Keeping Your Life in Balance and Handling any Issues that Arise
Keeping the boss, your family and your unit all happy can be difficult at times. All of them want you for your talents and each needs you at 100% all of the time. The trick is to balance your commitments so that you can be what you need to be to each of them. Be responsible to your family, your unit and to your employer and find your balance and life can run a little smoother.
After more than a decade of war, most employers now understand that serving your country in the Guard and reserves is not only a commitment of the service member but that of the company that you work for, too. As the services have chosen to cut the budgets of the Guard and reserves, we may see a return to the one weekend a month and two weeks out of the year in the future, but for now, the part-time commitment that was promised many years ago has turned into more of a full-time commitment for most.
All About Balance
It is a word that really doesn’t make sense until you see people who are out of balance in their lives and things start to fall apart. Thinking back to the classic TV shows of yesteryear, there was a spate of performers who would amaze the audiences by spinning plates on long sticks, all going at a terrific rate. The performer would rush from one plate to another, spinning precariously above their heads, the plates always on the verge of crashing down if the performer did not expertly keep them spinning and balanced on the stick. Sometimes being in the Guard and reserves is just like that, rushing from one event to another, expertly trying to keep all of your plates (family, boss, unit…) balanced and spinning.
Having a family, a career in the military and a “real” job is hard, but anything in life that is worthwhile is hard to do. Planning, executing on time, and dedication is the key to keeping the balance going and keeping each of your responsibilities spinning as they should.
Write it Down
Typically, when you started off your military career or even when you were still in school, others made your daily plan and you just had to follow it to get by. But as you have gotten older and now are responsible for yourself and all the activities you are into, you probably have made a plan for your time. As you take on more and more responsibilities, you have to plan more and more. Working out drill dates, school dates, soccer dates, and date dates are all important to keeping that balance going. Being on time and well-organized does not happen by accident. Bust open that calendar on your smart phone or the old-fashioned hard copy kind and start recording the 5Ws in your daily life. The Who, What, Where, When and Why is just as important in daily life as it is in the five paragraph operation order used in your military life. God forbid you miss an anniversary, daughter’s volleyball game or that Friday night of drill weekend.
As a wise NCO once told me, the shortest pencil is greater than the longest memory. Write it down, input it on your device and plan your time accordingly. Having the ability to recall your dates is paramount. How many times has someone asked if you were free on a certain day or time and you just had to guess? With all the electronics available today, there should be little excuse for anyone to not be able to recall when and where they have to be on any certain day. Even the “old school” types can write on a pocket-sized calendar to keep themselves organized. Pick a method, use it and keep your calendar updated. It takes a while to get used to it, but if you keep at using your chosen method, it soon becomes a habit and keeps you on track. Now that you have a plan, have everything recorded or written down, make sure you stick to the plan. Another wise Soldier once told me, plan the dive and dive the plan — it’s the same with your daily and weekly activities.
ESGR Help
Keeping your boss happy is tough when you disappear for a few weeks every summer. One positive out of the last decade of war is that now most everyone understands that all of the components go to war and all need to train to be ready for their jobs when called to defend the nation and prosecute her wars. Time off from your “real” job is needed to do the training and there are some techniques that you can use to keep everyone happy. A great place to look for some of these tips is at the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) website
(www.esgr.mil).
The ESGR website has great tips to help keep you out of hot water with your employer and explains your legal rights if things get difficult. The site points out that you have a great deal of responsibility when it comes to going to annual training or being mobilized: You must provide your employer prior notice that you will be absent due to military service and give them ample time as you can to let them plan for your departure. It is never, and to repeat, never a good thing to walk up to your boss on a Friday to tell them that you will be gone for a few weeks starting that Monday morning. This is poor form and will cause many sad faces throughout your place of employment. Let them know as early as you can as they, too, have to plan out for someone else to do all the things that you do on a daily basis.
If available at your place of employment, make sure you talk to your human resources department to ensure that they know there are rules and laws that protect you while you are gone for training. Also, make sure you understand all of the rules that they may have as far as military training benefits that they may offer while you are away. For some lucky folks, pay and allowances (like dental or vision insurance and seniority) do not stop when you are away training, allowing those citizen-Soldiers to “double-dip” and not lose any money or benefits. Other companies have various military recognition plans that can enable the service member benefits that others may not receive, but you must ask to know. Just like barracks lawyers, rumors or “hey I heard” doesn’t cut it in the military, so it does no one any good to go off things you “heard” when you are talking about your civilian job and military leave/training time. Go to the experts and find out for yourself. Knowledge is power and allows you to plan accordingly.
What do you do if your employer proves difficult? There is help through the ESGR as well. On the ESGR website, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994, is a federal law established to protect the rights and responsibilities for uniformed service members AND their civilian employers. Furthermore, the website states that USERRA is a federal law intended to ensure that persons who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard or other uniformed services:
- are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their service
- are promptly reemployed in their civilian jobs upon their return from duty
- are not discriminated against in employment based on past, present, or future military service.
The law is intended to encourage non-career uniformed service so that the United States can enjoy the protection of those services, staffed by qualified people, while maintaining a balance with the needs of private and public employers who also depend on these same individuals.
USERRA protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntarily leave employment positions to perform service in the uniformed services to include certain types of service in the National Disaster Medical System and the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service.
USERRA affects employment, reem-ployment and retention in employ-ment, when employees serve in the uniformed services. USERRA also pro-hibits employers from discriminating against past and present members of the uniformed services, and applicants to the uniformed services.
ESGR informs and educates service members and their civilian employers regarding their rights and responsibilities governed by USERRA. ESGR does not enforce USERRA, but serves as a neutral, free resource for employers and service members.
Spend some time on the ESGR website and you will educate yourself on what is available as a tool for you to use as well as what the laws say that protect you in your military profession. Your spouse and family members can also benefit from the site and educate themselves on the laws, volunteer opportunities, and even connect with other spouses and find other helpful tips and checklists.
While the wars may be winding down into a slightly less frantic grind, and the callups and extra training time prove less frequent, your membership in the Guard and reserves is still just as rewarding as ever. Those hectic times are still out there in your daily life as you have responsibilities to family, employers and the service, but keeping it all in balance is the key to not failing in one or all. Use your planning talents, your disciplined use of keeping track of times and dates and use the resources on the web to make sure you are keeping your boss, family and unit all happy as you juggle your time to fulfill these important commitments. ?
—COL R. Brian Williams is preparing to retire after 30 years in the Army, where he served as an active duty Soldier, an M-Day National Guardsman and an AGR officer. He currently teaches at the U.S. Army war College in Carlisle, Pa.