HUMAN RESOURCES
ADVANCED LEADERS COURSE
BA42A
Monitor the Meal Card Management System
LESSON PLAN
VERSION 2.1
January 2017
U.S. ARMY SOLDIER SUPPORT INSTITUTE
Noncommissioned Officer Academy
Human Resources Advanced Leaders Course
TLO 1.0 – Coordinate Personnel Support
ELO 1.3 – Monitor the Meal Card Management System
LESSON PLAN
Lesson Author: AG Branch, ITD
Date prepared: April 2013
Last update: January 2017
1. SCOPE: Monitor the Meal Card Management System is a 2.0 hour lesson. The lesson includes a review of baseline regulatory policy and guidance regarding the Meal Card Management System. Information added to this foundation focuses on battalion S-1 responsibilities, including program administration, and inspections/audits of the system.
Students will reach the following lesson outcomes through assigned readings, actively participating in class, and completing the practical exercise:
· Enabled to logically communicate regulatory processes and procedures found in AR 600-38, The Meal Card Management System, for the issuance, collection, accountability and safeguarding of meal cards.
· Enabled to systematically monitor meal card management, including conducting the audits and inspections required by regulation.
· Ability to correlate meal card management responsibilities for the Meal Card Book Control Officer (BCO), Meal Card Control Officer (MCCO), the Meal Card Controller (MCC), and the Meal Card Verification Officer (MCVO).
2. LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
ELO 1.3
Action: Monitor the Meal Card Management System
Condition: Mid-grade HR Leaders in a classroom environment working individually and as a member of a small group, using administrative publications (AR 600-38), practical exercises, personal experience, handouts, discussion, and an awareness of the Operational Envrionment (OE) variables and actors.
Standard: Examination includes:
1. Meal Card Management System policies and administration.
2. Recoupment of Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS).
3. Auditing and assessing the Meal Card Management System.
Learning Domain: Cognitive
Level of Learning: Analysis
3. ASSIGNED STUDENT READINGS:
a. Study Requirements:
Study: AR 600-38, The Meal Card Management System, Paragraphs 2-4 through 2-6 (3 page); Chapter 3 (7 pages); Chapter 6 (2 pages); Chapter 7 (2 Pages)
Read: ATP 1-.01, S-1 Operations, Appendix D, Meal Cards Assessment Checklist (pages D-9 and D10) (2 pages)
Scan: AR 600-38, The Meal Card Management System, Chapters 4 and 5
(3 pages).
b. Bring to Class: NA.
c. Be prepared to discuss the following in class:
(1) Responsibilities and Appointment of Control Personnel.
(2) Requisitioning, Issuing, Controlling, and Accounting for Meal Cards.
(3) Identification and Reimbursement for Meals Available in the Field.
(4) Meal Card Verification and Reporting.
4. TRAINING AIDS, REFERENCES, AND RESOURCES:
This lesson is taught in a small group classroom setting with the ability to project PowerPoint slides and multimedia. Additional administrative resources are available digitally for students to reference on their laptops without having the need to print.
Appendix A: Assessment Plan
Appendix B: List of Slides
5. CONDUCT OF LESSON:
a. Lesson Timeline:
10 minutes Concrete Experience: “New Assignment with Meal Card Challenges”
10 minutes Publish and Process
30 minutes Generalize New Information
10 minutes Break
15 minutes Generalize New Information
5 minutes Develop
40 minutes Apply - Practical Exercise
NOTE: The purpose of this lesson is not to impart knowledge and move on – it is to get students thinking about how to effectively monitor meal card operations within their unit. There are not many slides in the lesson, but there is great potential for discussion. Throughout this lesson, solicit from students the challenges they experienced in the operational environment (COE) and what they did to resolve them. Encourage students to apply at least one of the critical variables: Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, Infrastructure, Physical Environment and Time (PMESII-PT). While topic slides do introduce knowledge for consideration, they are primarily designed to start discussions and constantly engage students, even in the GNI portion. The information covered in this lesson is basic, and even students with no background can prepare for the lesson by completing the reading assignment. There is no reason for anyone to not participate.
Your purpose in this block of instruction is to first help students realize they already have a good idea of how to monitor meal card management procedures, to facilitate discussion and critical thought of new information, and then to push students to the next level and have them apply their knowledge in a planning process. Instructors must be thoroughly familiar with the topics and structure of the lesson to properly facilitate a small group. For each topic, ask students “Why is this important – particularly as you prepare for your next assignment?”
The 21st Century Soldier Competencies are essential to ensure Soldiers and leaders are fully prepared to prevail in complex, uncertain environments. This lesson reinforces the following 21st Century Soldier Competencies:
Character and Accountability
Teamwork and Collaboration
Communication and Engagement
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Throughout the lesson discussion seek opportunities to link the competencies with the lesson content through the student’s experiences
b. Concrete Experience (10 min):
Slide 1: Concrete Experience - New AssignmentFocus: Identify Meal Card Management System requirements and key tasks.
CONCRETE EXPERIENCE
1. Allow students to read the slide.
2. Break the team into two groups; one for each question. Each group will have 10 minutes to brainstorm their responses (take a moment to review the basic rules of brainstorming with students if necessary).
3. Responses should be recorded on a white board, butcher block paper, or other means that make each group’s generated responses easy to view by all. Have each group write their question at the top of the response list (this will make it easier when the results are revisited at the end of the lesson).
NOTE: Consider selecting students with less background in this area to be the recorders. It provides a low-stress method to participate and absorb information. The recorder only captures information, but could be responsible to summarize generated information to the other group at the beginning of the process phase. If the recorder has difficulty with any items, team members can help.
c. Publish and Process (10 min). This phase is student-centered and instructor facilitated.
The “publish” portion is a short discussion on how group members felt during their experience of generating data. This phase focuses on the group dynamics during the exercise and is NOT intended to be a discussion of the content generated. This can be kept short; once the group moves to “process,” they will likely continue to add to “publishing” type information. Do not let the group jump straight to content. When well facilitated, publishing is a good method to relate a discussion of interpersonal communication and group dynamics to the broader topic of leader competencies described in FM 6-22, Army Leadership.
Questions the instructor may ask to assist in the publishing phase:
· What happened? How did you feel about that?
· Who had a similar or different experience, and why? Were there any surprises?
· Did anyone have a hard time contributing? Why? (Knowledge, group dynamics, etc.)
· Was everyone engaged in actively listening, or are some trying to dominate? If a “dominator” personality exists, how can you ensure participation and commitment of everyone towards shared knowledge and understanding?
The “processing” phase now allows the group to talk about the data they generated. Discussion and questions are directed toward making sense of the data for the individual and the group. Since the CE question for each group relates to the other, one technique for discussing information may be to go back and forth to see if related items were generated from each group.
Questions the instructor may ask to assist in publishing: (Intent is to push critical thinking. Push students to defend their answers – allow students to hash out ideas).
· Why did you put “item X” on this list? What does it mean to you? (This gets at affective learning and how students find the material relevant from their experiences).
· Did you find that once you got one idea down, it triggered related ideas? (If yes, have them show examples).
· Would you say you saw any themes develop in the list? (e.g., events vs. processes)
· Can you prioritize a list like this? (There may be no right answer to their list, but the more interesting development would be if there is a disagreement between group members. Have them discuss their differences in thought).
· After having talked about this, do you think you left anything critical off?
· Lists like these contain processes that are ongoing, so where do you start?
· Why is there not just one list that already has this task figured out? (Conversation could include doctrinal changes, how doctrine is applied in different situations).
· Did the CE demonstrate that getting all of this information and resources straight will require a plan?
d. Generalize New Information (30 min): Although instructor facilitated, this lesson is designed for student involvement and discussion.
Slide 2: Learning ObjectiveFocus: The Meal Card Management System regulatory guidance, policies, and procedures; S-1 responsibilities for issuing, collecting and safeguarding meal cards.
After completing this lesson, students should be confident in their ability to monitor meal card management system operations in their units.
Discussions in this block relate directly to concepts students will apply in future assignments.
NOTE: Pacing of the GNI phase relies on student interaction. The intent is for the group to discuss the topics presented, and by expressing the importance of these subjects in terms of their own knowledge and experience, to thereby attach “relevance” to the material. The goal is not to just get through the slides. “Hard data” content varies from topic to topic, and when information is provided, it is mainly to serve as anchor points for discussions requiring more critical thinking.
Although there are many questions related to the material that may have “right” answers, facilitators should push students to explain why an answer is “right,” or why one answer may be better than another. Occasionally, students will disagree with you or one another which is great – encourage professional discussion that relies on critical thinking. Learners are more likely to remember these interactions than a bullet on a slide.
After completion of this lesson, students should have an idea of where to start, how to sift through the large amounts of information available to them, and how to categorize and prioritize that information for use in problem solving.
Slide 3: PoliciesFocus: Intent is to get students thinking about the policies related to the Meal Card Management System.
Reference: AR 600-38, para 1-7.
NOTE: Much of this information may have been covered during the publish and process step. Instructor may just use this information to reinforce what was discussed.
Slide 4: Meal Card Management System – Senior Commanders Responsibilities (1 of 2)Focus: Introduce and briefly discuss the responsibilities established under the meal card management system.
Reference: AR 600-38, para 2-4.
1. Senior commanders will—
a. Designate the level (i.e., installation, division, brigade, battalion or below) at which DD Form 714 (Meal Card) issue will take place.
b. Appoint, in writing, a sufficient number of Meal Card Control Book Control Officer(s) (BCO) (officer, service member, or civilian) to ensure adequate control and issue of Meal Card Control Books.
NOTE: Hereafter the Meal Card Control Book Control Officer will be referred to as the Book Control Officer (BCO)
c. Publish procedures to accomplish the following actions:
(1) Prompt issue of meal cards to newly assigned or attached enlisted service members (except BCT and AIT students) entitled to Subsistence–In–Kind (SIK) and the timely turn-in of meal cards when personnel are no longer entitled to SIK.
(2) Issue of replacement meal cards because of name change or for lost, stolen, or mutilated cards.
Slide 5: Meal Card Management System – Senior Commanders Responsibilities (2 of 2)Focus: Introduce and briefly discuss the responsibilities established under the meal card management system.
Reference: AR 600-38, para 2-4.
(3) Issue of temporary meal cards.
(4) Safeguarding of blank meal cards. This may be accomplished by storing in secure containers, such as orderly room safes or in file cabinets with welded lock bar and padlocks.
d. Ensure the installation forms management officer (FMO) issues Meal Card Control Books only to persons officially designated as a BCO.
e. Ensure procedures are established to conduct Meal Card Management System compliance reviews.
f. Establish procedures for appropriate action against persons obtaining meals without proper authorization.
g. Establish procedures to monitor the program for compliance with this regulation and ensure the system is audited per paragraph 3-10, AR 600-38.
h. Require an investigation for all unissued meal cards reported lost or stolen
(AR 15-6).
i. Ensure organizations implement the Scan and Go Headcount Feeding System on their installations.
Slide 6: Meal Card Management System – Regular Army Unit and Organization Commanders Responsibilities (1 of 5)Focus: Introduce and briefly discuss the responsibilities established under the meal card management system.
Reference: AR 600-38, para 2-5.
2. Regular Army unit and organization commanders (who issue meal cards) will—
a. Appoint a sufficient number of MCCOs to provide required controls and issue Meal Cards as speceified herein. MCCOs will be other than installation food service office or subsistence supply management office (SSSMO) personnel.
b. Enusre that all assigned or attached Soldiers who are entitled to SIK (does not include IMT Soldiers) are issued a Meal Card.
c. Ensure Regular Army units provide proper documentation to DFAS when RC Soldiers consume field meals during field duty or field operations.
d. Ensure prompt and appropriate actions are taken when it is determined a meal card has been improperly obtained or fraudently used.
e. Ensure meal card recipients are briefed on safeguarding the meal card and any potential actions that may follow if used inappropriately or misplaced repeatedly. Appoint in writing one meal card verification officer (MCVO) per dining facility regardless of the number of units assigned. The MCVO will be other than food service, SSMO, or meal card control personnel. A MCVO must complete online meal card management training as a condition of appointment.