OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

The situation is the utilization of virtual training aid instead of hands-on training.
The result of this situation is that soldiers are returning to the home station
unprepared. In addition, the lack of knowledge of newly enlisted soldiers leads
Noncommissioned officers (NCOs) to spend the bulk of their time introducing new
enlisted to the equipment for the first time in their career. As a result, soldiers are
not completing collective training, taking longer to understand their tasks, and are
not ready to perform their warfighting functions.

My role within the organization is as an operations NCO (OPS NCO). The OPS
NCO's duties include planning missions, training events, and any other event the
company commander would like to complete. As the operation's NCO. I am
firsthand witness to the effects of the lack of hands-on training. The soldier comes
into the units with much technical knowledge but no hands-on experience. As a
result, I must stop everything I am doing to teach them the physical locations of
vaults and gages.

2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.

My organization is huge on symbols. The Army uses symbols to conduct every

aspect of its operations. For example, symbols are used to describe the types of units
on a map in a given location. Symbols are also used to tell commanders to advance
or to retreat. The organization is a symbol within itself. The Army stands for
freedom and the national result. The Army's goal is to not only keep up with other
nations but to lead the world when it comes to training. The Army has always
claimed to be the best trained and most advanced in the world.

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 The use of virtual training aids also symbolizes that the Army is moving forward
into the future. As a symbol, the use of virtual aids tells the world that the Army is
constantly growing and moving forward. The Army has a long history of using
symbols to put the world on notice. Therefore, the Army is using the virtual age as a
symbol to modernize its methods of training its troops.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

Per my previous comment, my organization is big on symbolism. One of our most

potent symbols is that of unity. The Army uses everyday life and activities to convey
unity. For instant, we all wear the same uniforms. We all get treated like crap (in
the beginning). All these things force us to find strength in unity with one another.

My recommendation starts there; I want to reframe the Army's thinking. Right

now, the Army's thinking is on the future. The Army does not want to lose an
opportunity to train troops. However, using virtual training aids, we are moving
away from our most essential resource, the NCO. The NCO is the backbone of the
Army(Unite States Department of the Army, 1998). However, we took the NCOs'
opportunity to pass on their knowledge. Training circulars, technical manuals, and
field manuals can only go far. Experience is the missing piece. Experience can only
be gained by doing. So let us move away from virtual training and use our NCOs to
train soldiers and strengthen the Army's future.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently, given what you have learned about
this frame.

I look back and think about the time of my initial training. Of course, I remember
reading actual books. However, I also remember asking questions. I remember
turning knobs and tightening bolts. However, most importantly, I remember SSG
Quinones. SSG Quinones taught me how to operate the 600GPD reverse osmosis
water purification unit (ROWPU). I also remembered not tightening, not securing
the bolts on a pipe elbow, and getting all wet as a result. Needless to say, I never did
that again.

Let us bring back the knowledge to the training site. We need to allow the NCOs to
do their job. Their knowledge will be lost unless we have them teaching the new
recruits back at the home units where the new recruits end up. The senior NCOs
play another role. They are the staff; they do the planning and the advising to the
commanders. The schoolhouses are the last place the senior NCOs can share their
knowledge. Nevertheless, now they are being replaced with virtual simulators.
Simulators can't share experiences, they never been to war, and will never be able to
understand how a soldier thinks.

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 Reference or References

References
Bolman, L. G. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (6th ed.). San
Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass (ASU Bookstore Automatic Purchase-Perusall Version
Only).

Garamone, J. (2018, April 20). Army Secretary, Senior NCO Discuss Retention, Modernazation.
DOD NEWS.

Unite States Department of the Army. (1998). The Army noncommissioned officer guide.
Department of The Army.