How do your soldiers interact with highers?

2016-07-03T04:57:02-04:00

I am wondering what other people have experienced when dealing with Jr. enlisted interacting with NCO's. I have heard of units where a private talking to anyone past his first-line is unheard of. I've heard of units where there is open communication between most all soldiers. I personally have a soldier who chooses not to talk to our section NCOIC. While the other has no problem walking up to him.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 3 at 2016 5:31 AM

2016-07-03T05:31:40-04:00

You need to get to the root of the problem. Soldiers need to have faith and confidence that their leadership has their best interest at heart. Soldiers are like flowing water, they follow the path of least resistance. They may have had little to no leadership take care of them in the past and now they go to where they think they can get it.

"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." - Colin Powell GEN (R), 12th CJCS and Former SECSTATE

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jul 3 at 2016 7:28 AM

2016-07-03T07:28:27-04:00

Soldiers and service members should not be concerned about speaking to anyone in the COC. Asa senior I always thought one of two things, Soldiers were hiding something or they were ordered not to speak. In either case it is wrong. If there are issues they should start with squad leaders and if unresolved elevated. But everyone in a unit should communicate. As leaders we should have no fear of what our Team might say, as we should be doing what is right.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 3 at 2016 8:38 AM

2016-07-03T08:38:19-04:00

If one if my guys goes to someone else, and I find out, I just ask them why they didn't come to me. If there is a problem that have with me I attempt to fix it. My guys need to know that their best interest is my number one prioriry.

Response by MSG Pat Colby made Jul 3 at 2016 9:03 AM

2016-07-03T09:03:19-04:00

It's been my experience that Soldiers that came to me instead of their section NCO thought the Section NCO was either unapproachable (Arrogant jerk), said that their Section NCO only cared about themselves, or brought their situation to the Section NCO and wasn't given proper guidance. Yes, there are Shit "Leaders" out there. .

I never turned away a Soldier's concerns just because they didn't work for me. Some NCO's I could fix through peer pressure. Others, I just had to admit that I couldn't fix. It's the Gung-Ho types that are the hardest to fix.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 3 at 2016 9:07 AM

2016-07-03T09:07:14-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member As a Platoon Leader, I encourage my soliders to have a open line communication within the PLT and to also ask any question related to military no matter how dumb or redundant it may sound because, not everyone will know the answer or may not be at the same page. And ofcourse, if any hardship related situation that pertains to their performance they can talk to me directly, resolving a solution with their first line and my PSG.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 3 at 2016 12:12 PM

2016-07-03T12:12:02-04:00

The medical team uses a non-linear approach for issues of patient care, but lowest level leader for everything admin. It is up to the officers to keep lines from getting blurred and typically works in our shop. SFC Private RallyPoint Member SGT Bruce Chapman SSG Private RallyPoint Member

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jul 5 at 2016 8:10 PM

2016-07-05T20:10:54-04:00

I'm the last one to talk too. I went from Boot Camp, A-School to a Flag Command, Admirals Staff, 4 Star. I worked for the 2 Star Chief of Staff for Intelligence.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 9 at 2016 1:14 AM

2016-07-09T01:14:55-04:00

My first assignment out of basic training, if an NCO approached me for official business without going through my First Line, that NCO got their fourth point of contact handed to them by my First Line. I came in back in 98, and it was up your chain of command, down the chain of command. If you jumped it, you better have a DAMN good reason. Open door policy was always an exception. But there was NEVER to be any confusion about who said what because if the platoon sgt had a different mission for you, he better go to your squad leader to tell you, so your squad leader wasn't giving you a different set of orders and setting you up for failure with one or the other.

Now, if someone from higher up the chain came by to do a morale check or just had business in the area and stalled long enough to talk, feel free to talk. Maybe something minor will be mentioned that the subordinate thought was no big deal, but the superior thinks is a sign of something bigger happening within the unit.