OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political 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.

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 Noncomission 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 politics of the organization influenced the situation.

The Army itself is not a political entity. However, most all politicians use the Army and
all branches of the military as a pond to gather support. The Army is the largest branch of
the military. Therefore, everyone's eyes always look at what the Army does or doesn't do.
In the public's eyes, the Army is a symbol of freedom. Throughout the world, the US
Army is known as the strongest and best-trained Army in the world. Therefore, the Army
is under constant pressure to remind the top dog. Modernization is the name of the game.

Modernization is the tool that keeps the Army ahead of the competition. However, due to
political pressure, the Army is forced to find new methods to train its recruits. With that
innovative mind, the Army now uses artificial intelligence to train its recruits. However,
by implementing virtual training, the Army is moving away from its most important
resource: its NCOs.

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

The Army is and, in my opinion, should always be the fastest and best trained Army in
the world. First, however, we must remember what got us to the top. The NCOs ensure
the missions get done. They are the backbone of the Army. Therefore, we need to ensure
they continue to share traditions and, in part, wisdom with the new recruits.

The Army needs to stop thinking in terms of the political frame. Instead, we need to think
more in terms of securing our ranks. Together we can modernize our approach to training
and regain our rightful stop at the top of the Armies of the world. Political framing deals
more with finding innovative solutions to differences in opinion. However, when it
comes to training, NCOs know best. So let us do our job.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned about
this frame.
In reflection, I stand by my recommendation. I understand training can be viewed within
multiple framing views. However, I feel the political frame is a crucial frame to consider.
There are two primary schools of thought. The one that wants the Army to use its
innovative mussels to show the world we are still leading the training domain. And the
schools that feel NCOs are ever evolving need very little to develop new methods to train
the troops.

My idea lies between the two. My opinion is to let the NCOs use virtual tools to train the
recruits. Virtual training will never replace actual human beings who have stepped up to
answer a nation's call. It is those humans that are now NCOs. NCOs are ready and willing
to share the knowledge they have learned. Knowledge is only gained through
experiences. Experiences can only be lived. Virtual training only collects data points for
NCOs who are poled to answer questions. However, NCOs are the living experience
willing to share their knowledge with the recruits who will one day lead the way.