NAVMC 2795 - USMC User's Guide to Counseling

Scope

NAVMC 2795 is the USMC User's Guide to Counseling. The manual provides the procedural and practical framework for Marine Corps counseling sessions. It defines the four counseling types (coaching, teaching, mentoring, and counseling), establishes mandatory counseling occasion and cadence requirements, prescribes session structure, and provides techniques for target-setting, questioning, active listening, and feedback. The guide is the companion reference to MCO 1500.61 Marine Leader Development and the performance counseling framework within the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System.

Audience

NCOs and SNCOs conducting mandatory performance counseling sessions with their Marines. Leaders setting performance targets, delivering feedback, and documenting sessions. Commanders establishing unit counseling programs and verifying NCO compliance with cadence requirements.

Chapter map

The manual contains five chapters and appendices. Chapter 1 defines counseling and its relationship to coaching, teaching, and mentoring. Chapter 2 establishes counseling occasions and cadence requirements (paragraphs 2001.1 through 2001.3). Chapter 3 covers Initial Counseling Session (ICS) structure and preparation (paragraphs 3001 through 3005). Chapter 4 covers counseling techniques including target-setting (4002), questioning methods (4003.1), active listening (4003.2), and feedback delivery (4003.3). Chapter 5 covers counseling pitfalls (paragraphs 5001 through 5002). Appendix A contains counseling worksheets.

Operative content

Counseling Cadence (Chapter 2)

Paragraph 2001.1 triggers the Initial Counseling Session (ICS) when a new senior-junior relationship is established. The ICS deadline is day 30 from the date the relationship begins.

Paragraph 2001.2 sets the cadence for Corporals through Colonels. ICS at day 30. Follow-on session at day 120. Subsequent sessions every 6 months and 90 days after every ICS.

Paragraph 2001.3 sets the cadence for Lance Corporal and below. ICS at day 30. Follow-on sessions every 30 days. Paragraph 2001.3.b assigns NCOs responsibility for the 30-day cycle. Paragraph 2001.3.d describes the informal "blanket-on-the-footlocker" style appropriate for the 30-day session.

Paragraph 2001.3.f addresses Reservists. ICS at day 30. Follow-on sessions every 3 months and once during Annual Training (AT).

Session Structure (Chapter 3)

Paragraph 3001 prescribes preparation requirements for both the senior and the junior before the session. Paragraph 3001.6.g addresses seating arrangement: corner seating or angled chairs, not across a desk.

Paragraphs 3002 through 3004 outline the five movements of the counseling session.

Paragraph 3005.1.i addresses note privacy: session notes remain between the senior and junior, never travel with the Marine to the next senior, and are destroyed when the relationship ends. Paragraph 3005.1.j prescribes the documentation format (the Cpl-and-above worksheet from Appendix A or a leader notebook).

Target Setting (Chapter 4)

Paragraph 4002.1 structures the target-setting framework. Paragraph 4002.1.f describes the required structure. Paragraph 4002.1.h identifies four performance dimensions for target framing. Paragraph 4002.1.i prescribes three to five targets per session. More than five becomes noise.

Questioning and Listening (Chapter 4)

Paragraph 4003.1 defines six question types used in counseling. Paragraph 4003.2 covers active listening including verbal and nonverbal cue reading. Paragraph 4003.3 constrains feedback delivery within four principles. Paragraph 4003.3.b.(2) addresses deliberate use of strengths-based feedback.

Pitfalls (Chapter 5)

Paragraph 5001 identifies one category of counseling pitfall. Paragraph 5002 identifies a second category. Paragraph 5002.2 addresses the self-check process preceding an effective session.

Connection to higher policy

• MCO 1500.61 Marine Leader Development. The governing MCO for the Marine Corps counseling program. NAVMC 2795 is the companion guide.
• MCO 1610.7 Performance Evaluation System. FitRep and proficiency-conduct marks framework. Counseling informs the evaluation but the senior who counsels is not always the senior who writes the FitRep.

Connection to Marine Corps doctrine and lower policy

• The portal's leader counseling series, from overview and cadence through target-setting, styles, and listening-and-feedback pages, resolves session structure and cadence rules through this guide.
• Leader JEPES and FitRep-cycle pages cite the counseling occasions in Chapter 2 as inputs to the evaluation workflow.

Status

Active. Published by Training and Education Command. Companion guide to MCO 1500.61 Marine Leader Development.