Trouble with a junior enlisted soldier. Any advice?

Sit him down face-to-face and counsel him on your expectations. It is important to ask his expectations of you also. Be understanding but firm and let him know consequences of ignoring future communications. You may want to talk to your platoon sergeant ahead of time and give him a heads up also. That way, if the Soldier claims you are picking on him you PSG will already be aware of the situation. After the counseling, do not be afraid to write him, assign extra duty, etc.

I see a lot of responses that recommend counseling (initial or otherwise). Clearly, I am not an NCO, nor have I held a position where I have needed to be responsible for others.(yet) However, speaking as a lower enlisted that had a great relationship with my NCOIC I can tell you how he earned my respect. Rather than just doing formal counseling we sat down and had a conversation. About who I was, where I came from, personal and professional goals. Counseling are great for the soldier that is squared away. But for some, it may take a deeper connection. Maybe there is an underlying issue he needs help dealing with. The more you learn about that soldier the more change you will be able to see and/or get out of them. My personal opinion.

Welcome to the NCO Corps SGT. Every unit in the military has that guy (or that gal) :)
This is what your NCO chain of support is for, there should be plenty of NCOs in your unit who have some sort of experience with this individual.

But as a starter - sit that Soldier down for a nice counseling session, and explain what your expectations are, and what the repercussion are if they're not met.

3 words : Smoke. His. Balls!

You should be seeking mentorship from the first SNCO in your NCO support channel.

Make your that you are keeping "written" documentation of this Soldier's transgressions. If you don't and this issue turns into a UCMJ issue than you will be the one that has explaining to do.

Words that should have to be uttered by a leader; "I'm a NCO" and "I'm having issues with a Soldier". While this isn't not meant to be a knock against you since you are still learning as a newly promoted NCO; just remember, you are the leader; the PV2 is your subordinate.

There is no doubt that Soldiers will test you and your leadership no matter what and the advice you got on here already is great. I echo was MAJ (Join to see) said; sit the Soldier down. Document exactly what is expected of the Soldier on a 4856. Outline things such as the importance of acknowledging messages sent including text messages and emails. Ensure you express what sort of issues the Service Member will face if he continues to not check in or acknowledge the messages. Get the paperwork started; this will protect you as the NCO and the Soldier. It will remove any doubt and will ensure that you have written proof that the Service Member was instructed and understands those instructions.

If the behavior continues, you continue to fill out the 4856s and if things get to bad, take the packet through your NCO Support Channel for recommendation of actions.

OK, I'll probably get some heat but everyone is talking Step 1. The objective is to see if this soldier can be an effective team player without wasting too much organizational resources getting there. You are a new NCO with a problem that you'll see again and the service sees every day. You better have a mentor (not in your direct chain) bringing you along and the next two up from you had better know about that soldier and be able to help and grow you in the process. If not, they aren't doing their job. Use your CoC to come up with a plan.

Make sure there isn't a hidden thing going on like family death, divorce, etc. that is driving the behavior. If nothing external, you're likely dealing with a poor person/job fit, but don't know if reasonable changes will make it work out. That's what the plan is for.

BTW, the Plan probably 90% exists. It's the result of how the Skipper wants to run the organization, what authorities are delegated, expectations of behavior, etc. Commands have dealt this this all the time and shouldn't be reinventing the wheel. The SEL should have it in the hip pocket. I was BIG on that in my CO jobs. The 10% left over is to customize for the particular situation.

You need Expectations and a Plan for when expectations are not met by anyone.

Step 1. Get the soldier in a box. Everyone seems on board. Make sure the expectations are the same you have for everyone and they have been communicated, to everyone together. They should be in line with what your bosses want from you and themselves. Review them, adjust, and then broadcast. You don't want to become the "problem" in trying to solve one.

Step 2. Work out with your CoC what responses will be supported when there are misfires. Concurrent with that, you should get schooled up on administrative procedures with the potential end point of separation. Too many times everything freezes with the "now what?". When a plan is developed, your seniors should tip off the Senior Enlisted Advisor about the good work the junior leaders are doing to help bring a soldier along. Nothing like a blow up catching the Skipper and SEL off guard. The SEL will weigh in on what point the Come to Jesus meeting will occur and when she/he will do it.

Step 3. Communicate the "improvement plan" to the soldier explaining what the consequences of improper behavior are and that the soldier essentially makes the decision on punishments. It's the "If-Then". Make sure the soldier also has some carrots in that proper behavior opens things up and how life is better being part of the team. That's important because when someone is in hack, the world seems confining and there's no way out.

Step 3. CoC implements with conviction. If a proper plan, everyone else will also benefit by seeing the results and grow confidence in the CoC. Catch the soldier doing a good thing and reinforce that. You should be doing that to everyone all the time anyways.

A few style points.

Praise publicly and chastise privately. All a public chewing out does is shame and drive people the wrong way and demonstrate it's about your ego. This rule goes away when bullets are flying because you don't have time to pause the incoming rounds looking for the touchy-feely solution.

Make time to sit down with the soldier on a regular basis to discuss progress. If you care, act it.

Identify the jumping off points wherein your seniors step in. If that happens, don't beat yourself up as a failure. Faithful implementation of the plan is what you're responsible for. The plan did include what work the seniors will encounter and they should be prepared to support you.

The SEL will get involved at some point. The Enlisted Community has a strong incentive to keep things in house. That's what NCO's do. NCO's hate it when some Junior Officer jumps in typically knowing far less, being less capable than you, and invariably making the problem worse. The SEL will make sure to get the word out to "hands off" and this is the point you're needed sir/ma'am. Junior Officers out there, listen up. Always rely on the strength of the NCO community and learn from it. There are points where you make a huge difference. Learn them and execute properly.

Be prepared to move on when the system fails. Back in O-4 days had a problem E-8 that I did all the "right" things on which resulted with a "you're going nowhere eval" signed by the Skipper and then the Skipper and SEL whimped out when the E-8 went into whine mode. I had to force myself not to play all the mental what if games. Of course no plan is perfect. You just have to focus on doing the right thing and that even so, sometime things don't work out. You'll gain experience that will help you encourage the system to do better next time.

It's OK if the plan results in separation. Remember the not too much resources piece of the objective. There are many other productive things your energy can go to.

Finally, CONGRATS on your joining the NCO community. You can be proud of you achievement. Bonus points if you're humbled by the promotion. The world always expands with each step up. You'll make mistakes but if your heart and energy is in the right place, you'll do fine.

Service in the Armed Forces is a privilege. If you can turn your young Troop around, that is preferable. If not, pursue progressive discipline. If that does not work, begin separation actions. Discuss his case with peer NCOs and senior NCOs. They may have experienced similar circumstances and may have a achieved equitable results. Good luck workign this out. Unfortunately, this will not be the only time you will have this challenge in your career.

All the time. Find out if he has any at home issues and go from there. If not, get to know him a little better, and find out what kind of growing up life he had. Last, make him painfully aware of his duties to you and yours to him