Shouldn't Service Members be able to see open assignments for their MOS on AKO and self-request consideration? Doesn't seem very just to Service Members that junior Careerists have to "see where the chips fall" when it affects Family as well... just a thought.

Posted on Mar 15, 2014

Shouldn't Service Members be able to see open assignments for their MOS on AKO and self-request consideration?

SSG (Join to see)

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Doesn't seem very just to Service Members that junior Careerists have to "see where the chips fall" when it affects Family as well... just a thought.

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Edited >1 y ago

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SFC Michael Hasbun

Posted >1 y ago

If we did that, Hawaii would be at 800% strength, and Fort Polk, Fort Drum and Fort Riley would have to be shut down..

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SSG (Join to see)

>1 y

Agreed, SSG, but that wouldn't exactly be a surprise now, would it?  However, my suggestion is not to say that you can only go where you request, but rather, you have a true opportunity to stack yourself amongst others that want to go where you do and give Leaders the chance to select.  If we are competitive for promotion, I believe we should be for assignments too... Still, good point...

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WO1 (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

In addition to ACT, the ability to view and choose requisitions that are available on ASK is a tool that works within 6 months of your 3 year mark on station. I constantly encourage Soldiers that are letting me know that are ready for PCS to use this option. I also let Soldiers know that if they have overseas tours available they need to consider the fact that they might not be able to take their families. I think the only 2 OCONUS tours this applies to right now are Kuwait and Korea. Do I think this is "just"? Well, this goes back to NCOs paying attention to their Soldiers. If a good NCO is paying attention to their Soldiers, the Soldiers wouldn't get into the kind of trouble associated with just "pushing the button" because they would be informed. There are always those Soldiers that you can't get through to and just do whatever they want to do. For the most part an informed and detail oriented first line supervisor will make sure their Soldiers are informed and the Soldier will do the right thing for his/her and their family.

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CSM Michael J. Uhlig

Posted >1 y ago

I encourage my Soldiers to take an active role in their assignments, and I ask them why they want to go to that location as well (many times they are trying to get close to where their families are or closer to where they grew up) - I am fine with that as long as they know the unit they are going to and they are prepared for that mission.

There is a tool available that our Soldiers can use, it is called the ACT and is available from the AKO home page.

I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the tool before showing your Soldiers (believe me, I had to get a class on how to use this resource), you find it from the AKO homepage, go to the far right drop down (believe it is called self service) then go to my training, then go to Army Career Tracker. There is a resource there that shows positions by MOS and grade that are open. Once the Soldier identifies the positions he/she can pursue the assignment as long as it matches with the mission set. Great topic.

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SSG (Join to see)

>1 y

Roger that, CSM... Have been and remain a promoter of ACT... Especially since all NCOs should be educating their Soldiers on any tools which enhance their ability to manage and mentor... I thank you humbly for the response.

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LTC Yinon Weiss

>1 y

I would love to hear if people have had success using ACT, and if there are any ideas on how Rally Point can help complement.

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Shouldn't Service Members be able to see open assignments for their MOS on AKO and self-request consideration?

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