Courtesy Story appearing in the 310th ESC 1st Quarter 2016 Newsletter
by: CW4 James E. Savage
CCWO, 310th ESC
INDIANAPOLIS - During the March Battle Training Assembly here at the 310th ESC at Ft. Ben. Harrison, the warrant officers assigned to the headquarters met with Brig. Gen. Vincent B. Barker, the commanding general of the 310th ESC, to introduce ourselves to him and brief him on our job specialties. The group reflected the years of experience of the 310th ESC warrant officer corps and the incredible variation in terms of service for our warrant officers, but one thing that was immediately apparent to me was that we need new blood in our ranks.
We are now at a junction in the Warrant Officer Corps that is critical to our survival strength, and we need your help. I ask you this with the understanding that some of our MOS’s are at maximum numerical strength in personnel, and some of us may not reach promotion to CW5 as a result, but I also ask that you consider the long term effect of strength deficiencies in our junior ranks and the result of these deficiencies in the increasingly challenging environment of the modern Army.
We cannot depend on Army Reserve Careers Division to do this for us. In 12 years of using the same recruiting philosophy we have not gained or maintained our Warrant Officer strength. The answer to this challenge is that we must self-recruit from within our command.
We, as warrant officers, must invest the time to recruit to fill our critical shortages. We must identify potential candidates. We must target technically proficient and talented NCO’s in their formations for recruiting. We must counsel these Soldiers into considering the warrant officer program.
Communication is also the answer. Once we have identified a prospective candidate, we must maintain contact with them. Even if they don’t initially meet minimum requirements, we must coach, mentor, and ASSIST them in becoming qualified; we need to grow our future warrant officers to build leadership for the future through mentoring our future warrant officer corps.
The incentives and positions are there for our Soldiers. The U.S. Army Recruiting Command has mandated a quota for over 900 warrant officer board packets in FY16, and they have asked the Army Reserve to provide 420 of those packets for the USAR warrant officer mission. New warrant officers are eligible for either a $20,000 bonus, or $30,000 in Student Loan Repayment once they are fully qualified. There is no reason that our qualified NCO’s do not have the information needed to apply for these positions, and there is no reason why we, as leaders, cannot recruit these great Soldiers to the Warrant Officer Corps.
I am privileged to serve with an exceptional group of warrant officer Soldiers, and I am confident that through teamwork and leadership we will enable real change to the challenges and obstacles we face this coming year. If any of you need help or guidance with bringing an NCO into the fold do not hesitate to contact me.
CW4 Savage, James E.
310TH Acting CCWO
O: 317-377-2145
C: 513-518-4157
James.e.savage.mil@mail.mil
Date Taken: | 04.06.2016 |
Date Posted: | 04.06.2016 15:44 |
Story ID: | 194577 |
Location: | INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US |
Hometown: | LAWRENCE, IN, US |
Web Views: | 73 |
Downloads: | 1 |
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