310th ESC CSM Gwin Comments 1st Qtr, FY17

Photo By Maj. Khoran Lee | Soldiers and families of the 310th, I’ve been in my position a little over 90 days now. In that short time, I’ve been traveling extensively to visit units and Soldiers at training exercises, mobilization stations, and at battle assemblies. At each stop I’ve seen motivated leaders conducting training and taking care of Soldiers. While I’ve seen good things, there are always areas where we can improve. We must ensure that units are planning and conducting creative, challenging, hands-on training that gets Soldiers out of our buildings and prepares them to conduct missions in any environment, from theaters of operation to homeland disaster relief efforts.  

INDIANAPOLIS , IN, UNITED STATES

10.02.2017

Story by Capt. Khoran Lee 

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

Soldiers and families of the 310th,

I’ve been in my position a little over 90 days now. In that short time, I’ve been traveling extensively to visit units and Soldiers at training exercises, mobilization stations, and at battle assemblies. At each stop I’ve seen motivated leaders conducting training and taking care of Soldiers. While I’ve seen good things, there are always areas where we can improve. We must ensure that units are planning and conducting creative, challenging, hands-on training that gets Soldiers out of our buildings and prepares them to conduct missions in any environment, from theaters of operation to homeland disaster relief efforts.

In September, we held a commander’s huddle here at the HQ. The purpose of the event was to bring Brigade / Group, and Battalion command teams and staff together to receive guidance from the Commanding General, talk about critically important events in the near future, and to provide information on the current operating environment. The CG spoke about 3 priorities, they were:

- Readiness (especially medical and dental readiness)
- Training Management
- Leader Development

I’d like to spend some time on each of these topics.

Readiness – Being ready means we can respond when called on to accomplish any mission as required by the nation. It includes the broad areas of manning, equipping, and training. Individual readiness is absolutely critical to readiness as a whole, and is everyone’s responsibility. We spend a great deal of time and effort on medical and dental readiness because these are foundational requirements. Put simply, Soldiers who are not in compliance with annual medical and dental requirements cannot train and deploy with their units. In fact, per USARC policy, Soldiers who are overdue a PHA or dental screening cannot be paid in any status until they have completed appointments to fix their deficiency. I cannot emphasize enough that maintaining your medical and dental readiness is your individual responsibility. Failing to do so is letting yourself down as a Soldier as well as hurting your squad, platoon, and unit, who have to train without you.

Training Management - Training Management is a broad topic, so I’m going to focus on two elements at unit level: training schedules and training meetings. Units must publish training schedules in DTMS and have them approved by higher a minimum of 90 days out from battle assemblies. Once approved, the training schedule should be posted in the center and given to each Soldier. Failing to do this results in Soldiers coming to BA without knowing what the focus of the weekend is, and leaders not being prepared to conduct training. The result is degraded readiness, attendance, and Soldier retention. The training meeting is also critical to successful unit training. It should be conducted monthly and is a discussion of upcoming (30-60-90) training and requirements. It synchronizes efforts and ensures that the leaders have an understanding of planned training.

Leader Development – There’s a lack of understanding regarding Junior NCO (SGT/SSG) promotions, so I’ll spend some time here. We use the STEP model for promotion. STEP stands for Select, Train, Educate, Promote. The first step is selection, usually accomplished by a Soldier putting in a promotion packet and being placed on the Permanent Promotion Recommended List (or PPRL). This should take place before a Soldier is scheduled for the Basic Leader Course (BLC). I’ve heard of Soldiers told they couldn’t put in a promotion packet until they had graduated BLC; this is backwards and incorrect. In FY16 nearly 70% of Soldiers attending BLC were not on the PPRL; also backwards and incorrect. I’ve also been told that Specialists and Sergeants believe that PPRL placement and promotions are ‘automatic’ meaning they have to take no action to be considered. While it is true that Command List Integration (CLI) will eventually place Soldiers on the PPRL, it does so only after 48 months of time in service and 12 months of time in grade for Specialists going to Sergeant, and 84 months of time in service, 12 months of time in grade for SGTs going to SSG. They also receive a minimum number of points and travel distance. Compare this to promotions for Soldiers who take the initiative and put in promotion packets. Soldiers can pin on Sergeant with as little as 18 months time in service, and 6 months time in grade, and Staff Sergeant as quickly as 48 months time in service and 7 months time in grade. What does this mean? It means that the best performers who demonstrate potential and complete the required training and education can make SSG in the same amount of time it takes for CLI to place a SPC on the PPRL for SGT.

Final thought. Communication is key to everything we do. We cannot be successful if leaders are only talking to Soldiers at battle assembly. We’ve all got to make sure that information is making it to all of our Soldiers. Talk to your troops about ready force, blended retirement, and the CGs priorities as listed above.

• Date Taken: 10.02.2017
• Date Posted: 11.24.2017 22:35
• Story ID: 254276
• Location: INDIANAPOLIS , IN, US