Friday, December 17, 2004
I Received a Counseling Statement
It was for failing to keep accountability of my M9 pistol - that’s a “gun of the hand” for those of you in Lancaster County. When you lose track of what are called sensitive items - i.e. weapons, radios, weapons sights, binoculars, protective masks - there are two kinds of lost: really lost, and squad leader/ platoon sergeant lost. These NCOs seem to have a sixth sense for finding “unsecured” items and making Soldiers sweat.
After scouring my truck and room, I told my team leader, Reed, and asked him and our driver to look for it. Still nothing. It was then time to tell our squad leader. My team leader told him it was missing and my squad leader said quietly, “I have it.” He took him to his room, gave it to him and said, “You know what you have to do,” which meant I was getting a counseling statement.
It’s not the first time someone has lost track of a weapon. In one case, a platoon sergeant found two M9s in the outhouses within a few minutes of each other. That platoon had to perform an on the spot sensitive item layout. The most serious incident occurred when a Soldier charged with guarding several weapons had four of them removed from under his nose by a colonel AND a sergeant major. This was a serious violation of our first general order (there are only three), “I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.”
And, of course, colonel and sergeant major lost is a whole ‘nother level of lost, but they were nice enough to leave a note. It said, “If you want your weapons back, come and see [us].” Our LT took everyone involved to see the colonel who gave him the weapons and had him see the colonel in our chain of command. As an added barb, when the weapons were returned the Soldiers were told that they were dirty. The LT marched the Soldier over to see our colonel which has been the only time they’ve marched since we’ve been in theatre. The LT got a talking to, but in the end the matter was dropped, I guess because it could not be shown exactly who was guarding the weapons when they were taken.
Counseling statements can be of three types: positive – praising the Soldier, negative – correcting the Soldier, and those of understanding or expected results.
The purpose of my counseling was:
To reiterate to the soldier the importance of maintaining constant security of all of his personal equipment.
To enhance the soldier’s situational awareness.
The counseling surmised what happened:
The soldier left his weapon unsecured for a period of time.
The soldier did not have accountability of his personal equipment.
The soldier did report to his team leader upon realization of missing equipment.
The soldier did take responsibility for his actions.
“The soldier did take responsibility for his actions,” bullet sounds like filler, but you’d be surprised by how many Soldiers don’t. A big problem we’ve had is with the unintentional firing of weapons, called negligent discharges (these used to be called accidental discharges, but the Army, trying stress their seriousness, decided on a name change). Soldiers have claimed that they were not trained on the weapon, they were temporary incapacitation, and that their ammunition was defective.
After the first couple of ADs (they changed the name, but not the acronym), we all had a class on how to clear each weapon. Then a guy who had already had an AD with a pistol had another one with a .50 and claimed he wasn’t trained on the weapon. It didn’t matter that he signed an attendance sheet for the weapons clearing class, they didn’t have a piece of paper stating that the Soldier understood clearing procedures. So, over one hundred counseling statements went out, each Soldier signing a statement that they understood the weapons clearing procedures. Yes, it’s the military, but it’s also one of the biggest bureaucracies in the world.
My counseling outlined a plan for corrective training:
Soldier will report to his team leader at 0700 and one hour after every mission/ movement to show security of his weapons.
Soldier will carry both his personal weapons (M-4 and M-9) with him at all times when not in his living quarters.
This plan will continue for a period of seven (7) days.
I got off pretty easy. That’s because I’d been a squared away Soldier and it was the first time I’d done it. In another case, while I was on leave, my truck was found to be unlocked one night, so the truck commander and the driver had to layout all sensitive items on the truck at 0600 every morning for one week! My squad leader and I were about to go for a run scheduled run and when he saw me with my weapons, he said, “You gotta take your weapons? Oh, that’s right.” We ran two laps around the FOB and I made sure to keep up with him. Fortunately, I had traded my SAW in for an M4. It was also fortunate that Reed saw me on the way in from the run and told me I didn’t have to have my weapons with me when I ran. If you take your licks and don’t bitch about your punishment, your chain of command respects you.
It was for failing to keep accountability of my M9 pistol - that’s a “gun of the hand” for those of you in Lancaster County. When you lose track of what are called sensitive items - i.e. weapons, radios, weapons sights, binoculars, protective masks - there are two kinds of lost: really lost, and squad leader/ platoon sergeant lost. These NCOs seem to have a sixth sense for finding “unsecured” items and making Soldiers sweat.
After scouring my truck and room, I told my team leader, Reed, and asked him and our driver to look for it. Still nothing. It was then time to tell our squad leader. My team leader told him it was missing and my squad leader said quietly, “I have it.” He took him to his room, gave it to him and said, “You know what you have to do,” which meant I was getting a counseling statement.
It’s not the first time someone has lost track of a weapon. In one case, a platoon sergeant found two M9s in the outhouses within a few minutes of each other. That platoon had to perform an on the spot sensitive item layout. The most serious incident occurred when a Soldier charged with guarding several weapons had four of them removed from under his nose by a colonel AND a sergeant major. This was a serious violation of our first general order (there are only three), “I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.”
And, of course, colonel and sergeant major lost is a whole ‘nother level of lost, but they were nice enough to leave a note. It said, “If you want your weapons back, come and see [us].” Our LT took everyone involved to see the colonel who gave him the weapons and had him see the colonel in our chain of command. As an added barb, when the weapons were returned the Soldiers were told that they were dirty. The LT marched the Soldier over to see our colonel which has been the only time they’ve marched since we’ve been in theatre. The LT got a talking to, but in the end the matter was dropped, I guess because it could not be shown exactly who was guarding the weapons when they were taken.
Counseling statements can be of three types: positive – praising the Soldier, negative – correcting the Soldier, and those of understanding or expected results.
The purpose of my counseling was:
To reiterate to the soldier the importance of maintaining constant security of all of his personal equipment.
To enhance the soldier’s situational awareness.
The counseling surmised what happened:
The soldier left his weapon unsecured for a period of time.
The soldier did not have accountability of his personal equipment.
The soldier did report to his team leader upon realization of missing equipment.
The soldier did take responsibility for his actions.
“The soldier did take responsibility for his actions,” bullet sounds like filler, but you’d be surprised by how many Soldiers don’t. A big problem we’ve had is with the unintentional firing of weapons, called negligent discharges (these used to be called accidental discharges, but the Army, trying stress their seriousness, decided on a name change). Soldiers have claimed that they were not trained on the weapon, they were temporary incapacitation, and that their ammunition was defective.
After the first couple of ADs (they changed the name, but not the acronym), we all had a class on how to clear each weapon. Then a guy who had already had an AD with a pistol had another one with a .50 and claimed he wasn’t trained on the weapon. It didn’t matter that he signed an attendance sheet for the weapons clearing class, they didn’t have a piece of paper stating that the Soldier understood clearing procedures. So, over one hundred counseling statements went out, each Soldier signing a statement that they understood the weapons clearing procedures. Yes, it’s the military, but it’s also one of the biggest bureaucracies in the world.
My counseling outlined a plan for corrective training:
Soldier will report to his team leader at 0700 and one hour after every mission/ movement to show security of his weapons.
Soldier will carry both his personal weapons (M-4 and M-9) with him at all times when not in his living quarters.
This plan will continue for a period of seven (7) days.
I got off pretty easy. That’s because I’d been a squared away Soldier and it was the first time I’d done it. In another case, while I was on leave, my truck was found to be unlocked one night, so the truck commander and the driver had to layout all sensitive items on the truck at 0600 every morning for one week! My squad leader and I were about to go for a run scheduled run and when he saw me with my weapons, he said, “You gotta take your weapons? Oh, that’s right.” We ran two laps around the FOB and I made sure to keep up with him. Fortunately, I had traded my SAW in for an M4. It was also fortunate that Reed saw me on the way in from the run and told me I didn’t have to have my weapons with me when I ran. If you take your licks and don’t bitch about your punishment, your chain of command respects you.
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