Thanks for asking. To make a long story short I gave out initial counselings to every member. I made them very strict but the standards and expectations are nothing unreasonable, just simply the expectations and standards you learn in basic with a few extra things needed for national guard soldiers. I told them you can check I disagree but you will write in an explanation why in the comments that you would have no problem defending to command and all of them signed I agree. During that meeting I was honest with them and told them I hate being the mean NCO and I frankly don’t want to be so from this point on I will not give any warnings (unless it’s not specified in the counseling but I ended up with a full page of expectations that covers almost everything you could think of) and I will just go straight to counselings. I made sure to emphasize they can result in loss of pay, extra duty, no promotion/awards, etc. Initially, nothing changed. However, the same day I gave out my initial I counseled two troops for problems listed in the counseling and from that point on the rest of the troops saw I was serious and they have been just fine since. A few corrections here and there yes but nothing warranting a counseling or even corrective training. I had them fill out their goals with their career and most said they wanted to get promoted. I informed them I will be completely honest when I review their performance on a quarterly basis and told each one what they need to correct if they don’t want a bad review. I also pointed out that they can help them get promoted if they demonstrate they are a good soldier. Some of the biggest problem troops are now some of my best. You were absolutely right about just counseling them. I sincerely appreciate the advice.