right thing. Gang affiliation is nothing to joke about nor try to pass off as something you're not. I've had a couple of solider tell me about their "Past Lives" but that's a different situation as they were/are good Soldiers and represented the uniform in a professional manner and no longer had any affiliation with any gangs.

It's hard to say why some guys tell stories, and pretend to be something their not. Many times its because in their own minds they don't think they measure up to everyone else. That their fellow soldiers the real thing, and their faking it. As a consequence of this, they try to pass themselves off as bad guys, or heroes by telling BS stories. Most of the time is comes from one, or both of their parents, or someone in their lives telling them they don't measure up. My old man use to call me --you---boy-- or on occasion ---hey stupid. Instead of encouraging me to achieve one of my dreams, he would ridicule me at every opportunity. I wasn't so much his son-- as I was someone for him to laugh at. We will all find soldiers in this situation from time to time, and you'll find a little praise will go a long way with them. They need to be told their as good everyone else. To put it simply, they need someone in authority to say the words. As a 1st Sergeant your job is to look upon the young men and women in your charge as your kids. I'm not suggesting you let them get away with murder, but be someone they can look up to and take their problems to. It goes for a platoon daddy as well. There's much more to leadership than just giving orders, and busting someone's ass for not following regulations. ----Before you act---find out why a problem happening, think it through before you act. NCO's are the backbone of any military. Decide what type of one you want to be.

The first question you should (and did) ask yourself in any situation involving upholding standards is this: "Should I take action?" This seems simple, as the black-and-white answer is always "Uphold the standard, no matter what". However, some of the best leaders I've encountered understood intuitively that although we all WANT the army to have clear-cut, black-and-white standards, it won't always be an easy moral decision. For example, let's say I have a soldier who financially supports his terminally ill family member. This soldier fails to properly plan his finances and bounces a check at the PX. Do I uphold the established policy regarding bounced checks, and punish the soldier (and potentially his family) by taking his pay? Or do I uphold the moral standard and assist the soldier to better plan his finances? Or do I do both? The point is, there will always be grey areas--the hallmark of a good soldier, and a great leader, is the ability to navigate those murky waters.

I believe that in this case, you were absolutely right to take some sort of action. Inaction or silence on your part would amount to a tacit approval of gang association within the Army, which is clearly unacceptable. The next question, after "Should I act," is "How?". You had several approaches to this situation, which you clearly considered. The first, and easiest, is to be direct and address your concern with the individual. You did, and from the sounds of it, you did so professionally and impersonally, which is highly commendable. You also turned to other professionals for their advice, which again is laudable. However, when weighing their advice about taking the matter to CID, I think you should have considered reaching out to the individual again. It's entirely possible that he read it, and forgot about it, or disregarded your message as spam. It's also entirely possible he didn't fully realize the consequences of his actions. If it were me, I would've given him another opportunity to correct his behavior on his own. I would have reached out again, perhaps a bit more vigorously by pointing out that my next course of action would be to report his behavior to the appropriate personnel.

Either way, you handled it well, and ultimately your final course of action was the right one--although I find that often the right solution and the best solution are not always one and the same.

Thanks man.....now I won't be able to two step to Garth Brooks, Cupid Shuffle, Electric Slide, Casper Slide, or do my C and B walks without people looking at me crazy. Pee Wee Herman, The Wop, Cabbage Patch, Kid and Play kick stepYou even killed my Soula Boy tell em Crank dat, no more hittin the Quan, G-slide, whip and ne ne, stanky leg, Flex, Do the Dougie, Jungle Love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2FPQvwhSDY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzDElw2FVQQ

One thing that should NOT be used with your soldiers is electronic counsel. Face to face that soldier and counsel on the issue.

Nobody wants thuggish soldiers. Bad attitudes/disrespect turn toxic.

Absolutely handled it fine. If he's just posturing, then the proper authorities will find out. If he's really into the gang banging life, he'll be tossed out. I'll share a bit of my experience: I was investigated by NCIS for being linked to a sailor overdosing on an illicit substance in the BEQ when I was stationed on a Naval Air Station. The sailor who implicated me was being investigated for gang activities and drug running himself, unbeknownst to me. I knew this guy through a friend of a friend, but we weren't friends. He dropped my name because I worked in the city where the Naval Base's annex was located, which is where the sailor got the drugs from. My name was dropped to provide him a cover.

So, I was questioned by NCIS & asked if I knew who Johnny Matthis was. After having a really good laugh because I thought they were referring to the singer, they told me why they brought me in for questioning. I started laughing again and had to explain that I'd be the last person on the base running /selling or doing anything with drugs because of my job. I worked with the Masters At Arms (Military Police) K9 handlers taking care of their narcotic/patrol, & explosive/patrol dogs. I had the Senior Chief (E7) & all the handlers vouch for me.

The kid who tried to set me up got kicked out on a bad paper discharge.

Q- Is he a friend or coworker that you work with? Personally as a leader, I would of confronted him face to face and ask questions of his involvement and advised him of his actions, and what action will be taken against him if he doesn't apply.
You as a specialist could of brought leadership in and controlled the situation with out personal involvement. Human nature is to listen and follow leadership, not your pier who stand side by side with you. (Sad but True) I found over time as a Soldier growing and learning, education is the best tool for any growing mind. A young mind is pretty much empty to many things around them until confronted and enforced. (Law)
You confronting him on the social network shows that you have knowledge of his actions, but of course he did not take you for your word. People are going to be people no matter how much we see wrong or right. Education is the key to so many wrong things going on around us every day. Huaaaaa!

Hell Yes....Call CID and push till it breaks. The Army is NO PLACE for gang bangers