How would you handle a Soldier (one automatically promoted to E-5) with a serious learning disability?

This isn't a problem in the Coast Guard. Such a person would have never made it past the recruiter. I can't even believe such a situation exist. Exactly what are the standards for enlistment and advancement in the Army/Army Reserve?

LEAD! lead this young man in the right direction. Its obvious no one took the time to effectively counsel him or for that matter be a real leader. A chance to shine if you will. Meaning you have a great opportunity to teach your Soldiers and fellow leaders around you that hard work will work. Not only for you but for that young NCO. All the best in this endeavor.

Get him tested ASAP, see what they say you can do to fix it or at least make him more functional . See what i can grab onto quickly and what takes longer- have lots of patience.

Is the SM making an honest assessment of their performance or do you think that maybe the SM is "Working the System"? I have to say that there is only so much you can do as a leader before the SM needs to step up and recognize (and accept) that they have an issue and be willing to take steps to seek assistance. Remember, as stated before, you do have other subordinates which require your leadership and for one SM to become an "Anchor" will drain you of all your time/resources possibly reflecting negatively on you. YES, immediately send the SM to get a medical review in order to identify the issue/disorder. This will help you by having the service recognize/record the issue on their permanent record, forming the basis from which you as the leader will start to work from. Also will give your leadership the knowledge of what you are working with . Which brings to question, "What does your higher say with regard to the SM's actions?" Are they giving YOU any type of guidance or leaving up to you for action?? Without the full understanding of this Soldier's reasoning, actions, thought process....there is only so much knowledge/experience any of the leaders on this page can extend. Best of luck and I sincerely hope there is a positive outcome however, we all know there are those who never should have been accepted into military service but managed to get in due to the numbers game. If this is the case and the SM is obviously not going to work out, I say, extend a bit of compassion and get them as much help/assistance as you can. Then start the paper trail to process them out as "Unfit". This action happens everyday in the service because not everyone is cut out to continue serving for a number of reasons. Remember, you're not doing anyone any favor by continuing to hold on to that "Anchor" possibly taking them into a combat theater.

Auto promote I through went out years ago. But it seems it is still out there.
One must train all that are under you. Even the ones that don't get it. The one`s that finely get it will be your best asset in the long run. You will know there strong points but you must work on the low parts to. You also must look for help from other sources , if your are to keep this person.

we got this Pfc. in at CSC 2/87 Mech. Inf. he was a radio repairman. really good with radios. BUT no walking around sense. we all thought he was NUT`S. turns out his IQ went off the scale. what it required was the NCO`s had to work with him every day. starting with the basic's, of ARMY life in Germany. he was coming along when I rotated out.
there was a lot of Big words about your Sgt. with his or her learning problem . 1st shoot how ever promoted him or her, & then passed the person on to you. because they did NOT do there job. 2nd Now it`s your turn to do your job as an NCO to bring this Sgt. up to standards. Or take a strip !!!

Here is another way to put it.... Leaving out the military…


There is a mechanic with a learning disability who works at one of those big box repair shops. His manager "feels bad" for him, they continually train him and have to watch over every little thing this mechanic does.


One day the mechanic’s managers are in a meeting leaving the mechanic unsupervised. The service writer sells you a huge brake job requiring your calipers be replaced. During this it was found you also need a ball joint. The mechanic with the learning disability does all the work as a mechanic should except this time he was unsupervised. No one double checked the work or "looked over his shoulder". Keep in mind, all your wheels and front steering controls were off your vehicle......


You, your spouse and your three kids are all in the car when you pick it up. You are all traveling on a busy highway going the average speed of 70 mph. There are several semi-trucks just feet from you also moving at 70 mph and weighing 30 tons. When out of nowhere you have to hit your brakes. THEY FAIL! The caliper was not properly installed and came off. This action wedged it between the spindle and rim. Because the rim was over tightened the studs snapped and the wheel was slung into oncoming traffic going through the windshield of a young couple killing them and leaving their baby an orphan. Your left front missing the wheel catches a raised area of concrete. This catapults your vehicle end over end. The semi behind you can’t get stopped. Rather than flattening your vehicle he steers to the right and goes over a cliff. His truck plummets over a thousand feet to the bottom. There is nothing left of the truck. It disintegrated on impact. No worries – You are fine Your air bags deployed and kept you from harm's way ...

So you decide ....

It seems like a lot of people here don't quite understand what learning disabilities are. Here's some accurate information: https://ldaamerica.org.

This is tough for a couple of reasons. Helping is relative. If you help him and provide a safety net for him, he will succeed in your charge, but what happens when you leave or he PCS'es? If he is already an E5, next he will be competitive for E6. Does he have that potential? Will he be set up for failure at the next professional development school (lost track between ALC and SLC etc)? Are you helping if you have propelled him to a point where he now has to do what you are doing? I trust you to sort that out as you see the guy every day. You may need help in assessing his abilities with someone with that expertise and training from the medical realm.

You are doing right by the guy by not writing him off. In the short term, he is your soldier and you must do what every good leader does: figure out where he is strong and accentuate those strengths through assignments, duties and missions. Figure out where he is weak, and mitigate those weaknesses through training, education, individual development ( know that he owns a piece of this too) , and building experiences where he may have to fail to learn.

All bets are off If you feel his skills, attributes, and shortcomings are going to get him or other soldiers killed or injured. Has he ever been evaluated by a professional and given some course of treatment?

This is why people get out; too many people who have no business being in a leadership position being promoted just to lead by bad example and set their soldiers up for failure.