I was told 2 give my soldier a 4856. I did. But later found out the soldier was not wrong. How can i fix this?

Question

He did not shave. In ft Irwin, in certain uniforms, the males are asked to not shave to easier replicate Iraq (for training). This soldier did not shave. I was told to give him a 4856 with corrective training. I did. To find out 2 days later the policy. How can I correct this. I feel like the soldier is being targeted because this particular soldier just received an article 15.

Answer 1

Just curious, who told you to counsel the Soldier? What type of corrective training did you give him?

The best thing you can do is be straight up with the Soldier. Someone told you to give him a 4856 along with corrective training and you did it. I always ask my Soldiers  for a reason why the messed up and I include there answer in the counseling statement. It sounds like someone somewhere told him not to shave for whatever reason.

Tell the Soldier you were not aware of the policy and destroy the 4856. As for the corrective training, if it’s still going on stop it. If he already did, oohhh well, he’s just going to have to suck that one up and drive on.

Answer 2

Did the soldier mention the policy during the counseling session?  

I'm guessing no, and that means you both screwed up, along with whoever ordered that action.

Answer 3

First off....did you even ASK the Soldier why he did not shave??  If you would have asked him from the beginning why he did not shave, you would have probably been notified of the "special" uniform policy.

We are not mind-readers.  We don't always know if our Soldiers are tasked with special missions because sometimes decisions are made in the absence of the supervisor.  This has happened to me on several occasions, in which I tell my supervisor that I should be informed of what my Soldiers are tasked to do.  It's proper courtesy.  I tell my NCOs of special tasks that I assign their Soldiers in detail...the who, what, when, where and why.

You need to bring this revelation up to your supervisor that this was part of his uniform and that he violated nothing.  If you believe he's being "targeted," you have the right to speak to anyone in your Chain of Command all the way up to the 1SG and CDR.

Remember that with corrective training, the punishment must fit the crime.  I had a Soldier who did this very thing...forgot to shave...so I made him give me a block of instruction on how to shave...even if he did shave that morning. When I was satisfied with his class, I had him give it to the rest of the section along with the information from AR 670-1.  He never forgot to shave again.  I never endangered him with the possibility of ingrown hairs or razor burn because I would have him use the opposite end  of the razor if he already shaved that morning.

You need to learn how to properly communicate with your Soldier.  Had you of asked him fromthe beginning and found out that info from the get-go, you would have had the ground to stand on to defend your Soldier's unshaven appearance and probably a little more respect from your Soldier for not being a "yes Sergeant" type NCO.

EDIT:

Then what you need to do is take the policy letter to your PSG and tell that NCO that the Soldier was not in violation of the policy.  The other NCO who told the Soldier to shave and then told you to write the counseling...unless the NCO is your supervisor...had no right to go and tell you that you "need to write him a counseling."  It's proper to inform someone that their Soldier is in the wrong but not to tell that person what to do with their Soldier.  I think that undermines your integrity and trust in leadership abilities.

If I have a Soldier in my section that messes up, I tell that Soldier's supervisor what happened and let that NCO decide how to deal with it...whether verbally or on paper.

Policies...if policies are continuously changing and a unit is not being notified of these changes, it needs to be made known that this is a problem.  If you believe that these NCOs are targetting that Soldier and setting him up for failure, then you need to bring it on up higher and make sure you have proof.  You must know when to pick and choose your battles.  If you know you can talk with your 1SG and make this right, then by all means...talk with the 1SG and bring your Soldier with you along with the policy letter.  The policy letter will show the effective date, the Soldier can verify the incident and the counseling will show when the counseling was written in relation to the policy.