who's listening?

Submitted 10.12.11


I am stationed out of Ft Bliss and work for a unit that does weapons testing. One of the NCOs in the unit who had just come home from a tour in Iraq, and was having some personal troubles reached out for help from the behavior health clinic. After waiting two weeks for his appointment date to arrive he is told 2 hours before his appointment that he has a class to learn about new equipment. This class was one he had already attended and passed. He told his command of the problem and was told to go to the class and tell the instructor he would miss part of it. The soldier ended up going to his appointment missing just 2 of the 9 hours of the class. At the end of the day the soldier was repeatedly scolded for his missing part of the class, written up, and put in for a reduction in rank under UCMJ. Afterwords I overheard a conversation that this NCO was having with one of his soldiers. The soldier asked "Sergeant, doesn't this just basically tell everyone that if you reach out for help at an inconvenient time for the unit you will be punished?" The NCO as professionally as possible said "Yes, but it also shows soldiers that if you know you need help it is ok to ask for it. I hope that you all do what you follow my example and do not let anyone tell you that you can't get help." This NCO is a prime example of fine leadership and also of what can happen to you when your rank does not out match the person you upset.