Posted on Aug 3, 2020
Is it difficult for junior enlisted in the Army to access career counselors, financial specialists, admin personnel, etc.?
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I've noticed a lot of currently serving military members asking questions on RP that should have been taken to their chain of command or a specialty office - or simply looked up in a regulation. While they are not the only ones, members of the Army seem to be much more prevalent than the other branches. I'm just curious as to whether or not this is part of a cultural difference between the different branches.
Branch
Soldiers
Army Regulations
Junior Enlisted
Mentorship
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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I cannot speak for other branches, but typically in the Army if a junior soldier needs information from outside sources, like Human Resources, career counselors, etc, they usually have to go through their first line supervisors. This is to ensure you don’t have 100 privates a day going to S1 to get HR information when it’s very possible that the experience of the chain of command could have gotten it faster based off of their prior knowledge. Asking on here is more of a sense of community and not a lack of trust in leadership. I enjoy getting on here and asking questions because I get to learn different types of leadership compared to what I’m use to.
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I do not think it's a cultural difference. Sometimes it's just quite her and more convenient to ask a question and seek advice on a social media platform rather than head to a career counselor at first. However, to answer your question, junior are more than welcome to head to their career counselors office as well.
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Eh. As long as the soldier gets the answer my ego isn’t damaged if they get it from someone else. If it’s something that is clearly a chain of command issue, like “why do I have to pull staff duty” well...go pound sand kid.
If it’s “where can I find policy on xxx” we’re just a snarkier version of google for them to use.
If it’s “where can I find policy on xxx” we’re just a snarkier version of google for them to use.
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TSgt Carl Johnson thank you. At its best this website is a place to find different perspectives. Sometimes they’re crap perspectives but you can learn from those too.
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1. Joe is not asking the right question or does not know the right terminology for the issue.
2. Joe's first line doesn't know what they are talking about with that particular topic either and doesn't check, follow up, or pass the issue up.
3. The unit previously didn't have female soldiers and now has to learn about pregnancy, pregnancy profiles, parental chapters, and family care plans.
4. The first line confidently tells the soldier the wrong answer, Joe goes on his way thinking he's good.
5. The problem straddles 2 or more regulations/policies and neither Joe, nor his first line, and possibly subsequent leaders know how to deconflict it.
6. Joe suffers in silence because they don't want to "get in trouble" for things that may even be a basic entitlement.
7. Joe goes to say Finance, dutifully submits the right documents and then Finance goons it up. It often takes full months to see if the last thing worked. This even transcends rank. I had a 6 month BAH change running gun battle that ended with finance getting investigated.
8. Joe and his unit submit "paperwork", but no one knows what they submitted or why. Forms and personnel actions matter. Throwing a random 4187 at something doesn't always fix it. Especially if a 4187 is not what you need to submit.
These are by far 90% of RallyPoint questions, but probably represent less than 10% of total issues.