Cody Carroll MGMT 535- DIKA and Leadership

     In every organization, there are different levels of leadership. These levels of leadership all have their own tasks to accomplish that all tie into the same overall mission. In my organization, we have Company Commanders, Battalion Commanders, Brigade Commanders, Division Commanders, etc. These are different echelons with the same end goal. Within my organization, there are many achievements and many downfalls. Whenever downfalls occur, Commanders at the lowest echelon try to resolve the issue before it has to go to a higher level of leadership to resolve.

    In situations that occur, leaders within my organization utilize the DIKA model without even knowing it is an actual Model to follow. In the Army, as unfortunate as it is, we have Soldiers that get DUIs more frequently than it should. When a situation like this occurs, that Soldier's Squad Leader, Section Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant, company First Sergeant, and Commander all hear about it first, from the military police station. It is not a situation that deeply involves DIKA because there is usually no investigation needed.

    As a previous Platoon Sergeant, I would conduct my internal investigation as follows dealing with the DIKA model:

Data- Where did it happen? Who was involved? Did anyone get injured?

Information- I would figure out what the main cause was. This usually tells me if the Soldier made a mistake or if there is a deeper underlying issue that I need to address. Along with that, I would figure out exact details such as: BAC level, how fast they were traveling, where they were at when it started, where was the intended destination, and why they didn't have a backup plan if they decided to drink.

Knowledge- I would then provide some information on how the process would go for the Soldier, repercussions, counseling sessions, etc.

Action- After figuring out all of the details, I would counsel the Soldier on the poor choices that were made. After that, usually the Soldier will start the process to get chaptered out of the Army. Before that, they would get command referred to Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), they would get 45 days of extra duty after work hours, and 45 days loss of half pay. After everything is completed, that Soldier would get demoted before getting dishonorably discharged out of the Army.

Then our unit would give extra safety briefings every Friday before a long weekend or holiday on what NOT to do. As a leader, your Soldiers are a reflection of your leadership. If you are involved with them and they respect you, you will not have instances such as DUIs in your direct workplace.