RSC helps find tomorrow's leaders

Published June 4, 2015
By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris
99th Regional Support Command

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. - -- The Army Reserve's 99th Regional Support Command hosted a senior-enlisted promotion board this past week at the Maj. John P. Pryor Army Reserve Center here.

Thirty board members, comprised of field-grade officers and senior NCOs, vetted promotion packets to identify Soldiers eligible to become the next master sergeants in the Army Reserve.

"This is all about supporting the Army Reserve to select that next group of leaders," said Karen Quintana, 99th RSC Directorate of Human Resources Enlisted Management Branch chief. "The entire Army Reserve population of eligible sergeants first class to be looked at for master sergeant was included in this board process."

Each of the Army Reserve's four RSCs is responsible for hosting annual promotion boards for the grades of E-7, E-8 and E-9. The RSCs convene the boards, handle administrative needs and assemble board members from across the Army Reserve.

"We reach out to our operational, functional, training and support commands and solicit for volunteers who want to come and be a part of the board," Quintana explained. "They come in and they're trained up on the process and what they should be looking at as far as promotion potential, and we ensure diversity across the board so there are no biases."

Board members also received training on all facets of junior-enlisted promotion management and had the opportunity to request access to the Commander's Strength Management Module and Command List Integration Module via the Reserve Component Manpower System in response to overwhelming requests for additional training as it pertained to the CLIs of junior Soldiers for promotion and multiple other changes as outlined in Army Regulation 600-8-19.

"If not for those board members, the board wouldn't be a success," Quintana said. "It's those board members and their experience that helps us select the person that's going to make the grade. It takes all the Army Reserve coming together to make this successful."

While keeping up with the latest procedural and regulatory changes is the RSCs' responsibility, Wills also said that each Soldier has a responsibility to look after his or her own career as well.

"The reflection of a good leader in today's military is someone who is attention-to-detail oriented, who can go in and look at their record to make sure they have a current (official) photo, that they have current evaluations, that they have their Enlisted Record Brief current," Wills explained. "The individual Soldier has to understand it's on that person to go in and make sure they do their 'red ink' correction on their Personnel Qualification Record, their 2A, their 2-1, and send those in as part of their board file before the senior-enlisted promotion board.

"My advice to commanders is that they should reach out to the DHR teams of the RSCs and solicit information or feedback for training aids, Memorandums of Instruction, any kind of guidance that's out there," he continued. "I also think it's an opportunity for the 99th RSC to make sure we focus on training opportunities.

"Let's take personal pride and have a full understanding of what it means to submit board files in consideration for promotion," Wills added.

The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs Office has made edit to this article.

RSC helps find tomorrow’s leaders