Accountability System at the Regimental Headquarters Level

Proposal for the Accountability System at the Regimental Headquarters Level

General of the Army – Regimental Commanding Officer – Governance of the General Staff

Daily

• Take Care of Troopers - When on TeamSpeak be available for your troopers. Be prompt when responding to requests for assistance over TeamSpeak, Discord, or the forums.
• Make an effort to meet with members of General Staff to build a rapport and ensure a positive working relationship with them
• Spend time with troopers and leadership within the Regiment.
• Administrative tasks - Ensure recommendation approvals, appointments and the business of the General Staff is completed in a timely manner.
• Counselling - Issue initial, verbal, and negative counselling as required to ensure understanding and compliance with all rules, regulations and minimum expectations
• Promotions and Award Recommendations – Follow Regimental SOP in regards to promotion and award recommendations passed up from within the Battalion. Perform spot checks to ensure no one who meets promotion requirements has been overlooked.
• Ensure information is passed up and down the Chain of Command in a timely manner and that due respect and opportunity is given to those within the Chain to execute their responsibilities.

Weekly

• CSC Actions - Work with your General Staff to review and ensure a weekly review of open tasks within the Staff is held no later than 0700HRS Zulu every Sunday.
• Follow up - Follow up with General Staff, coach and counsel as required. Work with General Staff to resolve any issues that arise during the week. Ensure VCS and NCS documents are being processed as required.
• Strategy Development - Spend at least one hour per week focused on development of the General Staff and its strategy in the current climate. Setting policy and direction at this level, and making your intent clear is essential in enabling subordinate leaders to execute that intent.

Monthly

• Accountability - Ensure you are attending one Squad / Section practice / Operation / Special Event a month within the Cav.
• Unit Growth - Focus efforts on growth of the 7th Cavalry. This can be through organizing and encouraging events on the public servers, as well as leading by example when it comes to playing and recruiting on the public servers and offering support to Starter Platoons.
• Leadership Development - Spend time with different Generals, Department OICs and Battalion Commanders on a monthly basis, ensuring they understand our vision and their part in it. Mentor them as required.
• Meetings - Attend the Command Staff Call meetings and chair any Regimental meetings
• Finances – Make public the financial situation of the unit in the form of a treasurer’s balance report.
• Donations – Make public the donation medal/ribbon recommendations statutorily awarded.

Annually

• Finances – Make public the financial situation of the unit in the form of a treasurer’s balance report summarising the previous financial year.
• State of the Cavalry – Make an address summarising the achievements of the unit in the last year, and the vision for the future.
• Lifetime Awards – Review and if appropriate approve recommendations for Lifetime Achievement awards to be presented annually to those Troopers, NCOs or Officers as appropriate for the BG Krazee and CSM Coldblud awards.

General – Regimental Executive Officer – Administration of the General Staff, Chief Judge Advocate

Daily

• Take Care of Troopers - When on TeamSpeak be available for your troopers. Be prompt when responding to requests for assistance over TeamSpeak, Discord, or the forums.
• Make an effort to meet with members of General Staff to build a rapport and ensure a positive working relationship with them
• Spend time with troopers and leadership within the Regiment.
• Administrative tasks - Ensure recommendation approvals, appointments and the business of the General Staff is completed in a timely manner.
• Counselling - Issue initial, verbal, and negative counselling as required to ensure understanding and compliance with all rules, regulations and minimum expectations
• CJAG – Occupy the senior disciplinarian role in the 7th Cavalry by managing the Judge Advocate General department, and overseeing all actions associated to this department.
• Ensure information is passed up and down the Chain of Command in a timely manner and that due respect and opportunity is given to those within the Chain to execute their responsibilities.

Weekly

• CSC Actions - Work with the General Staff to review and ensure attendance or written submission to a weekly review of open tasks within the Staff held no later than 0700HRS Zulu every Sunday.
• Review the Generals Hotline and provide responses where deemed necessary

Monthly

• Accountability - Ensure you are attending one Squad / Section practice / Operation / Special Event a month within the Cav.
• Leadership Development - Spend time with different Generals, Department OICs and Battalion Commanders on a monthly basis, ensuring they understand our vision and their part in it. Mentor them as required.
• Meetings - Attend the Command Staff Call meetings and chair any Regimental meetings that the CO is absent at.

Annually

• Discipline – Provide a summary report to the Regimental Commanding Officer on disciplinary actions at and above Article 15 in the last 12 months.
• SOPs and Policy – Review each SOP and Policy and make recommendations for changes to the Regimental Commanding Officer.
• State of the Cavalry – Provide a commentary report on the year in review to be included in the State of the Cavalry Address.

Lieutenant General – Regimental Chief of Staff – Governance of the Battalions, Training and Doctrine

Daily

• Take Care of Troopers - When on TeamSpeak be available for your troopers. Be prompt when responding to requests for assistance over TeamSpeak, Discord, or the forums.
• Make an effort to meet with members of General Staff to build a rapport and ensure a positive working relationship with them
• Spend time with troopers and leadership within the Regiment.
• Engage in activities of oversight on the following:
  • Battalion Staff: Ensuring they adhere to Regimental SOP / Policy and working to the intent of the Regimental Commanding Officer.
  • Departments: All in general but specifically S6, S3, S1, Starter Platoon and Special Projects Division and finally the Wiki Administration Group, ensuring they adhere to Regimental SOP / Policy, and are working to the intent of the Regimental Commanding Officer.
    • Administrative tasks - Ensure recommendation approvals, appointments and the business of the General Staff is completed in a timely manner.
  • Medal Recs above Bronze Stars – as recommendations below this are delegated to S1.
  • Promotions above Battalion Staff and Department Staff, as appointments below this are made by Unit Commanders.
  • Promotions to Second Lieutenant – after a candidate completes ODS or is Waived by due process.
  • Veto of appointments to be made by subordinates under special circumstances by Private Message and in writing prior to changing a post.
• Counselling - Issue initial, verbal, and negative counselling as required to ensure understanding and compliance with all rules, regulations and minimum expectations
• Ensure information is passed up and down the Chain of Command in a timely manner and that due respect and opportunity is given to those within the Chain to execute their responsibilities.

Weekly

• Conduct a review of open disciplinary appeals and their associated follow up actions (i.e. forwarding to CJAG) no later than 0700 Mondays.
• Make general announcements on behalf of the Regimental Staff
• CSC Actions - Work with the General Staff to review and ensure attendance or written submission to a weekly review of open tasks within the Staff held no later than 0700HRS Zulu every Sunday.
• Ensure the Battalion Staff have complied with the Battalion Staff ICS – Counsel and correct divergence.

Monthly

• Accountability - Ensure you are attending one Squad / Section practice / Operation / Special Event a month within the Cav.
• Short term projects by definition of the General Staff or on own initiative
• Review the progress of new games development (Special Projects Department)
• Organisation of Command Staff and Regimental Meetings.
• Chair the Command Staff Call meetings, and attend any Regimental Meetings. Chair Regimental meetings in the absence of both the CO and the XO.
• Review Battalion Health and recent reports with unit commanders, and coach and counsel as necessary.
• Review Department effectiveness with OICs or XOs in their absence, and coach and counsel as necessary
• Coach and mentor all Officers and Senior NCOs in the Regiment by means of a regular 1:1.
• Delegate all tasks not accomplish-able within the time-frames required or a regular basis to the Aide to the Chief of Staff where relevant.

Annually

• Produce a report for the Regimental Commanding Officer to form part of the State of the Cavalry address.
  • Include achievements from all Line Units (by AO)
  • Include achievements from Departments
• Recommend Troopers, NCOs and Officers for Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Brigadier to Major General – Adjutant General – Governance of Recruitment and Indoctrination

Daily

• Take Care of Troopers - When on TeamSpeak be available for your troopers. Be prompt when responding to requests for assistance over TeamSpeak, Discord, or the forums.
• Make an effort to meet with members of General Staff to build a rapport and ensure a positive working relationship with them
• Spend time with troopers and leadership within the Regiment.
• Engage in activities of oversight on the following:
  • Departments: ROO / RRD / RTC - ensuring they adhere to Regimental SOP / Policy, and are working to the intent of the Regimental Commanding Officer.
    • Administrative tasks - Ensure recommendation approvals and appointments are completed in a timely manner for:
  • RTC Graduation postings including Honor Graduate
  • RRD Staff appointments
  • RTC Staff appointments
  • Veto of appointments to be made by subordinates under special circumstances by Private Message and in writing prior to changing a post.
  • Statutory awards to be recommended by subordinates within their scope of authority.
• Counselling - Issue initial, verbal, and negative counselling as required to ensure understanding and compliance with all rules, regulations and minimum expectations
• Ensure information is passed up and down the Chain of Command in a timely manner and that due respect and opportunity is given to those within the Chain to execute their responsibilities.

Weekly

• Conduct a review of open enlistment, re-enlistment applications, as well as recruit folders to check for staleness no later than 0700 Mondays.
• CSC Actions - Work with the General Staff to review and ensure attendance or written submission to a weekly review of open tasks within the Staff held no later than 0700HRS Zulu every Sunday.

Monthly

• Short term projects by definition of the General Staff or on own initiative
• Chair the Command Staff Call meetings, and attend any Regimental Meetings. Chair Regimental meetings in the absence of all of the CO, XO and CoS (or his appointed Aide)
• Review ROO department effectiveness with OICs or XOs in their absence, and coach and counsel as necessary

Annually

• Produce a report for the Regimental Commanding Officer to form part of the State of the Cavalry address.
  • Include achievements from Departments
  • Annual statistics from RRD and RTC.
• Recommend Troopers, NCOs and Officers for Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Why?

Optics

There is a long-established perspective that the General Staff do little and are disconnected. Much of what is proposed is what you already do, and this document would simply be a matter of making public what the staff achieves regularly.

Trust

There is a large amount of distrust of the General Staff partly due to bad optics, but also due to historical “misbehaviour” by current and former members of the Staff. By making the expectations of the roles public and standardised, trust will form provided commitment to achieving these goals is evident. This should include the disciplinary element of the Cav’s UCMJ. All members should be held to the same standard. No exceptions.

Clarity

There are several elements of the above proposal which are new. These would provide clarity on what the Staff’s intent is beyond maintaining a status-quo, as well as demonstrate what each General’s primary area of focus is. I.e. if a Bn Commander needs help with ROO related issues, that is clearly Baeder’s realm, but the CoS could also help in general.

Teamwork

Further to the point on optics, there is still a simmering concern over the divided nature of the General Staff from the events of 2019. This framework sets out the expectation of what the Staff should be pulling toward as a team, and that whilst we recognise voting behaviour has been well maintained for the last 6+ years – there is still a hierarchy, and that should be based around executing the intent of the CO. The annual year-end report made up of contributed scopes by subordinate generals will necessitate teamwork and communication – albeit on a manufactured level, but gives the unit the impression of a deeper level of oversight / activity.

Summary

The Cav still has markers of wounds from the Tully/Argus departure. The lingering frustration, much like the original departure, is outside of our control. What is in our control is the ability to make good on a promise made in August 2019 – to deploy an accountability framework similar to that of all other levels in the Cavalry which currently extends from Trooper to Battalion Commander. It is only the General Staff who do not:

• Have to maintain attendance minimums
• Have to perform some “accountability” activity within a week period
• Have a standard against which an ICS can be issued
• Have a standard against which VCS/NCS can be administered for failure to comply/adapt.
• Have a disciplinary process at all, nor a resolution process for conflict resolution besides diplomacy.
• Have to provide reports

But; Concessions were made in the requirements i.e.

• Monthly SP attendance, not weekly – due to the different life stages the General Staff is at compared to most of the members.
• The ability to delegate to the Aide to the CoS, and the implied nature that any General can directly order this Aide to undertake any task they are lawfully ordered so to do.
• Reports are annual, not weekly.