What exactly does it mean when a Soldier checks the "I disagree with the information above" on a DA 4856?

Exactly as mentioned above. It is written above the boxes. The Soldier chooses whether to agree or disagree with the plan of action and chooses to say why. A Soldier may also request a copy of this counseling for their own records. I have seen Soldiers take their counselings to higher Echelon's via the open door policy or jag. If your plan of action had a time frame and a endstate that will benefit the Soldier in a way that relates to the the infraction you have no worries what he does with it.

CPT (Join to see) Without exhaustively reading the other replies, here's my two cents Ma'am. A DA 4856 is a written paper copy of a spoken conversation. The key points of discussion in part III should include enough room to write key points that are discussed as they are touched on. Not a detailed script of what the counselor is going to verbatim say to the counseled individual. The plan of action should also be a collaborative effort. The counseling is developmental; so how can we expect an individual to develop if we don't include them in making decisions that will affect them.

Therefor, there should be no reason for a counseled individual to check that they do not agree. However, if they do, they are still required to sign. The signature denotes that they affirm the conversation took place. If they disagree with what was written in to the form as the conversation unfolded, they have space to add in comments. The point is that if the counseling is done properly, there should be no reason that box should ever be checked.

Yes Ma'am, they disagree with the plan of action. That's it.. Everything else on the NCOER should be fact and not open for debate. I hope this helps. If not, years ago I found a book at the PX that was like a NCOER for dummies book, ( not that you're a dummy) but it explains stuff like that in plain English.