Odierno to soldiers: Toxic leaders will be fired
Battalion and brigade commanders will soon receive 360-degree evaluations as part of the Army’s continuing push to rid the ranks of toxic leaders.
The plan, spearheaded by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, will begin as a pilot program this summer and be fully implemented by the fall.
“I’m looking at what is the best way to implement a 360 process at the battalion and brigade levels that will help us to identify concerns to the individual, and also to those who are with him, so they can try to correct that behavior,” Odierno said during an exclusive interview March 27 with Army Times. “If the behavior is not corrected, we’ll take whatever action is appropriate.”
One-stop shop: Career Tracker adds thousands of soldiers each week
An innovative tool to provide soldiers and leaders with a single Internet portal to plan and manage careers is fully operational after several years of development.
Called Army Career Tracker, the online system is serving nearly 400,000 users and registering several thousands of additional soldiers every week, according to John Sparks, director of the NCO Institute of Professional Development at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
About 67 percent of Career Tracker’s current users are active and reserve enlisted soldiers, 20 percent Army civilian employees and 13 percent officers.
$30 million bid-rigging scam at Army Corps
Until recently, Army Corps of Engineers program manager Kerry Khan had millions of dollars, mistresses in three states and lavishly fed his appetite for high-end cars and liquor, according to court records.
He was, as prosecutors put it, the mastermind of the largest bid-rigging scam in the history of federal contracting.
Two summers ago, Khan got a scare — federal agents paid a visit to his opulent Alexandria, Va., home — and he considered retiring after nearly two decades in the federal government.
But he opted against quitting his job because he was worried he would lose his accrued annual leave, according to one investigator in the case.
6 Comments
Now where I just read this, I am thinking… What about those Soldiers – Generals and other members of US Military, there has their pics and Identity stolen by scammers. We still finding FAKE profiles on Social Networks with pics of US Soldiers, even the dead Soldiers. When vill US Military have a plan to stop this?
I agree with Nina, when will somethiing be done about the US Soldiers, Generals and other members of the military who have their pictures stolen and use by scammers? The stolen photos are being used to scam money from innocent women and leaving a devastating trail behinid. Something needs to be done about all the FAKE pictures on the Social Media Networks. Someone needs to pay more attention to what is happening to the US Soldiers and make a plan to put a stop to their identity being stolen and used by scammers.
It saddens me to write that there are so many US Military Men and Women’s pictures being stolen and used to scam people for their money. Some of the soldiers are passed, killed in the line of duty, some are currently still serving your country. When is the US Government or Military going to do something about this and help these that have not only served for their country but also died for its beliefs. I see between 5 to 10 on a daily basis on the number of social media websites and they are all fake. I keep reading and hearing about informing and educating the public. A press release once every year does not work. And to be honest part of the problem is most of the pictures are from Your Very Own Websites, publishing the pictures with their names only makes it easier for the Scammers to access that persons information.
I hope the US Military will take us serious and help us and the Soldiers
THis is a long time coming. But what about civilian Army Leaders? I ask this question seriously because after nearly 30 years in uniform and as a civilian in the Army I see and increase in some of the most appalling and incompetent leadership that Ive ever seen. I hate to be pessimistic but I dont have a warm and fuzzy on this one although its hopeful.
The prospect of ridding the Army of so-called “toxic leaders” will be a more difficult task than one would expect. The Army promotion system is based mostly on the evaluation of the officer. If this “360-evaluation” is the new Multi-source Assessment and Feedback program, there are significant flaws. First off, feedback is requested through the email addresses of those the evaluated officer inputs. Therefore, he/she can choose which subordinates, peers and leaders are asked to contribute. The other significant issue with the program is that it is entirely dependent on the response and input of others. If a person is asked to evaluate an officer chooses not to for various reasons (mere laziness, time constraints, etc), the process cannot be completed. I myself have seen this happen, to include my direct senior leaders. Although it is mandatory for an officer to initiate the assessment, it is not mandatory for others to contribute. Hence, the program needs work before it could theoretically lead to the dismissal of leaders considered toxic.