Experiences as a Writer
Derrick Wiley
Dr. Lynda Mubarak
English 090

7/15/2012

Experiences as a Writer
I have had a lot of experiences as a writer during my enlistment in the military. As a corporal in the United States army one of my job requirements as an upcoming NCO was to have good writing skills. With the responsibility of being a mentor over soldiers it was very important to write what we call counseling statements, also known as (DA form 4856). A counseling statement had to be written at the end of every month or when the soldier did something out of army regulations. If a soldier was up for promotion or demotion the company commander would review the counseling’s to make a final decision, correct spelling, time stamps, and perfect word selection must be correct or the counseling would be thrown out. [This is a great way to explain what a counseling statement is and how it is used in the military. Nice work, Derrick!]
Being a good writer in the military could lead up to rewards, special jobs with the commander, good criticism, and other great things. When it comes to being a bad writer in the military various problems could be coming your way such as these: bad criticism, loss of upcoming promotions, and demotion. Bad writing skills could also confuse the supervisor who is reading the report, or even cause confusion on the point that needs to come across to readers. Writing in the military is a part of the backbone of the army that’s another reason why supervisors frown upon bad writing skills.
There was a time were my writing skills were questioned in the army. Such as the time when a solider of mine was do for promotion to specialist. I had to present all of the good counseling statements to the commander for review. The commander read a few of my counseling’s and noticed that I misspelled a few words in my paper