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  1. #1
    Council Member Ender's Avatar
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    Mar 2007
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    Default "Adopt a Marine"

    I have been kicking over a concept recently and wanted to float it here. The catalyst for my idea is that many historical military cultures I have studied had some form of (outright or culturally subtler) mentoring program that enabled the junior soldier to directly learn from the senior, more experienced soldier.

    My idea is that a program is instituted by where, as a form of PME or some other incentive, (for both junior and senior ranks) SNCOs and senior officers are encouraged to "adopt" a junior Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine. (E-4+/NCO+ makes sense to me from a career development standpoint) SNCO's take NCO's under their wing and senior officers take junior officers. "Adoptions" have to be between service members who are not in the same unit (or at least the same direct chain of command) but who are both in parallel fields. The senior service member is responsible for mentoring and aiding in the development of the younger one, both professionally and personally but are still far enough removed from the chain to maintain order and prevent fraternization. What I am envisioning is nowhere near as touchie feelie as it is sounding here and would ask senior warriors to plan, prepare and teach modules based off their own knowledge set or experiences. The plan and prepare part would include using things such as Photoshop to put visuals together, Powerpoint to present lectures, and various Word programs to communicate concepts. Sergeants Major can approve or in effect "grade" programs from their E-6+ population and I am sure there are some Colonels and General grade officers who would love to see what their staffs put together for the junior officers. I know we have SNCO's who are NOT that hot on the computer and this would give them a huge incentive to improve on their communications skills and give them even more experience for the civilian sector when they retire.

    I understand that there is a huge disparity between the number or E-9's we have in comparison to E-4's and similarly 0-9's to 0-2's but this would not be a program for everyone. For those who are inclined to teach, teach and those who really want to learn will. There could be a standard that quantifies and qualifies the mentor-ship and incentives for promotion or pay can be offered accordingly.

    The end state, as I see it is that we obviously end up with more knowledgeable, more professional NCO's who feel accountable for their development and will not need to reinvent the wheel throughout their 20 but also that some of the innate tricks the younger set has might rub off on the those who really do know the art of waging war. In the end I think it would be a very fair trade.

    Thoughts from higher?
    Last edited by Ender; 04-05-2007 at 02:58 AM.

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