If you were a branches top officer/enlisted memeber what changes to admin policy would you see to implement?

LTJG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 11:48:24 -0400

We all see changes come down from above on policy, uniform, Forbes, etc. what would you try to see implemented for moral, retention, better war fighting capability, etc? COL Mikel J. Burroughs

Response by LCDR Joshua Gillespie made Jun 4 at 2019 12:23 PM

LCDR Joshua Gillespie — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 12:23:31 -0400

That, Mr. Shadow (great handle, by the way), is a very open-ended question.

For starters, I'd like to see a more proactive and long-range career planning focus for both officers and enlisted. Recruit to meet current needs, retain to meet the future...we seem to try and do the reverse, with noticeable difficulties arising.

Second, focus on warfighting first, everything else, second. In my humble opinion, we have far too many areas of focus, from administrative, to regulatory...that detract from training to do our operational core competencies.

Third, make the National Guard what it was supposed to be, instead of what it is currently. We need to recruit new people into AD, and recruit older personnel into the Guard. Why? Because the Guard's focus should be doing the defense/ disaster response job here at home. It should be "full-time", mostly, paid well, and treated as a true separate component. It would cost a deal of money...everything costs money.

Response by MSG Frank Kapaun made Jun 4 at 2019 12:33 PM

MSG Frank Kapaun — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 12:33:05 -0400

I would do everything within my power to get rid of the ranks of SPC and CSM. If you are ready to become an E4, the you are ready to become a junior NCO. Plain and simple. Too many E4s hide behind the SPC rank and shirk responsibilities. As for the rank of CSM, it is IMHO the most useless rank in the entire army. The rank of CSM has morphed into the habitat of a group of mostly useless bullies, that spend more time worrying about their career and next assignment than about the troops. Most CSMs stay around way too long and outlive their usefulness.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Jun 4 at 2019 1:54 PM

SSG Brian G. — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 13:54:48 -0400

A realignment of the Army as a whole. Adopt a bit of the Marine Corps philosophy of "every Marine is a Rifleman first" mentality. Make Infantry Basic as the basic standard. Do away entirely with the 50% scoring on APFT in Basic. You score at the Army standard the moment you start training.

Do away with certain MOS and instead have them entirely at the unit level. Example being Administrative/Clerical MOS, 88M and so forth.

Recruits come into Active Duty, then after AD for 4 years they can go Reserve or National Guard.

Re-align the ranks for enlisted. Do away with the whole two three ranks of private. E-1 is Private, E-2 is PFC, E-3 is Spc, E-4 is corporal and so forth. MAKE all E-4's be junior NCO's

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 4 at 2019 3:27 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 15:27:46 -0400

I would increase time on station instead of the numerous PCSs.

Response by SPC Steven Nihipali made Jun 4 at 2019 7:01 PM

SPC Steven Nihipali — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:01:50 -0400

I'd make every able man a front line... no more of these desk jockeys like my fucking ops room earning bronze stars or anything else when fuckers leaving the wire were the ones getting shot at, blown up and doing all the "grunt work". I'd then submit that every willing man (yes man, in mankind) who wanted to serve but cannot physically do that job, be able to serve in a desk job or pilot something.

Response by LTC Stephan Porter made Jun 5 at 2019 4:51 AM

LTC Stephan Porter — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 04:51:21 -0400

Add transition information (how to prepare fir, why leaders need to give time to it, etc) to all leadership schools/venues!

Response by MCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 5 at 2019 8:50 AM

MCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 08:50:07 -0400

Disclaimer: This is my "perfect world" list. I love the CG, but if I were king for a tour...
Require PFT for all. Add points for higher scores. Stop awarding advancement points for awards and performance review multiples. Lose the "O" device on CG awards. Revamp the weight program to include PFT and DA photo for waiver submissions. Everyone qualifies on the PDW. Allow military member to "price shop" for travel. If you beat ADTRAV, you get travel points (whatever) and the taxpayer saves money. Either no beards or all beards. The list goes on...

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2019 9:16 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:16:53 -0400

Where to begin... 1) move basic to more of a marine corps model. All soldiers are infantry men. 2) get rid of the SPC rank. 3) If you can grow a beard congrats you can keep it. 4) implement advancement exams to promote, allow peer evaluation for promotion but do not fully adopt the Navy’s system, blend the Army’s with the Navy’s. 5) I have a lot of thoughts on the medical Corps, which could be a post of its own. 6) create a soldier centered system for active duty to volunteer for deployments. (It’s freaking hard getting on a deployment) 7) single digital platform for S1. No more going to six different sites to update one thing. 8) implement athletic trainers at the battalion level. 9) Grow human performance MOS’ (nutrition, fitness training, self-care) —we can still stack bodies while reaching inner peace. 10) Make continuing education required for professional career advancement, and offer enlisted continuing education opportunities like officers, where they can just go to school.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Aug 24 at 2019 3:57 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 15:57:50 -0400

LTJG Private RallyPoint Member Sorry for the late response. I've been backed up with email notifications for a month of Sundays. Great question. Here are a few things I would recommend or change at the top if given the "green light" so to speak.

1. I would stop changing the uniforms so often - this is a big expense for some and waste of tax payers dollars. Come up with the best possible uniform for the field and garrison and stick with it.
2. I would really take a strong look at the APFT requirements for all services and make sure they pass the "common sense" test - this latest one for the Army is a "joke" in my opinion. If they're going to enforce the standards then we will lose soldiers (smart soldiers - not the most physical, but smart). Just my two cents
3. Housing for married couples needs to be fixed across most of the bases, esepcially for lower enlisted. Just my opinion - let's take care of our married soldiers and their families for future retention.
4. Transition needs to be moved to the provate sector and taken away from the services. Make it a mandatory part of ETSing that we send our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guard individuals to a very procative productive transition coruse of at least 30 to 60 days to prepare them for a future.
5. More intrgration of reserve, natioinal guard, and active components in training to fight our next war. Don't wait until we mobilize them to intergrate them. One force, One Fight.
6. Continue to improve the pay system for our men and women that raise their right hand and take an oath to fight and die for this nation (whether it's in combat, or training in garrison - this is a dangerous business) and less than 3% of this nation volunteers for this business. We take care of government employees - let's get pay in line with today's cost of living - period.
7. More combined joint forces training at all levels as if we were operating in the BOX - across all services for the future.
I have more, but that is enough for now - not everyone will agree, but that is okay - great for discussion Trey. Thanks for including me. I'm going to share with some of the Top Influencers to get their feedback as well, if you don't mind.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Aug 24 at 2019 4:03 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 16:03:01 -0400

That there was a clear line of communication to all departments

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 24 at 2019 4:19 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 16:19:04 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs I think we first attend to our own troops, mentally and physically. We have a lack of empathy with the VA. They should be the first step, including veterans who are homeless and Current Members who really need help with PTSD, etc.

We need VA cops to understand WE are there superiors and empathy would help too. We need to keep our enemies closer. So, VA hospitals need 24/7 help with inhouse VA members who are not watching the clock. Many vets feel no is listening. We need non-emergency people who can come out and just talk. If this saves one life, then it matters.

JUST my 2cents.

Response by SPC Casey Ashfield made Aug 24 at 2019 4:51 PM

SPC Casey Ashfield — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 16:51:38 -0400

Go at least a generation without a uniform change. Looking at you Army.