Can a leader force me to counsel a Soldier?
Keep in mind you need to decide what battles you want to fight and if you should fight them at all. Bottom-line if the chain of command is going to use this counseling to reduce or punish the Soldier you need to decide where you stand. If you do refuse to counsel the Soldier what action will the directing official take against you in the future? Are you willing to take this chance? Or are you willing to stand up to the directing official because you see their directive as either illegal, unethical, immoral, unsafe or a combination thereof. If this is the case you could consider writing a memorandum for record about the situation. Make sure it is detailed, covers just the facts, identifies witnesses, and any violations of regulations, is unemotional and provides potential solutions. Or write a memorandum as stated above and provide it to the directing official along with what your recommendation are for corrective action.
The key is to make sure that the action taken will be seen as fair, reasonable, and legal by a disinterested third party using the reasonable person rule.
Finally before taking any action, examine your reasoning for not wanting to counsel the Soldier. Are you inappropriately protecting the Soldier? Does the Soldier deserve the counseling? Is the counseling really going to hurt the Soldier? Why does the chain of command really want this counseling to take place? Is their reason unethical, illegal, immoral or unsafe? Is this worth asking to see the 1SG and/or CDR on open door policy. Just understand by refusing or taking action to prevent the counseling you will make some enemies. In these cases you have to choose between what is correct and just and how much pain you are willing to suffer. Put yourself in the shoes of the Soldier and in the shoes of the Chain of command. If after careful examination you believe it is unfair only you can decide how to resolve the issue with the chain of command.
Hopefully I have provided you some useful information!
Feel free to email me directly at Mark.Gerecht@Mentorinc.us
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