Military Police contains information about military police functions in maneuver and mobility support, area security, law and order, internment/resettlement, and police intelligence operations.
Issue link: https://militarypolice.epubxp.com/i/484012
MILITARY POLICE . 19-15-1 26 • Reviewed subordinate unit training schedules (T+7). • Sent Microsoft® Outlook calendar invitations (with links to the orders) to appropriate personnel. • Reviewed the battalion calendar each week (T to T+7). • Conducted a number of in-progress review meetings for specifc events. • Published products on a well-organized battalion portal. • Reviewed the schedule for the week with commanders. Now it's just a matter of sticking to the plan. Adding or changing a meeting or training during the week of execu- tion should require an Act of Congress. Last-minute changes poor planning and create high levels of frustration among companies that have developed their own company and platoon level plans against the established calendar. The bare minimum of a leader's motivational technique should involve publicly praising good behavior and privately correcting ineffective behavior. We don't need sweeter car- rots or sharper sticks; we need intrinsic motivators that allow purpose, autonomy, and mastery. 3 The time that of- fcers and noncommissioned offcers (NCOs) spend in staff provides them with an intimate environment in which to develop as future leaders. Decentralized mission command of the staff empowers the offcers in charge (OICs) and the noncommissioned offcers in charge (NCOICs) of each sec- tion to take ownership and responsibility of their teams. The OICs and NCOICs need the autonomy to improve systems and manage their teams in an enabling work environment. The S-3 is responsible for providing challenging work and feedback through counseling. As teams begin to bond and operationally control their sections, the S-3 becomes more available to look upward and outward. Conducting huddles twice a week with staff OICs and NCOICs offers an opportunity for the S-3 to establish clear and measureable goals, benchmarks, deadlines, and end states for each section. Establishing a method for tracking suspenses is necessary to prevent missions from falling off the plate. When possible, the staff should be allowed to as- sess and recommend realistic suspenses for their assigned tasks. This can provide autonomy, instill ownership and pride, and relieve unwarranted stress among subordinates. In addition to semiweekly huddles, it is important that OICs discuss the status and progress of tasks with the S-3 on a daily basis. This improves the S-3's situational understand- ing and provides the S-3 with an opportunity to support the OIC in issues that may have been encountered. Proper and effective management involves get- ting things done through people. 4 People are the ba- sis of military organizations, and military opera- tions involve human interactions. 5 Group therapy sessions—or meeting with teams to discuss their progress and future goals—are means that can be used to improve the teams within each section. Team members are free to discuss which things are going well and the roadblocks that they may be encountering. And the S-3 has the opportunity to break down barriers that may be hindering team prog- ress. Group therapy sessions are as useful to the develop- ment of the S-3 as they are to the teams. Reading briefngs before attending meetings signifcantly improves the S-3's understanding of the material to be pre- sented and facilitates an effcient and, hopefully, effective meeting. It provides the S-3 with the opportunity to consid- er the material, conduct research, and think. Read-aheads should be available 24 to 48 hours in advance of the meeting. There should be limited tolerance for exceptions, compel- ling subordinate leaders to thoroughly develop their plans and review their briefngs before making their submissions. Briefers then have the opportunity to present, and perhaps clarify, the information before discussing the S-3's notes. Action offcers—the true workers—are part of every staff. They are likely the ones producing the initial products for every briefng and meeting. Although the staff may be de- veloped through initial guidance, mentoring, and notes about products, there is another great way to develop the staff—allow action offcers to attend the meetings for which they prepared the briefngs. This allows the action offcer to observe the impact of the product, listen to direct feedback, and track deliverables from the meeting. There is no need for the S-3 to rehash the feedback from the meeting for the action offcer; the action offcer uses his or her own notes to publish the minutes and prepare future briefngs, if ap- propriate. A common question is: "Why can't I simply tell the compa- nies what day the slides are due?" The answer comes down to human nature. People process and remember information differently, so it is important to take advantage of several different avenues (fragmentary orders, reminder e-mails, and discussions of task status in training meetings) when pushing information to the companies. The battalion sup- ports the companies; and right now, at this very moment, every military police company is facing an array of taskings from the executive offcer; the personnel offcer (S-1); the intelligence offcer (S-2); the S-3; the logistics offcer (S-4); and the command, control, communications, and computer operations offcer (S-6). They are trying to disseminate and manage these taskings while also planning training and exe- cuting missions. The S-3 can alleviate confusion and frus- tration by issuing fragmentary orders for all taskings and, as necessary, publishing specifc guidance through standard operating procedures. The company S-3 sergeants then have references to use while managing internal operations and trackers. 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