Talk:First Command Financial Services

Good Article Passed
Well done - a well-written, well-refenced, broad article. With a few more sources, this is a potential FA candidate. ck lostsword|queta!|Suggestions? 11:42, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

First Command Contact
I'm excited... I was contacted via private email by somebody at First Command...they wanted to "correct" some of the mistakes I made (basically changes that have been made since the settlement.) They gave me a bunch of material and data---and I will be going through it to fix the mistakes they pointed out. I'm kind of excited because the person is filling in some gaps that I didn't like. I'm also impressed because the person/company could have made the changes themself, but rather than doing that they are following Wikiguidelines and not editing something about themselves... very cool.Balloonman 19:43, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry it took so long to getting back to this article... it's not at the top of my list and in all honesty it fell into the cracks... and was forgotten. I am, however, committed to seeing it improved.Balloonman 22:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

neutral article?
I have concerns about the neutrality of this article. .... there should be a rewrite of the introduction and a major slimming down of the section devoted to the settlement so that the regulatory action is treated in this article in a way that reflects the treatment of similar actions taken against Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch and other financial companies. .... (posted Balance2214 19:32, 21 October 2007 )

issue resolved
Fixed the neutrality issue by editing the settlement information per my previous posting. Balance2214 19:32, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

POV favoring First Command
If anything, this article comes across as an advertisement for First Command with too many weasel words (e.g. "continuing its long history of supporting America’s military professionals." when in fact First Command SPECIFICALLY targeted military members in their so called "systematic investment plans"...http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2004-170.htm) There's way too many quotes from First Command executives stating how great their company is. Sorry...but in truth the company is sub-par that charges HUGE commissions and expenses to military personnel, yet the article blows sunshine at the reader.

68.35.110.122 (talk) 08:32, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

As suggested by "68.35.110.122," took out the prhase "continuing its long history of supporting America’s military professionals." Could find only one quote from a First Command executive, so took it out. Shared324 (talk) 21:41, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Agree IP, the problem with the article is that people who work for First Command are actively editing away anything critical of the article. The article has a history of covering the SEC investigation into fraud being removed. I have no problem if others want to tweak it, but to remove a key piece of information like that from the article, to insert copyvio's is a joke.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 22:18, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

GA Sweeps&mdash;on Hold
This article has been reviewed as part of WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force in an effort to ensure all listed Good articles continue to meet the Good article criteria. In reviewing the article, I have found there are some issues that may need to be addressed.

1) The lead should be longer&mdash;at least two paragraphs.

2) Many statements in the article need citations I marked them with 'fact' tags.

3) Note 1 does not exist. Please, find a substitute.

I will check back in no less than seven days. If progress is being made and issues are being addressed, the article will remain listed as a Good article. Otherwise, it may be delisted (such a decision may be challenged through WP:GAR). If improved after it has been delisted, it may be nominated at WP:GAN. Feel free to drop a message on my talk page if you have any questions, and many thanks for all the hard work that has gone into this article thus far. Regards, Ruslik (talk) 06:49, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Since the issues have not been resolved I will delist the article. Ruslik (talk) 07:33, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Issues have been resolved. Can it be nominated for relisting as a Good article?Balance2214 (talk) 21:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Copyright violation?
At least a portion of the early years section was taken nearly verbatim from here. The formating and tone much of the rest of the history section raises suspition that that material may have also been copied. Does anyone have either a link to the magazine refered to or access to those issues to verify. If I'm misunderstanding the source of this material, please restore it (and improve it's readability a bit).--Rtphokie (talk) 21:54, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

History
I have no problem with expanding the history---or even having this history before the SEC investigation piece. But taking what appears to be sound bytes from different sources and cutting and pasting doesn't work. The stuff that Balance keeps adding back, was removed by Rthphokie because he saw it as a copyvio. I don't see it as such, but I do see it as poorly written bullet points. Shape it into something coherent, with a NPOV, then we can move it up. In it's current format, I'll leave it there in good faith, but it needs to be cleaned up.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 21:59, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Following Controversy
Section fails to address changes made in wake of controversy and how business model changed in response to SEC/NASD findings. Content is limited to product expansion (insurance), corporate sponsorship decisions (Armed Forces Bowl), corporate and individual good deeds, and awards received.

Recommend this section be eliminated, with awards going in the appropriate section, corporate philanthropy content moving to "Partnerships" or "Charity", and introduction of expanded product lines merging with similar content in "History". Jsprag (talk) 07:10, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

POV isn't neutral
This section appears to be used as an attack on First Command. first, word usage unsupported by sources. For example: “On 15 December 2004, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found First Command guilty…” Apparently the source is Admin. Proc. File No. 3-11770. But nowhere in that doc can you find the word “guilty.” It’s not in the newspaper stories, either. In fact there was no finding of guilt in this matter. Phrases like "highly critical" are not factual, either, and suggest an unnecessarily negative tone designed not to convey facts but inflame sentiments. The article was delisted last year in part for statements that were not supported by citations. Also, the overall word count of the material on SEC settlement is far longer here than for similar actions against other financial companies. Three separate titles with the word "settlement" is unnecessary and appears designed to draw unnecessary attention to one aspect of subject. Balance2214 (talk) 00:53, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That's fine, that's what a collaborative article is about, to work through these nuiances. But the wholesale reversals is unacceptable.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 01:39, 23 April 2009 (UTC)  I got rid of the word guilty, and replaced it with the words used in the SEC finding "willfully violated".  As for the section headers, we can work on that... we need more breaks in the article as is.  IF we are going to include the stuff that is currently at the bottom.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 01:55, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
 * About the use of highly critical, I think that is a fair statement considering that just about every number has something critical to say about the advertising materials. The first half of the summary describes the claims made in tehe marketting materials and highlights areas where the SEC felt that they were incorrect.  From bullet point 19-28, you start seeing statements that are highly critical of First Command's marketting.  I could quote them here, but that would be overkill.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 03:00, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I was asked to take an outsider's view of the neutrality of the SEC investigation section, and it is that although I don't think that it misrepresented the case it nevertheless gave too much weight to relatively unimportant details, thereby overbalancing the article. I've chopped out some of the material and hope that agreement can now be reached to remove that ghastly and disfiguring POV tag. --Malleus Fatuorum 02:01, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

PS. This article ought to be renamed First Command Financial Planning, as per the MoS.. --Malleus Fatuorum 02:10, 28 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Removed large section of the article per your guidance.--- I'm Spartacus!  NO! I'm Spartacus! 17:24, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

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COI Edit Requests
First Command is a client of mine, and I am requesting edits to its Wikipedia article here in accordance with the best practices for editors with close associations. Please let me know if additional sourcing is needed or if I can format these requested edits in a way that is more suitable for review.


 * The First Command logo in the article is not First Command's primary logo. Please replace the current logo with the logo housed here.
 * J. Scott Spiker is no longer the Chairman/CEO of First Command. He is now the Executive Chairman. In the Key People section, please replace J. Scott Spiker's job title of 'President/Chief Executive Officer' with 'Executive Chairman'
 * Mark Steffe is now the President and CEO of First Command. Please add 'Mark Steffe, President/Chief Executive Officer' to the Key People section.
 * Numbers in the Business Model section are outdated and missing key figures. Please replace “As of December 31, 2016, First Command had 494 financial advisors serving 276,142 client families with $23.9 billion in managed assets and $56.1 billion in life insurance policies in force.” with:

"As of December 31, 2019, First Command had 178 offices worldwide, with 487 Financial Advisors serving 280,173 client families with $30.0 billion in managed accounts and mutual funds, and $60.2 billion in life insurance coverage in force. 84 percent of First Command’s Financial Advisors were veterans or military spouses, and 74% of client families were active duty or retired/separated military."
 * First Command has established additional partnerships since the last edits to the Partnerships section of the article were made. Please replace "First Command has partnered with several organizations that support military veterans and their families. These include Hiring Our Heroes, Project Sanctuary, the Association of the United States Army, the Marine Corps Marathon, Army West Point Athletics, and the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership." with:

"First Command has partnered with several organizations that support military veterans and their families. These include Hiring Our Heroes, Project Sanctuary, the Association of the United States Army, the Marine Corps Marathon, the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership, the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year®, First Command Educational Foundation and the military athletic programs at the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy. "
 * Changes to the leadership team have occurred since the last update(s) to the Corporate Structure section. Please replace "Scott Spiker became the first Chief Executive Officer recruited from outside the company in September 2007 after holding top leadership positions at Norwest Corp., RBC Dain Rauscher, Definity Health, Stanton Group and Destiny Health.[26] In 2017, Spiker was elected into a dual role as Chairman of the Board and CEO.[17] The rest of the board includes Mark D. Steffe as President, Kirk Olliff as Executive Vice President and National Director of Advisor Operations, Michael F. Morrison as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hugh A. Simpson as Executive Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary, W. David White as President of First Command Bank, Jill Lyttle as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Leadership Development, Jerry Wackerhagen as Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology, Kellie Richter as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer and Mike Theres, CFP® as Senior Vice President of Advisor Services.[18]" with:

"Scott Spiker became Executive Chairman in January 2020.   He joined the company as Chief Executive Officer in September 2007 after holding top leadership positions at Norwest Corp., RBC Dain Rauscher, Definity Health, Stanton Group and Destiny Health. The rest of the Executive Leadership Team includes Mark Steffe as President/CEO, Kirk Olliff as Executive Vice President and National Director of Advisor Operations, Jill Lyttle as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Leadership Development, Kellie Richter as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer, Amy Doherty as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Sunday Grace as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hugh A. Simpson as Executive Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary, Mike Theres, CFP® as Senior Vice President of Advisor Services, Tim Marling as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and W. David White as President and CEO of First Command Bank."
 * For its Financial Behaviors Index, First Command surveys active-duty service members in pay grades E-5 and above, not in pay grades E-6 and above. In the First Command Financial Behaviors Index section, please replace "The survey includes active-duty service members in pay grades E-6 and above.” with:

"The survey includes active-duty service members in pay grades E-5 and above."
 * First Command has received additional awards and recognition since the last update(s) to the Awards and Recognitions section. As the section is currently listed in descending order, please add the following bullet points to the top of the Awards and Recognition section to reflect recent awards and recognitions received:

• For 2020, First Command was ranked by Military Friendly® as a Top 10 Gold Employer and Top 10 Brand and recognized as a Military Friendly Company and Spouse Employer. • In June 2019, First Command received the LIMRA Gold Creative Connections Award for its Government Shutdown Assistance program, serving Coast Guard and other federal employee clients impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown to help to bridge shortfalls in household cash flow through interest-free loans and other services. • In May 2019, First Command was named a 2019 Best for Vets Employer by Military Times. • In April 2019, First Command was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group.
 * First Command has engaged in additional charitable activity since the Charity Involvement section was last updated. Please add the following to the existing section, below the paragraph about the First Command Educational Foundation:

"First Command responded to the 2018-2019 government shutdown with an $11 million financial relief package for military families, government employees and others who were experiencing financial stress related to the shutdown.      The program included the offer of $6.1 million in interest-free direct deposit payroll advances to more than 2,500 federal employees and Coast Guard members. In January 2019, First Command announced that it was partnering with Coast Guard Mutual Assistance to offer interest-free loans to Coast Guard members and their families facing financial challenges due to the government shutdown that started in December 2018. First Command extended a $5 million unsecured, interest-free line of credit to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance for the purpose of making interest-free loans to Coast Guardsmen who were negatively affected by the shutdown. These outreach efforts were recognized with a national award from LIMRA, a not-for-profit association serving the financial services industry."

DP292 (talk) 23:56, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

Reply 19-FEB-2020

 * Your edit request could not be implemented because the provided references are not formatted correctly. The citation style predominantly used by the First Command Financial Planning article is a mixture of plain ref tags and Citation Style 1 (CS1). The citation style used in the edit request consists of bare URL's. Any requested edit of yours which may be implemented will need to resemble one of the current styles already in use in the article. (See WP:CITEVAR.) In the extended section below titled Citation style, I have illustrated two examples: one showing how the edit request was submitted, and another showing how requests should be submitted in the future:

Bare URL reference formatting: The Sun's diameter is 864,337 miles,[1] while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles.[2] The Sun's temperature is 5,778 Kelvin.[3]

References

1. 2.  3.

In the example above there are three URL's provided with the claim statements, but these URL's have not been placed using either plain ref tags or Citation Style 1, which are the two styles used by the First Command Financial Planning article. The COI editor should pick one of the two styles for their edit request. An example of one of those styles, CS1, is shown below:

Citation Style 1 formatting: The Sun's diameter is 864,337 miles, while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles. The Sun's temperature is 5,778 Kelvin. Which displays as: The Sun's diameter is 864,337 miles,[1] while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles.[2] The Sun's temperature is 5,778 Kelvin.[3]

References

^ Sjöblad, Tristan. . Academic Press, 2020, p. 1. ^ Harinath, Prisha. (2020)., Science, 51(78):46. ^ Uemura, Shū. . Academic Press, 2020, p. 2. 

In the example above the references have been formatted according to Citation Style 1, which shows the author, the source's name, date, etc., all information which is lost when only the links are provided. As Wikipedia is a volunteer project, edit requests such as yours are generally expected to have this formatting done before the request is submitted for review.


 * Kindly resubmit the edit request below at your earliest convenience, taking care to ensure that it makes use of either plain ref tags or CS1, which are the two styles used by the article. If you have any questions about this formatting please don't hesitate to ask myself or another editor.

Regards, Spintendo  01:59, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

Reply 24-FEB-2020
Thank you for your guidance. I've reformatted the references below. Please let me know if further adjustments are needed.

"As of December 31, 2019, First Command had 178 offices worldwide, with 487 Financial Advisors serving 280,173 client families with $30.0 billion in managed accounts and mutual funds, and $60.2 billion in life insurance coverage in force. 84 percent of First Command’s Financial Advisors were veterans or military spouses, and 74% of client families were active duty or retired/separated military."
 * The First Command logo in the article is not First Command's primary logo. Please replace the current logo with the logo housed here.
 * J. Scott Spiker is no longer the Chairman/CEO of First Command. He is now the Executive Chairman. In the Key People section, please replace J. Scott Spiker's job title of 'President/Chief Executive Officer' with 'Executive Chairman'
 * Mark Steffe is now the President and CEO of First Command. Please add 'Mark Steffe, President/Chief Executive Officer' to the Key People section.
 * Numbers in the Business Model section are outdated and missing key figures. Please replace “As of December 31, 2016, First Command had 494 financial advisors serving 276,142 client families with $23.9 billion in managed assets and $56.1 billion in life insurance policies in force.” with:
 * First Command has established additional partnerships since the last edits to the Partnerships section of the article were made. Please replace "First Command has partnered with several organizations that support military veterans and their families. These include Hiring Our Heroes, Project Sanctuary, the Association of the United States Army, the Marine Corps Marathon, Army West Point Athletics, and the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership." with:

"First Command has partnered with several organizations that support military veterans and their families. These include Hiring Our Heroes, Project Sanctuary, the Association of the United States Army, the Marine Corps Marathon, the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership, the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year®, First Command Educational Foundation and the military athletic programs at the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy. "
 * Changes to the leadership team have occurred since the last update(s) to the Corporate Structure section. Please replace "Scott Spiker became the first Chief Executive Officer recruited from outside the company in September 2007 after holding top leadership positions at Norwest Corp., RBC Dain Rauscher, Definity Health, Stanton Group and Destiny Health.[26] In 2017, Spiker was elected into a dual role as Chairman of the Board and CEO.[17] The rest of the board includes Mark D. Steffe as President, Kirk Olliff as Executive Vice President and National Director of Advisor Operations, Michael F. Morrison as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hugh A. Simpson as Executive Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary, W. David White as President of First Command Bank, Jill Lyttle as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Leadership Development, Jerry Wackerhagen as Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology, Kellie Richter as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer and Mike Theres, CFP® as Senior Vice President of Advisor Services.[18]" with:

"Scott Spiker became Executive Chairman in January 2020.   He joined the company as Chief Executive Officer in September 2007 after holding top leadership positions at Norwest Corp., RBC Dain Rauscher, Definity Health, Stanton Group and Destiny Health. The rest of the Executive Leadership Team includes Mark Steffe as President/CEO, Kirk Olliff as Executive Vice President and National Director of Advisor Operations, Jill Lyttle as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Leadership Development, Kellie Richter as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer, Amy Doherty as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Sunday Grace as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hugh A. Simpson as Executive Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary, Mike Theres, CFP® as Senior Vice President of Advisor Services, Tim Marling as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and W. David White as President and CEO of First Command Bank."
 * For its Financial Behaviors Index, First Command surveys active-duty service members in pay grades E-5 and above, not in pay grades E-6 and above. In the First Command Financial Behaviors Index section, please replace "The survey includes active-duty service members in pay grades E-6 and above.” with:

"The survey includes active-duty service members in pay grades E-5 and above."
 * First Command has received additional awards and recognition since the last update(s) to the Awards and Recognitions section. As the section is currently listed in descending order, please add the following bullet points to the top of the Awards and Recognition section to reflect recent awards and recognitions received:

• For 2020, First Command was ranked by Military Friendly® as a Top 10 Gold Employer and Top 10 Brand and recognized as a Military Friendly Company and Spouse Employer. • In June 2019, First Command received the LIMRA Gold Creative Connections Award for its Government Shutdown Assistance program, serving Coast Guard and other federal employee clients impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown to help to bridge shortfalls in household cash flow through interest-free loans and other services. • In May 2019, First Command was named a 2019 Best for Vets Employer by Military Times. • In April 2019, First Command was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group
 * First Command has engaged in additional charitable activity since the Charity Involvement section was last updated. Please add the following to the existing section, below the paragraph about the First Command Educational Foundation:

"First Command responded to the 2018-2019 government shutdown with an $11 million financial relief package for military families, government employees and others who were experiencing financial stress related to the shutdown.      The program included the offer of $6.1 million in interest-free direct deposit payroll advances to more than 2,500 federal employees and Coast Guard members. In January 2019, First Command announced that it was partnering with Coast Guard Mutual Assistance to offer interest-free loans to Coast Guard members and their families facing financial challenges due to the government shutdown that started in December 2018. First Command extended a $5 million unsecured, interest-free line of credit to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance for the purpose of making interest-free loans to Coast Guardsmen who were negatively affected by the shutdown. These outreach efforts were recognized with a national award from LIMRA, a not-for-profit association serving the financial services industry."

DP292 (talk) 17:39, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

Reply 26-FEB-2020
Below you will see where proposals from your request have been quoted with reviewer decisions and feedback inserted underneath, either accepting, declining or otherwise commenting upon your proposal(s). Please read the enclosed notes within the proposal review section below for information on each request. Spintendo 03:35, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

Reply 3-MARCH-2020
Thank you for the additional feedback. I have clarified the meaning of "partnered," revised the text for the section on First Command's leadership to include details only for the top two positions at the company, and included Wikilinks for the awards listed, where possible (though the awards themselves do not have Wikilinks). Regarding the NOBLECAUSE feedback, would it be acceptable to include mention of First Command's support for Coast Guard Mutual Assistance during the 2018-2019 government shutdown in the partnerships section, if not in a dedicated charity involvement section, with the following text (if so, references will be added to a subsequent request):

"During the 2018-2019 government shutdown, First Command provided a $5 million unsecured, interest-free line of credit to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance for the purpose of making interest-free loans to Coast Guardsmen who were negatively affected by the shutdown." DP292 (talk) 04:09, 4 March 2020 (UTC)


 * "First Command provides sponsorship dollars and other non-financial support to several organizations that support military veterans and their families. These include Hiring Our Heroes, Project Sanctuary, the Association of the United States Army, the Marine Corps Marathon, the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership, the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year®, First Command Educational Foundation and the military athletic programs at the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy. "


 * The current President and Chief Executive Officer is Mark Steffe. He joined the company in March 2010 after serving in a number of leadership roles with major companies in the financial services industry, including TIAA (formerly TIAA-CREF) and UBS Financial Services (formerly PaineWebber). Since joining First Command as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff of Advisor Operations, Steffe has been promoted into several leadership positions. He was promoted to President in April 2017 and added the title of COO in 2018. Also, he has a seat on the First Command Board of Directors. In January 2020, Steffe accepted the role of President and Chief Executive Officer as part of an in-depth leadership transition plan. Scott Spiker, the company’s CEO since 2008, became Executive Chairman in January 2020. He joined the company as Chief Executive Officer in September 2007 after holding top leadership positions at Norwest Corp., RBC Dain Rauscher, Definity Health, Stanton Group and Destiny Health.

For 2020, First Command was ranked by Military Friendly® as a Top 10 Gold Employer and Top 10 Brand and recognized as a Military Friendly Company and Spouse Employer.
 * Awards

In June 2019, First Command received the LIMRA Gold Creative Connections Award for its Government Shutdown Assistance program, serving Coast Guard and other federal employee clients impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown to help to bridge shortfalls in household cash flow through interest-free loans and other services.

In May 2019, First Command was named a 2019 Best for Vets Employer by Military Times.

In April 2019, First Command was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group

DP292 (talk) 04:09, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

Reply 4-MAR-2020
Regards, Spintendo  17:02, 4 March 2020 (UTC)
 * 1) ✅ The prose regarding the president and executive chairman was added to the article.
 * 2) ❌ The prose regarding the partnerships was not added, as the definition of partner offered by the COI editor indicates that these are run of the WP:MILL business associations rather than unique characteristics of the organization itself.
 * 3) ❌ The awards section was not added, as none of the awards were found to be independently notable in Wikipedia.

RfC on historical significance of First Command's relief program for military families during 2018/2019 government shutdown
Will mention of First Command's financial relief for military families during the 2018/2019 government shutdown in the History section of the article leave the balance unchecked? DP292 (talk) 23:02, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

For reference, there is additional discussion of this question here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DP292 (talk • contribs) 23:04, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Include only with third-party sources - Lots of companies do small works of charity that are mostly attempts to generate positive PR at low cost (and perhaps do a little good in the world) but are not worth mentioning in the companies' Wikipedia articles. (Neither is it worth mentioning many small works of evil or customer delight or dissatisfaction.) I'd leave this out unless it generated coverage in a reliable news outlet that's not simply republishing the company's press release. -- Beland (talk) 13:42, 15 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Include only with third-party sources I have to agree with above. While I think this information is worth adding, only if it was significant enough to warrant 3rd party mention. If they are the only ones proclaiming their assistance either 1) said assistance was insignificant at best or 2) Did it even happen? Can we confirm it? Nightenbelle (talk) 18:41, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

&, thank you for your feedback. I've included links to third party media coverage related to First Command's assistance during the 2018/2019 government shutdown below. Does this meet the threshold as far as you're concerned? If so, what is the best path forward for it to be added to the First Command article? I have a clear conflict of interest and do not want to make edits to the article that compromise its integrity. Would submitting an additional edit request and citing this conversation be acceptable?

Federal News Network, Financial Planning, Military Times, Washington Business Journal, VICE, CNN, Connecting Vets

DP292 (talk) 17:42, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The third-party sources mention this only in the context of lists of lots of financial institutions that are offering help. Might be worth a brief mention in an article about the pandemic response, but maybe not as it's not all that different from retail stores putting things on sale when the economy is not doing well. (I saw such a story about car dealerships recently.) Given that and that it's not mentioned on articles for other financial institutions, I'm disinclined to add it to this article. -- Beland (talk) 19:27, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

COI Edit Requests Round 2
Hi - I have a conflict of interest with this article and have gone through the appropriate channels as I understand them to request edits and seek additional opinions when necessary. As you’ll see in reading through the COI Edit Requests section above, as well as Spintendo’s talk page, there have been mixed opinions about the inclusion of awards. Based on the most recent feedback about the awards (from Galendalia after seeking a third opinion), I believe the new awards requested should be included. Though there seems to be no disagreement about the numbers in the Business Model section, the changes have not made it through in the article. I am resubmitting an edit request for these outstanding changes below.

"As of December 31, 2019, First Command had 178 offices worldwide, with 487 Financial Advisors serving 280,173 client families with $30.0 billion in managed accounts and mutual funds, and $60.2 billion in life insurance coverage in force. 84 percent of First Command’s Financial Advisors were veterans or military spouses, and 74% of client families were active duty or retired/separated military."
 * Numbers in the Business Model section are outdated and missing key figures. Please replace “As of December 31, 2016, First Command had 494 financial advisors serving 276,142 client families with $23.9 billion in managed assets and $56.1 billion in life insurance policies in force.” with:


 * First Command has received additional awards and recognition since the last update(s) to the Awards and Recognitions section. As the section is currently listed in descending order, please add the following bullet points to the top of the Awards and Recognition section to reflect recent awards and recognitions received:

• For 2020, First Command was ranked by Military Friendly® as a Top 10 Gold Employer and Top 10 Brand and recognized as a Military Friendly Company and Spouse Employer. • In June 2019, First Command received the LIMRA Gold Creative Connections Award for its Government Shutdown Assistance program, serving Coast Guard and other federal employee clients impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown to help to bridge shortfalls in household cash flow through interest-free loans and other services. • In May 2019, First Command was named a 2019 Best for Vets Employer by Military Times. • In April 2019, First Command was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group

Thanks, DP292 (talk) 22:36, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
 * {{ping|DP292} Wow, I didn't realise how long the COI backlog was! I updated the numbers. Were did you want to put the recent rewards? &thinsp;Darth&thinsp; Flappy   '&laquo;Talk&raquo;'  23:02, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Reply 19-JUNE-2020
Thanks for making that update,. There was previously an Awards section between the Criticism and Controversy & Charity Involvement sections. Is it possible to restore that in the same location with the addition of the 2019-2020 awards?


 * For 2020, First Command was ranked by Military Friendly® as a Top 10 Gold Employer and Top 10 Brand and recognized as a Military Friendly Company and Spouse Employer.
 * In June 2019, First Command received the LIMRA Gold Creative Connections Award for its Government Shutdown Assistance program, serving Coast Guard and other federal employee clients impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown to help to bridge shortfalls in household cash flow through interest-free loans and other services.
 * In May 2019, First Command was named a 2019 Best for Vets Employer by Military Times.
 * In April 2019, First Command was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group
 * In December, 2016 First Command Financial Services was ranked as one of the Best Places to Work in Texas by Texas Monthly, the Texas Association of Business, Texas Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group.
 * In August, 2016, First Command Financial Services was awarded the Silver Bowl Award for the Best Use of Social for Recruiting by LIMRA and LOMA.
 * In November 2015, First Command Financial Services was named a top employer of military veterans and spouses by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse magazines.
 * In January 2016, Fort Worth Business Named First Command Financial Services as the Best Large Company to work for in Fort Worth.
 * In May 2016, First Command Financial Services won the Most Valuable Employers (MVE) for Military by CivilianJobs.com.

DP292 (talk) 23:19, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I argree with mainly because it looks like an advertisment. However I'm not sure as I think I am a bit more strict about WP:N then most people. I'll leave it for another editor.  &thinsp;Darth&thinsp; Flappy   '&laquo;Talk&raquo;'  15:58, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'd leave the awards out. They don't seem particularly notable. -- Beland (talk) 17:26, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

COI Edit Request - Article Title
First Command is a client of mine, and I am requesting edits to its Wikipedia article here in accordance with the best practices for editors with close associations.

The legal name for First Command Financial Planning, Inc. is now First Command Brokerage Services, Inc. A certificate of amendment was filed by the Secretary of State's office in Texas, where First Command is located, on May 15, 2020. I have paperwork from the Secretary of State's office verifying this information, and am hoping the name of this article can be updated to reflect First Command's legal name. If verification is needed before the article title is updated, is it possible for me to share a PDF of the certificate of amendment via the talk page, or would I need to provide a link to the document on the Texas Secretary of State's website? If neither of those options are acceptable, does anyone have any guidance for how best to proceed.

I appreciate the help. Thank you.

DP292 (talk) 23:46, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

Requested move 8 November 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: moved. —usernamekiran • sign the guestbook • (talk) 19:53, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

First Command Financial Planning → First Command Financial Services – Please can this page be renamed to the correct name for the company, First Command Financial Services, per their website? This is the name the company is best known as (which you can see in a Google News search for "First Command"). The company has been known as First Command Financial Services, Inc. since 2017. Eileen for Harbinger Group (talk) 11:09, 8 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Support. There isn't that much coverage but there's enough:  I wonder if First Command may be a more appropriate title based on #2 and WP:COMMONNAME.  Sammi Brie  (she/her • t • c) 04:26, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

<div style="padding-left: 1.6em; font-style: italic; border-top: 1px solid #a2a9b1; margin: 0.5em 0; padding-top: 0.5em">The discussion above is closed. <b style="color: #FF0000;">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.