FORT SILL, Okla. (Feb. 13, 2014) -- Our Army is in a constant state of change. We are becoming smarter, more responsive and better equipped each day. With this change, we have found many successes to include the care for our Soldiers and their families both while at home and deployed. As we all transition to garrison life and away from the train-deploy-fight-redeploy-train cycle, we must look forward for the care of our Soldiers following all the stress and hardship they have endured.
We are responsible for taking care of each and every one of our troops. We support all the numerous support programs the Army has provided our Soldiers, but we need to recognize that the majority of the responsibility falls on the command teams to know that their Soldier's mental and physical well-being is always being monitored and that a climate of trust and respect is established.
Here at the 214th Fires Brigade, we want to make certain everyone is comfortable within their formations. We do not want anyone fearing bringing problems or potential issues to the command teams with worry of consequence. This is why we developed the Leader's Brigade Command Virtual Open Door Policy. Through this policy, Soldiers are given an email address that contacts the brigade commander and command sergeant major.
The author of the email can choose to remain anonymous, ensuring there is absolutely no fear of retribution for their message. The commander or command sergeant major have promised that within 48 hours they will personally respond with their plan to assist the best of their ability.
One of my first thoughts was how often this program will be abused?
Yet, with four months in, we have had no signs of dishonesty. We have received emails from both Soldiers and family members, local and deployed, and have helped them all to their satisfaction.
While not every issue can be fixed, we are proud to say we give our Soldiers the opportunity to alert us of anything they believe we should be aware of. We told our Soldiers we will foster an environment free of sexual assault/sexual harassment and that we will provide leaders who make decisions in the best interest of the Soldier and the unit. If that isn't happening, we want to know.
A few months after starting the virtual open door policy, I asked Soldiers what they thought of it. One replied that it helps express the good and the bad of the unit during the problem rather than waiting for the change of command and discussing it on an annual command climate survey. While useful to the new incoming commander, this is too late to do anything as the outgoing commander is leaving.
A staff sergeant told me he thought the policy was one of the best ideas he's seen in a long time. He discussed how it frustrates everyone when problems are brought up to the lowest level and stay there, never being fixed. This veteran of 12 years mentioned how Soldiers know one bad leader can paralyze the entire platoon and their morale. He suggested the policy be mandatory across the Army, and we agree.
A hot topic this past year has been bullying in the workplace. As a combat arms brigade we are familiar with our fair share of Soldiers giving each other a hard time and taunting one another. But how do we know when it goes too far? Bottling up emotions and being fed up with taunting received national attention last year when Miami Dolphins second year offensive lineman Jonathan Martin left the team to deal with emotional issues apparently brought on by a tormentor.
This story brought attention to workplace culture not just of football's locker rooms, but every profession where there is a group setting. Martin later discussed that he didn't have anyone to talk to, and that as actions became worse, he feared approaching the coaching staff because of possible retribution by players and staff. As a result, he left the team, players were suspended and managers fired, damaging the organization as a whole.
We are trying to ensure this kind of problem isn't able to take place in our brigade. No one will fear retribution as we have every desire to solve a problem before it gets to the point a Soldier wants to leave his or her team.
We are learning from the mistakes of the Dolphins coaches and fostering a climate that is open and honest, rather than waiting until a good, well-trained Soldier, wants to leave because of problems we could have fixed.
Attacking issues before they blow up lets Soldiers know we value establishing a workplace of mutual respect so we can create opportunities for Soldiers to demonstrate their capabilities and achieve their potential.
Our team is our unit, the units on our left and right, our higher and subordinate units, our family and our community. Focusing on building team strength through openness and honesty is something we must prioritize so we can accomplish our missions.
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