Sponsorship, Integration Counseling, and Mentorship: We Have To Do It Better

By Sgt. 1st Class Michael R. Holguin

Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, and U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence

Feb. 13, 2026

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Soldiers arriving at new units often face uncertainty from lack of sponsorship, clear information about the organization, and mentorship from their new leadership. Why do leaders sometimes overlook something this important and what implications does it have for Soldiers’ new unit experience?

The Army’s current approach to sponsorship, integration counseling, and mentorship is inefficient and inconsistent, leaving Soldiers unprepared, disconnected, and undervalued. To address this issue, these processes must shift from bureaucratic “checklists” to deliberate and meaningful encounters. If we do not make this shift, the Army will continue to have Soldiers who lack motivation and serve without purpose.

Previous attempts were made to improve integration by introducing the Army Career Tracker and the Developmental Counseling Form, an interactive Department of the Army (DA) 4856 form, but neither has produced substantial positive results.

These functions must evolve into structured, measurable efforts that provide Soldiers more development opportunities and an increased level of care. The outcome would be better readiness, higher morale, and stronger unit cohesion. But to understand why current processes fail, we need to examine their history and purpose.

Integration History and Background

Army doctrine guides sponsorship, counseling, and mentorship. Each has programs like the Total Army Sponsorship Program (TASP) and organization-led mentorship programs. It is important to understand that these three functions combine to provide the foundation for better Soldier integration. Let’s discuss each one in more detail to understand what each program provides Soldiers.

Core Pillars of Soldier Development

Since 1993, TASP has attempted to make Soldiers’ permanent change of station (PCS) moves less stressful and more predictable (Bunn, 2014). Army sponsorship aims to assist them, civilians, and their families in transitioning to a new duty station.

Army counseling has been around since 1974 and has seen improvements many times, leading to the newly developed interactive form DA 4856 (Collins, 2021). Counseling is the Army’s preferred method of evaluating a Soldier’s performance, potential, and conduct.

The army mentorship program officially began July 2005 and was designed to encourage “mentoring relationships between Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians beyond the chain of command” (DA, 2013).

Mentorship aims to aid in professional and personal growth through counsel and initiatives to check on leaders and Soldiers’ well-being and development. (DA, 2019a).

Purpose

Army sponsorship has four key purposes focusing on integration (DA, 2019b). Units have their own integration processes that include unit-specific requirements and initial counseling.

Counseling ensures clear expectations, feedback, and plans of action communication (DA, 2024) and lays the groundwork for mentorship. Leaders assess potential and guide Soldiers to career success.

Mentorship complements counseling by focusing on long-term growth rather than specific immediate issues. Despite their intent, these programs face challenges that hinder their effectiveness.

Stuck in the Past

Inconsistency negatively impacts the quality of these programs. Soldiers are not always assigned sponsors, nor do they receive integration (initial) counseling, which ultimately affects mentorship.

“I didn’t receive a sponsor until I got to the unit, and I had to figure things out for myself” (T. Johnson, personal communication, December 7, 2024).

This is a prime example of the domino effect each function has on the other. It shows how not getting a sponsor results in leaders not counseling or mentoring Soldiers on their duties. Let’s start with sponsorship.

Sponsorship Programs Breakdown

TASP coordinators are responsible for assigning sponsors in ACT. When this doesn’t happen because there are no standard operating procedures in place, it is the sole reason for a shortfall in sponsors not being assigned to Soldiers.

The Secretary of the Army addressed by, “directing a 2019 Department of the Army Inspector General TASP inspection, to assess the program’s effectiveness in assisting new and relocating Soldiers” (DA, 2019a).

This inspection is ongoing, and no results exist. Soldiers lose confidence and trust in the unit when they receive no prior contact, and both confidence and trust are key to quality counseling sessions.

Counseling as a Lost Art

Integration counseling is the most important step when adding highly motivated new Soldiers to the unit, but current counseling strategies fail them. Most are templated or retrieved by leaders from previous units under the premise of “not having to recreate the wheel.”

DA 4856 was created as a result (Stenson, 2023). But this new form does not deliver clear and concise information about the unit or Soldiers’ duties. Quality mentorship cannot proceed without leaders who provide effective counseling.

Enhanced Mentorship Through Counseling

Mentorship is the “voluntary developmental relationship that provides the mentee advice and counsel over a period of time” (DA, 2007, p. 6).

Subpar mentoring results when quality goals and expectations are not clearly outlined. With templated counseling sessions, Soldiers feel undervalued because leaders don’t take the time to counsel them in a way conducive to their personal and professional development.

Leaders who do not set personalized counseling goals cannot effectively develop Soldiers’ skills, competence, and self-awareness or morale. Resolving these challenges requires a connected, comprehensive solution.

A Soldier Development Systematic Approach

Implementing a systematic approach is key to resolving problems. Each program must build on preceding programs and tie in to the next. Communication through sponsorship builds trust that leads to confidence in integration counseling efforts. This leads to better, more realistic goal setting and effective mentorship. We must collectively address each program and develop those systems at the most basic level.

Implement Systematic Processes for Sponsorship and Counseling

Organizations must put the same level of emphasis on TASP coordination as they do to duties such as EOL or armorer. Coordinators must have training, meetings, and reports the same as any other inspectable program. A solid program can provide better communication results for inbound Soldiers when someone is directly responsible.

Soldiers should receive integration counseling from their leaders, who know what they do, down to the lowest level, capturing responsibilities they can work up to.

In addition to counseling, leaders need to provide a performance-measures supplement tailored to their unit and section. When Soldiers know what their supervisors look for in their best Soldiers, they can set realistic goals for themselves. This applies especially to NCOs.

Rebuilding the NCOER Support System

Rated NCOs sometimes complete the NCO Evaluation Report (NCOER) support form incorrectly. They cannot effectively complete them without a proper performance-measure supplement to refer to.

Leaders must set performance measures in line with their section’s responsibilities. While this keeps NCOs performing in their primary duty, it prevents them from excelling in additional duties (HQDA, G1, 2023).

Soldiers and NCOs can plan and schedule goals, both long- and short-term, as intended by the ACT after reviewing these performance measures through individual development plans (IDP).

Blueprint for Success and Accountability

The IDP serves as the premier tool to effectively plan out Soldiers’ development. They create their IDP only after leaders counsel them and set goals on which they both agree.

Soldiers identify their realistic and achievable goals during counseling and input them with estimated dates of completion. Any goal can be entered in the IDP, such as earning a higher ACFT score, a certification or competing in a board.

Soldiers make entries based on their leaders’ performance measures. Since the IDP requires leaders to approve and sign, it becomes active and enforceable by Soldiers and leaders.

This holds leaders accountable for ensuring they afford time and resources for their Soldiers to complete IDP goals. This method will give Soldiers purpose, direction, and motivation knowing what opportunities await them.

Conclusion

Integration is ineffective because of outdated sponsorship, counseling, and mentorship processes. Leaders perform these tasks out of obligation, using mediocre methods and with no accountability, leaving Soldiers with poor developmental experiences.

Implementing a system that combines all three areas of emphasis, to make them dependent on each preceding and following action, gives a sense of certainty to new Soldiers and creates greater cohesion, motivation, and development for both leaders and subordinates.

References

Bunn, J. (2014). The total army sponsorship program. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. https://www.dvidshub.net/news/135024/total-army-sponsorship-program

Collins, C. (2021). Counseling and Leader Development in the Digital Age. NCO Journal. https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO Journal/Archives/2021/January/Counseling-and-Leader-Development-in-the-Digital-Age/

Department of the Army. (2005). Army mentorship handbook. https://rdl.train.army.mil/catalog-ws/view/100.ATSC/418B8428-69FF-4332-A5A6-9F86962449E5-1300756734450/158-L-7012/7012_Mentorship.pdf

Department of the Army. (2007). Army regulation 600-100: Army leadership. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN41851-AR_600-100-000-WEB-1.pdf

Department of the Army. (2013). Army mentorship program. Army Stand-TO. https://www.army.mil/standto/archive/2013/12/09/#:~:text=The%20Army%20Mentorship%20Program%20was,the%20U.S.%20Army's%20future%20leaders

Department of the Army. (2018). Counseling. U.S. Army Garrison. https://home.army.mil/stuttgart/9615/4712/5688/counseling.pdf

Department of the Army. (2019a). Total army sponsorship program. U.S Army Stand-TO. https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/TASP/index.html

Department of the Army. (2019b). The total army sponsorship program: Army regulation 600-8-8. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN45376-AR_600-8-8-004-WEB-7.pdf

Department of the Army. (2024). Army techniques publication 6-22.1: Providing feedback: Counseling-coaching-mentoring. https://rdl.train.army.mil/catalog-ws/view/100.ATSC/2BB99768-8195-4CE6-A8AA-97D78A14849C-1404404971500/ATP6_22x1.pdf

Stenson, R. (2023). Leaders take note: The army’s counseling form gets a much-needed update. www.army.mil. https://www.army.mil/article/264745/leaders_take_note_the_armys_counseling_form_gets_a_much_needed_update

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