WARTIME PERSONNEL OPERATIONS
Are your peacetime personnel operations in line with what you are going to do in war? If not, what are you doing about getting it fixed? The Army, as a whole, does not adequately train wartime personnel operations. Our failure to do so impacts upon our ability to sustain and reconstitute the force. Take the case of the Personnel Status Report (PDS) used for reporting numbers and MOSs of casualties (DA Form 5367-R).
Problems
The PDS is designed to provide the commander with a snapshot picture of the strength of his subordinate units. From this report, critical shortfalls in officer, warrant officer, or enlisted strength can be descerned, estimated casualties confirmed, and personnel replacements prioritized. Variations in the PDS format are numerous. Is the way you report attached, OPCON, and direct support soldiers in your unit different from the way your adjacent unit does? Do you report by task organization (critical for combat power depiction)? Is it the same on this exercise as it was on the last? Are there training problems associated with the report because it is not used in garrison?
Solution: Practice as You Would Fight
The key to making the system work and providing commanders with timely and accurate strength data is practice in garrison as well as the field. Using the PDS as an example:
- Exercise the PDS at every echelon in garrison (do it "task organized"). Use the soldiers who will have to do it in combat. Too often SIDPERS clerks and other PAC personnel don't go to the field because it interferes with peacetime duties. (Your 76Ys need to know how to fill it out as well; they answer the phone/radio in the ALC too).
- Print detailed instructions on the back of your PDS forms to cover every aspect of preparation (reporting attached, OPCON, DS, etc.). Expand the instructions as necessary in your tactical standard operating procedures.
- RTOs and clerks should have the necessary tools to accurately record each report as it comes in, compile them, and forward them both to the echelon commander and the next higher echelon. The clerks/RTOs require your task organization, calculators, blank forms, and pencils.
Vital Information
Wartime Personnel Operations are not glamorous, but they provide vital information for the commander as he goes through the decision making process and sets priorities. The challenge is to reconcile wartime and peacetime procedures.
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