You are in charge, what changes would you make in your service?

2014-06-05T18:09:42-04:00

I have always disliked being in reactive mode and trying to adapt, or make the best, of some change coming down from above. So lets take a second and try to be proactive and consider changes you would make if you were in charge, or had the ear of our military leadership, what would you do to make your service and our military better? Why? I think there are some excellent ideas out there and this could be an excellent conduit to share those ideas?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 5 at 2014 10:01 PM

2014-06-05T22:01:13-04:00

Training. Real training.

Enough of the SHARP, EO, MRT, etc (I agree with this training, but for TPU's these classes can end up eating most of our training time).

Let me get my Soldiers out doing what their MOS entails. For my 12Ns, let them get out and push dirt, build roads, haul dirt, etc. For my 91Bs/Ls, let them actually fix the stuff my 12Ns break.

Give us time to get our Soldiers out performing BWT. Each Soldier should be completely competent in a small, dismounted team. I think one dismounted, BWT-based FTX a year would be amazing.

Get rid of the politics, to some degree. I hate seeing things where politics push past the regulations and permit incompetent Soldiers to continue on their current path without punative measures.

Speed up the S1 channels. They are SLLLLLLOOOOOOWWWWWW. These new tracking systems should help speed things up, but you would think paper packets where still being sent via wagon train.

Reinforce the standards. We have become a bit lax. I am not talking about the complete garrison mentallity, but really look at the standard of performance you expect from Soldiers and units. Help develop a plan to get units up to snuff performance wise. The ARFORGEN cycle is supposed to assist with this, but I feel that it is missing a lot of the correct emphasis during Refit, TR1, and TR2.

A uniform that works. Functionality should be key number 1. Camo pattern selection aside. The uniform needs to be durable, functional, and must be a solid quality. The ACUs are attrocious. The velcro wears quickly ( I have noticed in recent ACU batches that the velcro is MUCH worse than what I was issued), the uniform fit is a bit of a miss. They wearout and stain way too easily.

Reinforcement of good Soldiers and good leaders. Some of the best leaders I have seen have not been supported. Some have been hung out to dry for making a tough decision that was based in logic and the information they had at the time. That breeds indecision. We can't afford indecision.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 5 at 2014 10:06 PM

2014-06-05T22:06:08-04:00

Throw away the way the Army does assignments.
Make everything online have commanders and S1s post and Soldiers and leaders apply for jobs and duty locations. The Army can step in and make incentives for locations or positions that do not get enough soldiers to apply. I am a firm believer that when we compete for positions, market influences will get more people in jobs that are a better fit for them so they will be happier and work harder. No system can work better than any system we could come up with.

Response by Sgt Seth Busse made Jun 6 at 2014 10:25 AM

2014-06-06T10:25:24-04:00

If I went back and suddenly was in charge I don't think I would try to be too top down. My worst commands were always top down. That being said I would continually assess command climates and retrain/reassign commanders to align better with intent.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2014 9:58 PM

2014-06-09T21:58:41-04:00

Sir,
#1 - Fix the Army's broken combatives program. Make it more accessible and legitimate method of engaging an adversary.

#2 - Allow individuals who want to leave the military to simply go... Easy as that... Would much rather have someone next to me that ACTUALLY wants to be there.

#3 - More opportunities to train and achieve ASI instead of only allowing select people to attend. (battle staff, EO, etc...)

#4 - Bring back spec ranks

#5 - eliminate up or out policies

#6 - more freedom to choose assignments commensurate with talents

#7 - Limit power point presentation length

#8 - mąkę 1 TRICARE and eliminate region bureaucracy

#9 - Eliminate mandatory barracks/meal deduction impropriety for single soldiers

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2014 10:06 PM

2014-06-09T22:06:15-04:00

The Army is the only service whose enlisted ranks don't make sense. Every service gives a stripe / rocker / crossed rifle for every rank earned. The Army is the only service that does not do that. See picture for those who aren't Army.

E-1 - nothing
E-2 - Here, have a stripe.
E-3 - Now, let me get you a rocker.
E-4 - Take it all back, you get this fancy shield or
Let me take back that rocker, now you have two stripes (this option is not that common).
E-5 - I'll be taking that shield from you now and giving you back your stripe and adding two.
(If you were a CPL) I'll just be adding one stripe.
E-6 on up - it all makes sense because now we join our sister services in building on adding rockers.

Always bothered me. I wish someone would of thought this out when they were designing Army enlisted ranks.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2014 7:24 PM

2014-06-18T19:24:02-04:00

The Guard, especially the AGR system needs to be revamped. With the Guard being a State entity, there is not much for someone to move around. It also creates politics. Whose buddy with who or whose related to who. NGB should do an audit on each State every 3 yrs. Those that are sitting in spots such as CSM for an "X" amount of time, should be made to retired, this way it will allow for upward mobility. My wife has been an E-7 since 2007, the only thing keeping her from promotion is a spot. The 8s and 9s in the state who have over 20 yrs TIS need to go. I just made my 7 in 2011 and (yes my wife is older than me) and if I get my 8 before her, and I have a better chance since I am TDG (Traditional Drilling Guardsman) She is going to be PIIIISSSED!

Response by AN Donald Miller made Jun 17 at 2017 7:24 AM

2017-06-17T07:24:01-04:00

No taxes for service members. Improvement in VA health care system.