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Marine Corps policy concerning counseling is explicit, but many officers ignore it. We are required by a Marine Corps order periodically to counsel our subordinates and give them concrete examples of how they can improve their professional performance. Regardless of this policy, most of us seldom are counseled adequately at the end of a reporting period, let alone periodically during day-to-day operations. Consequently, I propose that the Marine Corps adopt a more formal approach to performance appraisal and counseling.
Marine Corps Order P1610.7B (Performance Evaluation System) outlines the reporting senior's counseling responsibilities. Although the order discusses the required counseling steps in some detail, our two most recent Commandants found it necessary to remind officers of the importance of counseling. Why were these reminders necessary? As LtCol D.E. Schaet noted in his excellent article (GAZETTE Dec77) on performance counseling:
Getting criticism is an uncomfortable experience, often put out of mind. Counseling is frequently so cursory or poorly done that it is not recognized as performance counseling. Or counseling is just not done on many occasions. In my 14 years in the Marine Corps, I can recall only a few instances when I felt that I...