7/31/2019 July Tool Kit: Payday Activities

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BY JENNIFER MATTSON NCO Journal

B e ore the age o electronic trans ers, the Army would issue Soldiers a monthly check or theirservices. o receive the check, the Soldier wouldhave to appear in a Class A uni orm and pass an inspec-tion be ore receiving pay.

I the Soldier wasnt up to standard, the pay or aportion o it might be or eited. oday, Soldiers receivetheir pay on the rst and the 15th, and it automatically appears in their bank account.

Some units have lost the other traditions that wentalong with a Soldier receiving a paycheck: in-ranksinspections, barracks checks and checking the SoldiersArmy Service Uni orms.

Payday activities allow leaders and NCOs the op-portunity to designate that rst Friday o the month orthese types o activities that they might not have time todo otherwise.

Command Sgt. Maj. Brian M. Stall, command ser-geant major o the 4th In antry Division and Fort Car-son, Colo., has implemented his commanders vision orpayday activities at his unit.

Soldiers arrive to this installation every month,Stall said. So its a check on: one, does the Soldier havethe uni orm? wo, does it t appropriately and do they have the right awards that t to their new unit? It rein-orces or our junior NCOs and leaders that this is whata uni orm should look like. Tey have a responsibility o inspecting the Soldiers. We want them to have pride,and we want to make sure that their uni orm isnt balledup and thrown in a corner somewhere. Tere is somediscipline that comes with it.

Tough technology has o en been blamed or thelapse o payday activities, many commands still conducthem, including the 82nd Airborne Division, 4th In an-try Division and 25th In antry Division. Many see thesurge in payday activities as a getting back to the basics

o in-garrison leadership, Stall said.

Some units use the war as an excusenot to conduct it, Stall said. But we areounded on certain traditions. echnol-ogy has changed, people dont report tothe pay o cer anymore, but it rein orcespre-combat checks and pre-combatinspections. It develops leaders at all lev-els regardless o whether they are anNCO, warrant or commissioned o cer.It is a check on systems. For example, anoperations system NCO can go down toa company and check training records:APF , warrior task battle drills, training

schedules.Many Soldiers rush to the post ex-change or local uni orm stores when theyarrive on post, Stall said.

It is a culture shock, Stall said. Te

Payday activitiesreinforce standards

TOOLKIT

t Sgt. 1st Class Larry Hoedebeck con-ducts in-ranks inspections as a part o the4th In antry Divisions payday activitiesMay 4 at Fort Carson, Colo. PHOTO BYJENNIFER MATTSON

7/31/2019 July Tool Kit: Payday Activities

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Army has survived or 237 years, and a guy named von Steu-ben started this process o putting discipline in the Army andthe NCO Corps by which we derive all the authority romour o cers to en orce this.

By conducting payday activities, especially those thatinclude the in-ranks inspections, NCOs and junior leadersare being accountable to standards and re-learning how theiruni orm should look, Stall said.

Its enlightening people on the importance o en orcingstandards, Stall said. It makes them look at stuf. We wantpeople to get into the regulations look at what the properorder o precedence is, the placement because the emaleuni orm is diferent than the males. It is an education; it isan attention to detail that rein orces discipline, rein orcesstandards.

In addition to educating and training their junior leaders,it helps those leaders with their ollow-on assignments andclasses, Stall said.

We introduce this to Soldiers well be ore their WarriorLeader Course, Stall said. When they get there, they shouldalready have a rm oundation o Tis is how I look in

uni orm. Tey already know what an in-ranks inspectionlooks like.Now theyre conducting in-ranks inspection. Tey

shouldnt have to learn that at the school, he said. Te goalbehind NCOES, you want to throw more challenging thingsat them. Tey should show up to school already havingknowledge. So you throw them challenging things that aregetting them ready or that next level, ideally.

NEXT MONTH: OPERATIONS SECURITY

The 2nd In antry Division sta leads the Division SpecialTroops Battalion in a our-mile run at Camp Red Cloud,Korea, in celebration o the Armys 233rd Birthday June 13,2008. PHOTO BY CPL. JOON HYUNG SOHN

Though the commander is in charge o designat-

ing which payday activities will take place in a unit,it is up to the NCOs to ensure the unit conductsthose activities. Its commanders policy, but werun it, said Command Sgt. Maj. Brian M. Stall, com-mand sergeant major o the 4th In antry Divisionand Fort Carson, Colo., where payday activities oc-cur every frst Friday o the month ollowing payday.And we are educating not only junior enlisted, butwere educating the o fcer corps as well.

Payday activities vary; however, common activi-ties include:

AWARDS AND PROMOTIONS arepresented to Soldiers in ront o thewhole battalion. These might includeArmy Commendation medals orpromotions to sergeant or higher.

IN-RANKS INSPECTIONS areconducted by commanders, battalionsergeants major and company frstsergeants to ensure that their Soldiersuni orms are being kept up to standard.

BATTALION-LEVEL RUN is used tobuild esprit de corps among the unit as a

whole. Payday activities will usually startwith a battalion-level, brigade-level ordivision-level run.

TRAINING RECORDS CHECKS ensures all Soldiers have met theirrequirements including the ArmyPhysical Fitness Test, warrior tasks andbattle drills, training schedules, andcounseling packets.

BARRACKS INSPECTION might takeplace to ensure that the Soldiers livingquarters are being kept up to standard.

These are usually conducted a ter therun and in-ranks inspections.

ESPRIT DE CORPS EVENTS, including picnics, sporting events orother unit activities, usually open toamily members might take place onpayday to help build esprit de corpsamong Soldiers.

Types opayday activities