What do you think about the new promotion study guide?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:15:00 -0500

In my unit we started to use the new Army Doctrine 2015 for the promotion and NCO/Soldier of the the month board.

Response by SFC James Baber made Dec 16 at 2013 9:32 PM

SFC James Baber — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 21:32:19 -0500

It is along the same lines as regular changes that come along every 5-10 years, it will need to work through the kinks, but from what I have heard and the minimal I have read and seen, I think it will be very beneficial for most. I applaud your unit for putting early implementation of it into effect as of now, it gives them a good jumpstart, especially with the looming cuts coming down the pipe that may affect the utilization of many of the tools within.

Thanks for sharing and good luck to you and your soldiers in the current usage.

Response by CSM Mike Maynard made Dec 18 at 2013 3:51 AM

CSM Mike Maynard — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 03:51:16 -0500

I'm assuming your talking about the "The Doctrine 2015 Army Study Guide"?

While we have been encouraged to "convert" our semi-centralized board questions that we used to derive from the old FMs to the new ADP/ADRPs, this document was not intended to be a "Promotion" study guide.

There is a lot of great information that will give Soldiers an overview of some of the more critical information in the new doctrine to know, but again, not intended for "board" purposes.

The ability of Soldiers to memorize study guides is not a good indicator of their ability to train and take of Soldiers as NCOs. Situational based questions are much better tools to assess critical thinking and to determine whether someone is already thinking like an NCO.

Now, for competition boards, I would probably utilize the study guide to gauge knowledge as that is what we're trying to determine from a competition board.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2013 7:16 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 07:16:04 -0500

This is copied from the "NCO Journal" from May 2013, submitted by SMA Chandler:
By SGT. MAJ. OF THE ARMY RAYMOND F. CHANDLER III
14th Sergeant Major of the Army

“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” —John F. Kennedy

Leaders,

NCO leaders from across our Army must change their semicentralized board procedures to include updated initiatives from across our Army. With recent changes to Army doctrine, the release of Doctrine 2015 and a renewed emphasis on our Army profession, questions should be asked from these manuals and not from on-line study guides which include outdated information.

Sgt. Kevin Mulloy stands at the start of his appearance before a board comprising Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III (fourth from left) as its president and the seniormost command sergeants major from throughout the Army during the 2012 Department of the Army Best Warrior Competition at Fort Lee, Va., in October 2012. (Photo by Michael L. Lewis)
You can find these Doctrine 2015 manuals on the Combined Arms Center’s website located at http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/MCCOE/ Doctrine2015Tables.asp. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno has stated that Doctrine 2015 is our way to directly shape what the doctrine process of the future will look like. These changes recognize and address the evolving operational environment and technological advances that impact how we collect, display and disseminate information.

Additionally, ADP/ADRP 7.0 and the Army Training Network drive expectations in regards to unit training management and our NCO role in respect to training individuals, crews and small teams. These documents can also be found on the above-mentioned website.

“America’s Army – Our Profession” information and training materials can be found at http://cape.army.mil/aaop/.

I ask for your assistance in immediately changing your Board Memorandums of Instruction to reflect these recent changes in our Army. Your Soldiers, leaders, organizations and our Army will benefit from attention to this requirement.

— SMA

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2013 7:25 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 07:25:25 -0500

As CSM Maynard stated, it's not necessarily a study guide. Situational Questions give a better assessment of a Soldier's/NCO's potential as it causes them to explain and apply the knowledge, rather than spouting off an AR number and giving a robot answer.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Dec 18 at 2013 7:50 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:50:17 -0500

I'm surprised it hasn't trickled down faster than it has... We've been working on ALM 2015 implementation here at the schoolhouses for years...

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2013 8:08 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 20:08:31 -0500

SGT Abril-Rivera, I like the new guide for its streamlined structure and ease of use. I also downloaded the Android version of the Army ADRP Study Guide v1.2 by Mikethe40. The flash cards in that app are a great supplement to the actual PDFs and help keep my study sessions interesting. It's free on the Play store and I highly reco it.

Response by CSM Stuart C. O'Black made Dec 18 at 2013 10:07 PM

CSM Stuart C. O'Black — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 22:07:58 -0500

I think it is important to understand Doctrine, I seen a lot of post what a board should asses but the Army has doctrine on how a promotion board should be conducted and a lot of Senior NCOs have never read it. While some may feel it is outdated it is still the regulation for promotion boards. Soldier of the Month and NCO of the Month are locally produced study guides and board procedures. So while it is important to integrate guidance it is just as important to execute development of our NCO Corps.

With that being said we do not do enough professional reading and development on the enlisted side so if you don't incorporate new doctrine, and understand Soldier thinking processes how are we developing our next generation of leaders?

The purpose of the board is to test the Soldiers/NCOs knowledge on a broad range or subjects we expect our new leaders to understand. Not to regurgitate or memorize an answer but to be able to have a broad understanding of the Army to better help their Soldiers.

So bottom line is we need a base knowledge we expect our Soldier and NOCs to understand - leave that to the promotion board. For the SOM/NCOM take it to the next level to apply and understand that knowledge.