Running head: IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 1

Improving Communication in the Army Reserves

Tameca Dale, CPT, RN, BSN

University of Saint Mary

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 2

Abstract

Issues of communication is plaguing the Army Reserves. It is well known that communication is

crucial to the success of having a fighting force that is ready at any moments notice to go to

battle. The roles of the Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant is critical to the preparedness of our

nations military Soldiers as they are the key leaders that divulge information to the Soldiers.

Unfortunately, with the short time Army Reserve Soldiers are together monthly, there has been a

breakdown in communication that is affecting Soldiers being physically and mentally ready for

battle. With the efforts of setting a new standard that instructs these leaders to use virtual

communication to see and speak with Soldiers, this will hopefully bridge the communication

gap.

Keywords: Platoon Leaders/Sergeants, Communication, Virtual

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 3

Improving Communications in the Army Reserves

The Army is built on having a fighting force that is ready at any moments notice to go to

battle. The Army Reserves is designed to fill any position that the active duty Army may need

during wartime missions. For the Army Reserves to be ready for these missions, it is crucial that

the lines of communication are open and each Soldier understands what is expected of him/her.

One Major in the United States Army suggested, The basic use of communication will help

increase the odds of battlefield success (Eskow, 2011, para. 7). The unfortunate cost of having

ineffective communication is that the combat readiness of the Army Reserve Unit suffers. Dunn

(2013) defined combat readiness as, The ability of United States (U.S.) military forces to fight

and meet the demands of the national military strategy (para. 1). Platoon leaders and platoon

sergeants are placed in positions to lead and guide Soldiers to sustain a level of readiness. The

purpose of this project is to explore the concept that if Platoon leaders/sergeants will mandate

their Soldiers to participate in bi-monthly virtual teleconferences, this will improve

communication and promote overall combat readiness over the course of one year.

Description

Combat readiness is an all-inclusive term that is awarded when a Soldier has met all

his/her benchmarks that are required by the Army. For instance, Soldiers are expected to go to

the range annually to shoot a M16 rifle or 9MM hand gun to show that they are equipped to

handle a weapon. The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) is another annual requirement that

Soldiers are expected to pass to be ready for missions. The APFT is designed to measure the

endurance of the upper and lower body by performance of pushups, sit-ups, and the two-mile run

(FM 7-22, 2012). However, this project is focused on the improvement of medical readiness,

which assures that all annual physicals, dental, and vision exams are completed by each Soldier.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 4

The Army Reserves is comprised of individuals that have full-time civilian jobs as well

as perform their military obligations one weekend out of the month, known as Battle Assembly

(BA). BA is usually 2 or 3 days every month and is held at an Army Reserve building. In that

short time frame, leaders work diligently to prepare Soldiers to be ready for battle. Often times

this requires platoon leaders/sergeants to perform his/her task before and after BA. By

description, the platoon leader is the military Commissioned Officer that commands the platoon,

covers the administration task for the platoon and passes down the mission to the Non-

Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC). The platoon sergeant is the NCO that enforces

rules/regulations, supervises and executes the mission, while working cohesively with the

platoon leader.

Communication is critical during this period of time in order for platoon leaders/sergeants

to convey important information. Thankfully, this new generation of Soldiers has emerged

divergent, highly technical, and proficient in using more immediate forms of communication

such as phone calls, e-mails, social media, and instant messaging (Durham, 2010, p. 554). The

downfall is that communication tools are only good if leaders utilize them. For instance, nurses

who hold leadership roles in the reserves will analyze and control the medical preparedness of

the unit. He/she will assess if all the Soldiers are current on their annual physicals, dental, and

vision exams. If a Soldier has failed to schedule and keep these appointments, the nursing leader

will inform the platoon leaders/sergeants of their Soldiers medical readiness.

Problem Significance

Once the problem was identified, the priority was to assure that combat readiness was

improved by efforts of increasing communication. Three handoff barriers highlighted in prior

research were related to communication challenges, lack of a standard handoff system, and lack
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 5

of handoff training (Abraham, Nguyen, Almoosa, Patel, & Patel, 2011, p. 28). The discussion

of handing off information is not only important in military circles, but hospitals are also buzzing

about the repercussions of ineffective communications. It has been stated, Costs associated

with medical errors are reported to be $8 to 20 billion annually, with communication issues being

the leading factor in most cases (Howley & Nolan, 2015, p. e40). Communication is key for the

effective care for Soldiers and patients.

Framework

In an effort to bridge the communication gap between platoon leaders/sergeants and their

Soldiers, there needs to be a standard created that encourages the use of communication tools.

Neiman (2016) found that 93 percent of global trade is impacted by standards and technical

regulations (p. 24). For the sake of this project, virtual technology will be the communication

tool that will be used and Imogene Kings Theory of Goal Attainment (2014), will be the

standard/framework to guide the process. This project focused on the leader and subordinate

Soldiers working cohesively to communicate information all while setting and achieving goals

together (Wayne, 2014). An example of setting and achieving goals would be, if a platoon

leader set a goal to have all twenty Soldiers within his/her platoon have all of their annual flu

shots completed by December 31, 2017. If all the Soldiers agreed to the goal, they would get

their shots completed using the Logistic Health Incorporated (LHI) company or utilizing

Walgreens. This type of goal setting relationship is built on a foundation of trust and shared

interest. It has been stated, If employees or Soldiers dont trust their leadership, dont share the

organizations vision, or dont buy into the reason for change, then there will be no successful

change, regardless of how brilliant the strategy (Rick, 2014, para. 3).
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 6

Current Evidence

With the implementation of this project, communication is expected to improve with an

end state of Soldiers ready for missions. For example, one article questions over 74 years after

the Pearl Harbor attack, if it could have been prevented if there were fewer communication

breakdowns (Goldberg, 2015). Even the federal commission voiced that, Poor communication

contributed to the increased death toll during the September 11, World Trade Center attack

(Roberts, 2004, para. 1). Platoon leaders/sergeants should examine the evidence and understand

the necessity to improve the communication within their command.

It is imperative to reiterate that the purpose of this project is to prove that by improving

communication utilizing virtual technology, this will produce a combat ready Army Reserve

Soldier. Although, the concept of using virtual technology is not new to the military, it may be a

new communication media tool for platoon leaders/sergeants. The healthcare industry that has

used virtual media projected that market factors will produce a revenue for face-to-face video

consultations alone for less than $100 million in 2013 to $13.7 billion in 2018 (Wang, 2014,

para. 2).

Methods

The intent or meaning of a conversation can sometimes be lost when conveyed through

text messages, e-mails, or telephone conversations or overall lack of direct eye contact. U.S.

Army doctrine would argue that information needs to be conveyed face-to-face whenever

possible (Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps, & Lipnack, 2004). The idea of face-to-face

communication is exactly what this project was designed to simulate. Even in instances where

there are culture or language barriers, there is a higher preference for usage of remote

videoconferences over telephone services (Nicholson, Martin, & Munoz, 2015). By instructions
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 7

of the project leader, a virtual face-to-face conference was performed between the platoon leader

and the subordinate Soldiers. Analysis of current medical metrics for the unit and upcoming

trainings were discussed. These discussions promoted readiness and mission preparedness.

Map

The population for this project included the platoon leader/sergeant and the subordinate

Soldiers that work for them. Currently, they use computers, internet, and web cameras to have

virtual meetings to discuss pertinent task and deadlines that need to be met. Over the course of

30, 60, and 90 days, there will be an increase in more Soldiers having completed their mandatory

requirements, which improves the overall metrics, defined as eighty-five percent of the entire

unit has completed their annual dental, vision, and medical exams for the unit. The initial setting

was the reserve center during Battle Assembly weekends, allowing the platoon leadership to

discuss the date, time, and web address for when the meeting is to be held. The leadership

discussed the current readiness of the unit and how it was expected to improve with each bi-

monthly meeting. As an alternate, cell phone applications (apps) such as Skype, IMO, or face-

time were utilized as a means of virtual communication, but limited the discussion due to

sensitivity.

Intervention

The project leader had a group question and answer format to present the idea of the

virtual teleconferences to the platoon leadership. Open-ended questions were posed to assess the

thoughts of the leaders/sergeants and their views on how good communication efforts are going

within their platoons. Utilizing an algorithm designed by the project leader (see appendix A), the

platoon leader/sergeants can evaluate their platoons readiness status to deploy. If they fall short

in any area, those are areas of concentration that need to be worked on.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 8

Method of Evaluation

To describe the step-by-step process, the project leader met with four platoon leaders and

four platoon sergeants to discuss participating in a communication improvement project. The

leaders would have a virtual conference call between BA to discuss readiness needs and avenues

to fix those issues. All personnel agreed to participate to conduct the call, with the only

stipulation that the project leader could not be on the call to lead the discussion. Over the course

of a month, it was reported back to the project leader that only one platoon leader was able to

complete the conference call. The platoon leader, Captain (CPT) Rios (2017), gave this

feedback:

The expectation for conference call transpired as expected. Each SL (squad leader)

maintains attributes that are positive and/or negative. Subsequently, the PL (platoon

leader) understands this dynamic and can tailor conversation to each SL abilities. Another

challenge to this type of communication was the ability of bring together five members of

platoon into conference call. This was not an easy task, but one that was coordinated to

ensure success. Nonetheless, the call was productive and information was disseminated

and elevated.

Ethical

Ethical considerations that needed to be assessed was the willingness for the

leaders/sergeants to participate in this project. Minimal ethical risk is involved, but concerns

were posed for the days and timeframes the virtual teleconferences are held. For instance, the

Soldiers that work in the evenings or were having dinner with their families were not available to

participate in the study during that time. The major premise of ethics was to do no harm and in
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 9

this project the goal was to improve the wellness of Soldiers, not cause harm to them. In an

effort to alleviate any chances of harm, no personal data was discussed.

Results

The goal of this project was to improve the communication between the platoon

leadership and their subordinate Soldiers. The Soldiers within the unit agreed that there is a

problem with communication, and this breakdown has led to a lack of preparedness for missions.

The project did bring about the success of the officer platoon having a virtual face-to-face

meeting to discuss their current issues before BA. The platoon leader led the discussion and

prepared the Soldiers for the upcoming May and June military activities. The conference did

achieve increasing the overall communication, when in previous months this type of virtual call

did not occur. On the other hand, the platoon leader still used email and phone calls as his

primary means of communicating with his Soldiers about upcoming missions. He voiced a

concern that this type of communication can be viewed as micro-managing but can help his

young Soldiers learn a greater responsibility.

Evidence

Now that the conference call has transpired, the evidence will be slow and forthcoming.

The proof that the call was effective will show in the preparedness of the missions and the

medical data. The current evidence that is present is the qualitative data that reflects the

awareness, attitude, and appreciation of the project (Sumac, 2013). After interviewing the

platoon leader an examining his thoughts of the project, he stated, I think it is a good idea, but

you get out of it what you put into it. Currently, the present evidence shows that the leaders and
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 10

the Soldiers are not enthusiastic about participating in a conference call, however they are

willing to take steps increase communication because they know it is beneficial.

Discussion

The overall purpose of this project was to improve the communication between the

platoon leaders/sergeants and their Soldiers in an effort to enhance military readiness. There has

been a continued struggle to get Soldiers ready to go complete missions due to information not

being communicated about mission requirements. This project revealed that change can be a

slow process if all parties do not have a one hundred percent buy-in. Leaders and Soldiers alike

must have a willingness to want to see change come to fruition and that will require them to put

in the necessary work to make that happen. Just like the virtual conference call took planning

and communicating, it is expected that in the future, another virtual call will occur with the

platoon leadership and the subordinate Soldiers. It will be at that time the project leader can

survey the participants in order to assess the success of the virtual call meeting that identified all

Soldiers within the platoon that had not completed their annual dental, vision, and physical exam

and if they had their flu shot and the course of action to get those Soldiers to their appointments.

Literature Review

The results showed that platoon leader was willing to help with the project, but uncertain

about if it would produce real change, due to it being viewed as micro-managing. It is suggested

that people need to understand and feel connected to organization and the changes before they

have a real investment in the strategy (Torben, 2014). In order for this to be more than a one-

time occurrence conference, the platoon as a whole would have to be completely invested. The

goal would continue to focus on having a bi-monthly virtual call to provide updates and
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 11

problem-solve by means of open communication. The purpose of this project was to provide

evidence to mandate these virtual meetings to promote the desired outcome of combat readiness.

Strengths/Limitations

An identified strength was that there was at least one platoon that was willing to

participate in the study. This project required Soldiers to take time away from their families and

regular work schedules to have this conference call. The platoon leader took the initiative to put

the call together with his Soldiers and discussed actions that could effect change and then wrote

up a minutes evaluation to share with project leader. The tenacity that it took for the platoon

leader to work this schedule showed that he had compassion for his Soldiers and was willing to

help with this project to achieve identified goals.

The greatest limitation was the time constraints and willing participants. Although

initially four platoons and their leadership were willing to participate in the study, only one

platoon completed the task and gave feedback. In most cases, required activities of this project

would be performed in the evening hours when families are having dinner and getting their

children ready for bed. Therefore, it is recognized that a best practice strategy has not yet been

created for this project. One possible change is to keep the call simple and pertinent to one

specific metric, such as assuring that all medical physicals and dental exams that need to be

completed.

Implications

The conclusion that can be drawn from this project is that it has great possibilities to

improve communication in the Army Reserves. To have a platoon leadership mandate that a

monthly virtual conference call occur twice a month between battle assemblies is not an easy

task to enforce on Soldiers during their off duties hours. It is believed that once the practice
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 12

becomes habitual, then communication will flow freely and all personnel will be informed using

virtual, face-to-face communication methods. It is also evident that it will require all the

Soldiers having a willingness to be involved in seeing communication be improved as well as

improve the readiness of our Soldiers. The platoon leader and platoon sergeant have to share the

vision with their subordinates with hopes they will believe that the vision can bring about

change. If communication improves and Soldiers are made aware and believe in the vision, then

the medical readiness quantitative data will reflect an upward improvement. This will look like a

platoon made up of twenty Soldiers will have all medical appointments completed before their

one year expiration date.

Usefulness

This project demonstrated the fact that change needs to occur in the Army Reserves. All

Soldiers have an individual responsibility to their own readiness and to be prepared for any

mission that the commander may receive. The usefulness of this project is that it is focused on

improving the readiness of our Army Reserve Soldiers by way of communication. This project

can be used in all U. S. Army Reserves units across America that needs to improve their

readiness metrics. One Soldier cannot do it alone, even with the greatest strategy, but with

everyone working together things can change. This project is not one that is just sufficient for

the current time, but it can be used from now on to better our Armys fighting force using

technology that is available to all.

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 13

References

Abraham, J., Nguyen, V., Almoosa, K. F., Patel, B., & Patel, V. L. (2011). Falling through the

cracks: Information breakdowns in critical care handoff communication. AMIA Annual

Symposium Proceedings, 2011, 28-37. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3243259/

Dunn, R. (2013). The impact of a declining defense budget on combat readiness. Retrieved from

http://www.heritage.org/defense/report/the-impact-declining-defense-budget-combat-

readiness

Durham, S. W. (2010). In their own words: Staying connected in a combat environment. Military

Medicine, 175(8), 554-559. Retrieved from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.stmary.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=

b899ae0f-c10c-4d4e-98c6-d7bbb97191c0%40sessionmgr4008&hid=4114

Eskow, R. (2011). Communication breakdown: Army major describes yet another example of

GOP military mismanagement. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-

eskow/communication-breakdown-a_b_26575.html

Field Manual 7-22. (2012). Army physical readiness training. Retrieved from

http://apftscore.com/fm7_22.pdf

Goldberg, D. (2015). Examining communication breakdowns 74 years later. Retrieved from

https://www.xmatters.com/incident-management/examining-communication-

breakdowns-74-years-later/

Howley, N., & Nolan, L. (2015). EB82 Lessons learned from the clinical scene investigator

academy: Dont fumble the handoffTackling effective communication. Critical Care

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 14

Nurse, 35(2), e40. Retrieved from

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.stmary.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=708b002

2-a7b8-4464-a770-7bf8f498a6e5%40sessionmgr101&vid=11&hid=118

Majchrzak, A., Malhotra, A., Stamps, J., & Lipnack, J. (2004). Can absence make a team grow
stronger? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2004/05/can-absence-make-a-team-grow-stronger
Neiman, L. (2016). Open source, open standards, open minds. Journal of AHIMA, 87(11), 24-27.
Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.stmary.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=
6c7dcada-9a51-4f22-91ce-beffb52a6a0c%40sessionmgr4007&hid=4114
Nicholson, N., Martin, P. F., & Munoz, K. (2015). Satisfaction with communication using
remote face-to-face language interpretation services with Spanish-Speaking parents: A
pilot study. Perspectives on Hearing & Hearing Disorders in Childhood, 25(2), 70-82.
doi:10.1044/hhdc25.2.70
Rick, T. (2014). Organizations dont change, people do or they dont. Retrieved from

https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/organizations-dont-change/

Roberts, J. (2004). Communication breakdown on 9/11. Retrieved from

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/communication-breakdown-on-9-11/

Sumac. (2013). What is project evaluation and why should you do it? Retrieved from

http://sumac.com/did-it-work-5-tools-for-evaluating-the-success-of-your-project/

Torben, R. (2014). Organizations dont change. People do or they dont. Retrieved from

https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/organizations-dont-change/

Wang, H. (2014). Virtual health care will revolutionize the industry, if we let it. Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2014/04/03/virtual-health-care-visits-will-

revolutionize-the-industry-if-we-let-it/#2ef95f385ab5
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 15

Wayne, G. (2014). Imogene m. kings theory of goal attainment. Retrieved from

https://nurseslabs.com/imogene-m-kings-theory-goal-attainment/
 IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN THE ARMY RESERVES 16

Appendix A
Medical Readiness Algorithm
Is the Soldiers medical
data (Dental, PHA, HIV, Platoon Leader/Sgt: Initiate
NO virtual teleconference
Hearing, Flu,
Immunizations,
No & Profiles)
updated within the last
365 days (green)?

Soldier counseled about

YES delinquent medical
appointment(s) over 365 days
(red)?
Soldier is NO
medically ready
to
deploy/mobilize
YES
Counsel
Soldier per
AR 40-501
Appt. LHI updates MEDPROS System with
Schedule current date of exam. Soldier is
Agree Kept green for another 365 days.
appointment
Soldier Disagree with LHI

Appt.
Not Kept
Start chapter process to
remove out of Army Commanders metrics improves for
entire unit. Working to attain or
Soldier No- sustain 85% of entire unit for
Showed for completing their medical
Appointment appointment.