Taking care of your people can mean different things to different people.

What I am looking for is any incidents that involve "going to bat" for a subordinate.

I know in some cases ths could be rewarding as the petty officer or non-rate proved your confidence right.

I also understand that people can dissapoint and leave you wondering why you placed your confidence in them.

Please share your experiences and the lessons learned.
V/r
Carl M. Ploense

Kinda dissappointed. I know good leaders will champion the cause of others. I wanted to see some stories to that end. I see there has been over 40 views...without any input.

I know this stuff exists, I've seen it in motion in the Seabees. Billdawg, Utcmac,TMC a little help here...

V/r
Carl

Alright, here you go.
This is happening as we speak.
In Iraq my lead gunner, was fantastic. I gave him an EP and ranked him # 1 E-5 for our company. This was in Feb in Iraq. He took teh advancement exam in Aug, then was told his score was disallowed because not enough time n rate. When I looked into his record, the eval I had written was gone, and another one had him as an MP, w/o my sig. My point is, I am no longer with this unit, I could just say hey, not my job any more, but I am currently dgging in to this and I will resolve it.

I am not good about talking about how I have taken care of someone else. A lot of the time it is behind the scenes and the one I am working for never knows what I am doing and I like it that way. But I will tell you one story. We had a Seabee with almost 18 years in when he developed a medical problem that made him non-deployable. The S3 wanted me to have him removed from the unit and wanted him out of the Navy Reserves because he could not be deployed. I fought for him. one because it was the right thing to do( he deserved to get his 20 and retire) and two because he could still do things at the local DET that benefited the unit and third it showed the troops we cared for them as a person. Long story short he got his 20 years and benefited our unit even if he could not go to the sand box.

I have a few.

This one, may sound trivial but it reflects how I had zero tolerance for anyone "screwing" with my troops. (Only I am allowed to do that!)

One day I happened to be walking down the p-way towards the OIC's space, one of my guys was rolling a mop bucket past the OIC's office. This mop bucket was ancient and the wheels screamed like finger nails on a chalk board.

The Command Chief (not exactly the epitome of leadership) came tearing out of the OIC's office and proceeded to rip my guy right there in front of me for not "carrying" the mop bucket.

I cornered the above mentioned CC in his office (he spent most of his time in the OIC's office) and called him on it. He came unglued and tried to forcibly remove me from his space. In the end he NEVER screwed with any of my troops again.

Here's one, although in a non-military setting.

At one time I supervised a shift of armed security guards at a government facility.

One person, who had a few issues, came in late for duty. Right before I got the chance to pull her aside for counseling, she showed me a traffic citation for speeding in a work zone. My comments at that point were the courts would punish her enough when she paid the ticket, said that in the future plan to leave a little earlier or take a different route, and put her on duty.

My boss came in the next day, wanted me to put her down for five days off w/o pay for being late (as I said before, she had issues). Told him I was not as she was already hit with a substansial fine, and this would simply set her up for failure. After a moment he realized I was right, the state was already taking care of punishing her for us.

Last I heard she was in training for a law enforcement job - no idea if she ever made it or not.

To the Good Chiefs who have posted their stories here I thank you.

These are stories that need to be heard...REPEATEDLY!

All too often people forget the behind the scenes work that goes on. I would go so far as to say that among the junior troops it is perhaps unknown how much good leaders do on behalf of their people. I think it is a good motivator for junior personnel to hear these stories.

I'll give you one where I was the benefactor.

I was trying to get an extension bonus. I wanted to do the full three for $5,000.00. In all my military life I never received any type of enlistment or re-enlistment bonus. At the time it was going to help pay my son's tuition.

I submitted the paper work. I kept a copy for myself. I let some time lapse because I know the Navy does not work overnight on these things. When I thought the time was right I followed up with the career counselor. He told the paper work was moving up the chain. Then he told me it was in D.C. and the check was coming soon. Finally, after four months I asked him (in the presence of my LPO) what was going on. He told me that I did not submit an extension for the correct amount of time and that the bonus was no longer available. I was furious to say the least. I went back to our spaces and went off. When people asked me what was wrong I vented loud and proud. "FTN...I am going IRR." "I don't need this s@#t!" I have an honorable discharge from the Marines over my desk, the Navy can go f$%* itself."

About that time one of the best Chiefs I ever worked for ,EOC Wally Ergish, called me into his office. At first I thought I was going to get reamed for a lack of bearing.

Instead he asked what the problem was. I explained that the CC screwed up my paperwork and I was out a bonus. He called in my LPO who verified the situation. He asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I really loved the Bees and was ready to go career. Chief Ergish then told me to follow him. I found myself standing outside the Command Master Chiefs office while he, the CMC, and the CC met. I reached down in my "inner Marine" and did the best parade rest I could. I must have looked either ****ed or in trouble, because officers saw me as they were passing and looked scared.

When the CMC stepped out of the office I snapped to as if he were the CNO. He asked me if wanted to stay in the Bees. I answered "Yes Master Chief!" He put me at ease and asked what was I willing to do to resolve the problem. I said "I didn't do anything to create it, but was ready to request mast up to Admiral Cotton if necessary. I have nothing to loose at this point. And my family has everything to gain." The CMC told me to relax and would I mind if he handled the situation from this point forward. I acknowledged and said out of respect for him (CMC) I would hold off on requesting mast at this time.

The CMC went back into the office, Chief Ergish said he (meaning me) will take this up the chain...and he would help me at every step.

The Master Chief told the CC this was unacceptable. The CMC said he would be taking over the situation from here and that the CC and he would talk later. The CMC thanked Chief Ergish for bringing this to his attention and stepped outside of his office and shook my hand, apologized for the problem and reassured me it would be resolved.

One month later I got my first check, the reserve center had a new CC, and Chief Ergish retired.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

V/r
Carl M. Ploense III