United States Army
Basic Training Operating Instructions
Counseling & Constructive Credit
1. References: 1ATB memorandum dated
2. Counseling:
a. Use preprinted counseling forms for initial and phase counseling. Set goals for PT and explain phase expectations for personal behavior. Evaluate privates for their leadership performance and potential, and demonstrated Army values.
b. Conduct positive and negative counseling incorporating the 7 Army core values (see Annex AU). Document any behavioral problems (discipline) and any accidents or injuries. If accident or injury causes a private or to lose more than one day of training, counsel and collect written statements for the Line of Duty investigation (loss of a day or more of work for a cadre member will also trigger a LOD investigation). If circumstances do not warrant a counseling statement (“Dear John” letter, loss of family member, pay problems), make a note in the platoon continuity book. Immediately report suicidal ideations, gestures or attempts to the chain of command and prevent the private from hurting himself or anyone else. Suicidal privates are placed on line of sight and watched continuously.
c. Rehabilitative transfer, Newstart or ELS requests, behavioral medicine referrals and recommendations for constructive credit cannot be considered without a complete record of written counseling.
3. Constructive Credit. Company commanders will submit the
memorandum through the battalion commander requesting constructive credit for
missed/incomplete mandatory training for deserving privates.
The form must be filled out completely with the current status of all training
the privates has attempted to date, as the decision is based on the Whole Soldier
Concept. There are no waivers for M16 qualification or hand grenade
Note: These Operating Instructions were derived from a set of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for a United States Army Infantry Basic Training Battalion. While SOPs might differ somewhat from batallion to batallion, it should give a basic idea of the instructions that Drill Sergeants and basic training staff members operate under.
