I've been mentoring a young officer who's going through some initial entry training right now. He mentioned to me yesterday that there's a First Command rep who's coming on post, setting up a booth on the hotel's grounds, and talking up young second lieutenants and even junior enlisted troops going through training.
It seems bizarre to me that a private company is peddling its goods and services at an IHG hotel on a military installation. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like this kind of thing, if it's not illegal, is ethically suspect and an abuse of that First Command rep's on-post access.
What might I advise my mentee to do about this?
Full disclosure: I'm very much not a fan of First Command. They push high-fee investment products that yield substandard returns, they lock people into these products early in ways that make it hard for them to take their invested funds and go somewhere else, and I really dislike the way they use the good old boy network and the "trust me, son" dynamic between older and younger leaders.
They're better than not investing/saving at all, and that's about the only good thing I can say about them. They're a business, and their business model focuses on bringing in young folks early in their careers and making it difficult to go elsewhere. I don't like how they operate, but this seems like crossing a line that calls for corrective action.
First Command Booth at an On-Post IHG Hotel?
byu/U235criticality inMilitaryFinance
Posted by U235criticality
1 Comment
Assuming this is an Army post/garrison. First thing I’d do is send a note to the Garrison Command team asking if this sort of activity at the on-post hotel has the blessing of the Garrison Command and IHG, and if it’s gone through a legal review. I’d include the perspective that this is a private predatory financial firm that by being in post gives the perception that the command supports it.
I’d also call IHG and ask the manager for context on allowing FC to set up a booth in the lobby and ask some questions about the ethics of this and if IHG corporate approved such activities.
Keep us posted. Interested to see how this goes.