Should we as Squad Leaders require our Soldiers to have "mandatory reads?"

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 00:31:20 -0400

Soldiers in my squad, upon reception, are counseled and issued a list of books to read. I have among the Infantry Community been praised and have been scoffed at. The basic is should we as leader require our Soldiers to read books such as; "Gates of Fire," "Lone Survivor," and "House to House." I believe personally hell yes because it gives a history lesson and shows them what they should look for in a leader.

Response by 1SG Steven Stankovich made Mar 23 at 2014 5:16 AM

1SG Steven Stankovich — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 05:16:29 -0400

Reading lists serve a very good purpose. Many of those books listed are either written by leaders or by subject matter experts in a given field discussing a relevant topic to our services. A good course of action is tasking your Soldiers to read one book each and then have then present a NCODP class on it to the rest of the squad. In this case, each Soldier will develop the time management skills to accomplish multiple tasks and also develop the research skills necessary to plan, resource and execute a block of instruction.

Response by SSG Zachery Mitchell made Mar 23 at 2014 6:07 AM

SSG Zachery Mitchell — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 06:07:20 -0400

I don't make my guys read anything. I will provide them with the tools they need to succeed and show them where they can find the material if they choose to read it. I enjoy reading and have thousands of books on my kindle. Obviously they're not all military books but I do have plenty of them as well. Here is a link that may be helpful:

http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/105/105-1-1/

TheThe U.S. Army Chief of Staff's Professional Reading List | Center of Military History

The U.S. Army Chief of Staff's Professional Reading List

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2014 6:40 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 06:40:04 -0400

I never gave them a reading list as a Squad Leader but I did take them to the PX and point out some very good books on Career Progression, and how to get promoted. Alot of great stuff out there but you don't know what you don't know.

Response by SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2014 9:28 AM

SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:28:07 -0400

SGT

Isn't part of being a leader being proactive and doing those things on your own, long before you are told to something? Let them decide whether they want to live by the minimums or stand out for professionalism. Recommendations are great, mandatory reading that isn't already part of the Army is not.

Response by SSG Genaro Negrete made May 1 at 2014 10:18 AM

SSG Genaro Negrete — Thu, 01 May 2014 10:18:17 -0400

I fully agree with a reading list. It forces that hamster upstairs to start running on that wheel. How do you bring it all home after each reading assignment? Group discussion?

This will also help young soldiers with their vocabulary and strengthen their ability to string two sentences together. They'll thank you when it comes time to write counselings, awards, and NCOERs.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 4 at 2014 1:31 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 04 May 2014 01:31:46 -0400

We can make suggestions...we can recommend...personally I do recommend career progression and military advantage books to soldiers. I do it because I got a good number of the information that I know now from reading them myself. Unfortunately not many of our young soldiers have read a single book after their high school graduation. Those soldiers see reading as a very tiring job. That is why I recommend just the books that will help them take care of their own career progression. The NCO can only do so much. I usually tell soldiers that the way we separate ourselves from the rest is what we do on our own after 1700 to 0600 the following day. In between those hours, the progress minded SM will do the things that needs to be done while others play video games and just 'chill'. That is why I say, we can only suggest or recommend because there are limits to how far we can go to 'spoon feed' the soldiers. They need to work some of them on their own; that is if they care about their careers.

Response by SGT Richard H. made Jul 31 at 2014 10:24 AM

SGT Richard H. — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 10:24:31 -0400

I never gave a reading list, however I also don't think its a bad idea....that said, if I told you that we are doing Land Nave training on Wednesday, you had better be able to give me some book answers from FM 3-25 come Wednesday.