The question looms on how do you fix the problems within the department or what do you need to change for the functionality to be successful within said department? There is a few solutions possessing the possibility of how to fix the problems at hand. The annual training plan for the department is the first place to start. It would not need an entire revision but yet a deeper look as to why certain requirements are different among the marines and civilian police officers. Within the annual training plan, the training requirements are listed as well as online training requirements in sections as outlined for the department I work for in particular. So, what needs adjusted to rectify?
Also, what solutions would be fit. There are a few ways I utilized to gather a few solutions which would cover all the given issues from the training and trainers, to the scheduling, and onto the physical requirements within the department. As I mentioned previously the training section needs adjusted for the training received by the department to be fixed. The plan as implemented now, is a training Tuesday which basically means every Tuesday is a training day and each section who is not working shift on that particular Tuesday will attend a receive the training according to the training plan. The problem with is there isn’t a particular order. My proposed solution to this would be to implement a training 2-week block. This would require each shift give up a few members, marines and civilians alike, for the 2-week block and implement all the required training for the given year. It would be left to the shift commanders to keep track of who needs what. Something which must be kept in mind, the trainers are in charge of a system call DHART, which keeps digital track of the training as its being completed. The system is pretty close to flawless, therefore training being tracked no solution would be needed.
This solution would also alleviate any aspect of manpower provided the platoon have leave and other requirements well planned in advance. There would also need to an even divide between the marines and civilians so neither side would fall behind. This is happening now within the department. The marines currently conduct their training on different days. This only happens on occasion therefore, it isn’t necessarily a huge deal but would tie into the argument of training being an issue amongst the marines and civilians. The 2-week training block would allow the training to better conduct evenly across the department. There would some other training which would still need adjusted as there are still different training requirements for both sides of the blended forces. For example, the shooting qualifications aren’t unified for marines and civilians. The shooting qualifications vary among the marines and civilians. It is not a huge variance but there is noticeable difference between the marines and civilians, and it to rectify this a unified shooting qualification would go a long way.
The problem that lies here is the qualifications are different and causes the length of training to be longer and their waste money. It is the additional ammunition and time needed to instruct causes the increase in money. This in turn limits the money to effectively be used for something of training value. To solve this would be to unify the shooting qualifications, thus adjusting and changing the training plan. There would still be some implication for this but ultimately that’s the solution. How do you rectify this as a whole? Well, there is a few options. Firstly, the qualifications would need to be adjusted at the headquarters of the marine corps level. The qualifications for shooting are outlined by then through the Law enforcement manual and cannot be altered. Therefore, departmentally to effect change it would be at that level. If you look at my particular department to effect the change, a proposal would have to route to suggest a unified shooting qualification for Marines and civilians of the blended forces across the Marine corps. If focused on a particular department , such as mine for example, to implement any change to any training (much less shooting qualifications) you must also provide a way to rectify instructor issues within each particular department. The instructors play a huge role in this as well.
The problem with the instructors within my department is the lack of drive and care behind the training they are instructing. There are a few different ways this can be rectified, although some are drastic yet effective. As with some departments, in order to implement change within an organization there must be a pattern of misconduct or physical evidence pointing to misconduct. I do not think the solution would be to fire the trainers, however there must be something implement to effect change to fix the issues at hand. Where should the disciplinary solution begin? There should be an initial level of counseling on any aspect, and because the trainers are on a DOD contract just like the civilian police, they should be susceptible to the same disciplinary actions as needed. This is the solution to the lack of effort implied from the trainers. I am also suggesting a process as the initial counseling would not rectify every situation, therefore escalation would occasionally be necessary. The solution process would be a sort three strikes you are out scenario. Initial counseling, reprimand, suspension, suspension without pay, and finally termination. This would deem an effective solution to all aspects of poor behavior within the department.
