What are some things the Army does regularly that you believe serve no true benefit to the Soldiers or organization? What is your solution?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 12:06:45 -0500

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2017 12:34 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 12:34:00 -0500

SSD is one.. Promoting people with a 300 PT score and an 80 IQ...

Eliminate SSD and reintroduce those things into the actual leadership course.

Promote based off of merit and knowledge. I'd be perfectly ok with having to take a written and practical test in order to advance.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Mar 1 at 2017 12:58 PM

SGM Erik Marquez — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 12:58:40 -0500

The problem is, most everything you or others are going to list, are going to be personality based things, not regulatory things.
And for every commander or CSM that "does that" others will not..so its hard to rid the ARMY of a problem that only exists in the minds of some.

I can think of lots of personalty based things in the "Army" that fit your intent, but not really one that is policy or regulation based which could be addressed across the service..

One kind of that fits......How about the Armys steadfast refusal to create a TO& E duty position that is vital and required to be filled.. The Company level orderly room clerk.
We are forced to fill this position with a troop assigned to the unit for other duties..a troop that has no formal training, and a troop that is LOOSING perishable skills every day they serve in a non MOS role. It does not benefit the SM, though it does benefit the unit at the same time hurts them.

Response by CSM Thomas McGarry made Mar 1 at 2017 2:27 PM

CSM Thomas McGarry — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 14:27:14 -0500

How about all the required mandatory classes that take away from MOS and other training. I retired in 2014 but we had at that time mandatory consideration of others training, EO training and others. Don't get me wrong this training was worthwhile but in a Reserve Unit where you meet two days a month in general and you put together a training schedule based on that time constraint and then the Command comes down with mandatory training that needs to be completed in a certain timeframe it can get crazy!!

Response by SPC Joseph Ahner made Mar 1 at 2017 6:54 PM

SPC Joseph Ahner — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:54:56 -0500

The entire Army promotion system fails to benefit the organization. The board system is useless. What do you even see except uniform appearance and how well the guy can memorize lines that he will likely forget the next day? The point system is also pointless as all it tells you is where the soldier has been. In order to determine whether or not a soldier has leadership potential you must get inside his head and find out how he makes decisions. What does the soldier bring to the organization? How does he behave toward his subordinates? How does the soldier perform under stress? If you cannot answer these questions properly you will inevitably have a large number of unqualified personnel in leadership positions.

Response by SGT Christopher Hayden made Mar 2 at 2017 12:03 AM

SGT Christopher Hayden — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:03:13 -0500

NTC for units that are "deploying" to Kuwait and Korea. Waste of time, money, and effort just them to sit around doing nothing for 9 months.

Response by SGT Robert Kromminga made Mar 3 at 2017 4:44 PM

SGT Robert Kromminga — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 16:44:17 -0500

Bring back the SQT - Skill qualification test. this test was based on your MOS and rank, in order to get promoted you had to pass the test for the next higher level and it included stuff from each of the lower levels - for example - a skill level 30 should be able to know and do the functions of a level 20 or 10. In other words a E-6 had to be able to do the same functions as an E-1. The test was spilt between written and hands on. it is a individual test not a group thing. I have seen a lot of people simple get promoted because they attended a 2-week leaders course; memorized enough to pass the test, pass the APFT and qual with weapon; but they don't know the tasks of the skill level they are know in charge of teaching to others. The Army needs to overall the promotion system and make it a system of ability, knowledge and performance in the MOS.
I remember 2 quotes from some of the best leaders I have ever had:
1. "Know your job, learn the job above you, teach the job below you."
2. "You have been trained to do a job, do the job.