fice and place him in a line company, and his learning curve is steep.
Experience shows a staggering
difference in leadership requirements for NCOs and officers at the
platoon and company levels when
compared to an S–1 or G–1 shop.
S–1 shops are not required to run
a comprehensive maintenance program, maintain a property book, or
understand the nuances of supply
discipline, and they are not required
to manage more Soldiers than what
amounts to a regular squad.
The list of comparisons can go on,
but the crux of our current dilemma
is that AG Soldiers are not required
to build unit-level training plans
to support a mission essential task
list (METL), and platoon leaders
do not understand how to train to
support the company METL. If our
AG leaders do not fully understand
how to train their formations, what
can a sustainment brigade do?
This highlights the need for AG
leaders not only to read Field Manual 1–0, Human Resources, but
also to learn to properly plan, execute, and evaluate HR training in
accordance with Army Doctrine
Publication 7–0, Training Units and
Developing Leaders.
In that vein, where is our mission
training plan for an HR company,
and what does an HR platoon or
company training and evaluation
program look like? Who within the
battalion or brigade evaluates them?
Is it the human resources operations
branches? Perhaps, but have they
been properly prepared to train HR
leaders? Not likely, given the way
they are currently filled and used in
garrison.
If we think about what we are
asking our Soldiers and the sustainment community to do—certifying
units for combat—it is a daunting task not required of any other
branch in the Army. The danger
is that HR becomes irrelevant in
the sustainment community where
higher commanders are willing to
assume risk. Much like a catcher in
baseball, it i