State of FOCECOM October 2017
Fellow Marines!
A little late filing this report, but the SFMC train has been rolling, without brakes, since muster, and mess! Thanks for your patience on individual, and unit issues, requests, and awards. As this *is* a late report, and there’s been so much going on in the months since August, I’d like to keep it short and sweet – at least relatively so.
Unit Status…
The Corps is continually expanding, and contracting as we activate, and deactivate units across every brigade. One trend I’ve seen when investigating the situation surrounding the possible deactivation of a unit is a communications vacuum between the unit, and the brigade. In many instances, when I’ve contacted a Unit Officer in Charge, I’ve found the unit still in an active status, but not reporting due to personal issues being dealt with, loss of several members, or embarrassment from becoming dormant over time.
This is not the time to stop communicating with your brigade leadership, on the contrary, it is a time you should be communicating the most. Your leadership is here to assist you as a Unit OIC, be it in recruiting, retention or planning events, or you by giving you time to deal with personal issues by recognizing you need to step away from your responsibilities for a while. They’ll be there for you, and your unit, but it doesn’t mean they won’t hold you to a standard. Communication, in the form of reports, or less formal check-ins, will still be asked of you.
If you find yourself, and your unit falling into one of the situations above contact your Brigade OIC as soon as possible. There’s a fix for everything, and there are legions of folks inside, and outside, of the Corps who are willing to help.
History…
Recently, I put out a call to all units to start considering their histories – real, and Trek based. There is a two-fold reason I am asking.
First being that a Heraldry Officer will be appointed at the end of this month. His, or her job will be to build a heraldry archive of all unit numbers, logos, mottos, and histories for future generations of the SFMC to reference.
Second reason is that I found out not long ago the Corps doesn’t have a recorded history (that I know of, or can find). There are still a number of ‘Old Timers’ in the ranks that can tell a story or two about the Corps, but we need to put forth a concerted effort to record this history. The first step lies with you at the unit level. If you’re an OIC, contact your next higher, and submit your unit history for inclusion in the archive. If you’re a member, have a talk with the others, and develop your unit’s story, so that it may be shared in times to come.
Personnel Records…
It’s coming ‘round that time of year again! Yes, we’re moving toward the holidays, and times of gathering, celebrating and mirth. But what is the quickest way to kill that joyous buzz? A database crashing, and pulling all your personal records down with it. Question: do you have a copy of your database ‘Member Eligibility’ page?
I ask that each one of you log into the database, go to your eligibility page, scroll to the bottom of the page to the ‘Printable Version’ link, and save the page to your PC, or other safe location. In the event of a database crash, this downloaded page may be the only way we can reconstruct your record!
So – don’t procrastinate. Download your record now!!!
Awards…
I am currently constructing an online archive of all SFMC certificates that have been produced since 2015, and will be making it available to the Brigade OICs as a venue to recover lost certificates. While this will take care of missing certs, it will not solve the problem of awards missing from your personal record. So, what do you do?
First, look through all your ‘stuff’ for a certificate. If you do not have one, look for an old report, issue of the ‘Communique’, photos of you receiving the award at the brigade pool party – any evidence that you received the award – and forward the documents to your Brigade OIC for action. He, or she will contact me, and we’ll examine the evidence, and enter the award into your record if the situation warrants.
I can’t go by word of mouth, or statements from other members. I need the docs mentioned above to determine your receiving the award before I can enter it into the database. So, while you’re there downloading a copy of your record – check out your awards, see if anything is missing, and jump into action to rectify the error.
To the Corps!!
B. ‘Tusker’ Allen
BRIAN K. ALLEN
BDR, SFMC
COFORCECOM]]>