Status of FORCECOM August 2015<\/p>\n
Good day, Marines.<\/p>\n
Quick reminder. There are two positions open at Forces Command: 7
\nBrigade Officer in Charge and Electronic Certificates Officer. Even
\nthough both position are titled ‘Officer’ any qualified member of the
\nSFMC may apply. The positions close on 18 September 2015 so please
\ncontact me ASAP if you have an interest.<\/p>\n
This month I’m going to focus on some concerns I have about the
\nreporting process.<\/p>\n
** First off , ‘please’ do not make changes to your Unit’s information
\nwithout clearing it with FORCECOM first. No changes to unit name,
\nnickname, slogan, branch of service, etc. By this I mean do not simply
\nmake a change to your unit report. You need to send me an email asking
\nabout the possibility of making your change.<\/p>\n
It’s not an automatic that this can happen. There may be another unit
\nin another Brigade that is already using that name. That means no
\nmatter how much energy and enthusiasm you’ve already invested in it, you
\ncan’t have that name. If someone is already calling themselves ‘The
\nLollypop Guild’, you’re out of luck. I’m sorry if you’ve asked the SFI
\nship registry to change your ship’s name so it ties in with you unit
\n[and it was approved]. Equally sorry if you’ve already invested a lot of
\nbucks in have a friend who’s a graphics designer come up with a new
\nlogo. Check first. We may be able to come up with something fairly
\nclose, but it’s right of prior domain.<\/p>\n
** When submitting reports the online reporting for asks for Unit.
\nPlease just use the unit number. Do not use your Unit name, use special
\ncharacters [1st, 53 rd, etc], etc. Your report is logged in and archive
\nby unit number. Anything extra you add or change has to be fixed
\nmanually on my end and just adds extra steps no one needs.<\/p>\n
Don’t use unit names. Believe it or not, I don’t have you all memorized. ;}<\/p>\n
And there are only two unit types for administrative records: Marine
\nStrike Group [MSG] or Marine Expeditionary Unit [MEU]. Ignore the MUC
\nand MTU options. We don’t use them.<\/p>\n
Acceptable: 305 MSG, 88 MSG, 920 MEU<\/p>\n
Not acceptable: 305th, The Jolly Rogers, The 299th MTU<\/p>\n
** Now with another International Marine Muster come and gone and with
\nthe major awards season over, now is a good time to check out your
\npersonnel records on the database. No one’s going to know something is
\nmissing but you so it’s a good to get in the habit of reviewing your
\npersonal records every couple of months or so.<\/p>\n
And besides, you may discover an award or two you didn’t know you
\nreceived. That’s always a nice surprise.<\/p>\n
It’s a fact of life in electronic record keeping that sometimes things
\ngo missing. An email may get eaten by a spam folder. Records can be
\nlost on a hard drive. It is the responsibility of the individual to keep
\na copy of all his personal records, awards received, courses completed,
\netc. If you find an error, it’s certainly acceptable to point it out
\nand request the data be added, updated or changed. Just know that
\nyou’ll need to provide documentation so that the appropriate correction
\nto the database. Documentation can be a scanned copy of the certificate,
\nan email from the issuing authority, a copy of a Unit or Brigade report
\nnoting the award, etc.<\/p>\n
I can’t emphasis this point enough: if it can’t be documented, it can’t
\nbe changed, corrected or added. If this all sounds familiar, it’s
\nsomething I try to stress every few months or so. It’s never a good
\nidea to wait until the last moment to discover something’s missing,
\nespecially if you’re getting ready for a formal dress event like your
\nUnit Holiday formal dinner or an upcoming Brigade Muster.<\/p>\n
Just think of it as ‘preventative maintenance’.<\/p>\n
That’s all for now. Keep it safe out there and be nice to each other.<\/p>\n
Stand easy, Marines.<\/p>\n
BGN Jari James
\nCOFORCECOM
\n_______________________________________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Status of FORCECOM August 2015 Good day, Marines. Quick reminder. There are two positions open at Forces Command: 7 Brigade Officer in Charge and Electronic Certificates Officer. Even though both position are titled ‘Officer’ any qualified member of the SFMC … Continue reading