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We as an Army have truly lost our way. We have discussions on what rules are important to enforce and which ones are no big deal. We have young Soldiers who come to their first unit straight out of IET overweight. More Soldiers that fail the APFT than those who pass it. A lot of Soldiers don't know Army history and why we do what we do. A lot of them don't even know the Army's birthday. Now...it may seem like small, meanial things that shouldn't have any effect on the fabric of the Army. However, as we all know the small stuff slipping by can lead to BIG trouble really fast and they ARE having a major impact on our Army. My question is this: Why are we allowing this? Is it because we want to get away with some things ourselves? Are we too lazy to lead? Or, do we not care at all anymore? The Army has regulations and we volunteered to follow all of them. So why are we picking and choosing the ones that we like and downplaying the rest of them?
Discipline
Army
Leadership
Uniforms
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 5
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As far as the regulation portion of your argument..... I couldn't agree more! No I am not saying that I have never done something against a regulation, but I can say that I have never done so willingly and knowing that I was disregarding a specific regulation. That is an epidemic in the Army and it needs to be squashed.
As to the IET Soldiers being overweight and failing PFT..... The IET program allows for a somewhat less of a standard to pass HT/WT. Some Soldiers probably barely pass the PFT. And as we all know, sometimes it depends on who is grading, despite the fact that there is ONLY ONE standard. I told this story before on here and will tell it again, I was sitting in a briefing with LTG Hertling when he was the USAREUR commander (after being the TRADOC CG) and the exact question about HT/WT am PT failure after IET was posed. What he told us, was that the percentage of NCOs sent to TRADOC from the force was at about a 25-27% failure rate in the same areas. That was sickening to me personally. So while it is tough to understand, the fact is that some of our new Soldiers that have to be changed from civilians to Soldiers in IET (main focus) some of them have NEVER been physically active in their life. It is the responsibility of the unit as well to further train and mentor them.
Traditions being less is also a common subject. That is on US as the NCOs and leaders in the force. We need to take that responsibility, and capture the opportunity to train our Soldiers. They have never, and will never come from IET knowing everything and being THE BEST. That is OUR job.
As to the IET Soldiers being overweight and failing PFT..... The IET program allows for a somewhat less of a standard to pass HT/WT. Some Soldiers probably barely pass the PFT. And as we all know, sometimes it depends on who is grading, despite the fact that there is ONLY ONE standard. I told this story before on here and will tell it again, I was sitting in a briefing with LTG Hertling when he was the USAREUR commander (after being the TRADOC CG) and the exact question about HT/WT am PT failure after IET was posed. What he told us, was that the percentage of NCOs sent to TRADOC from the force was at about a 25-27% failure rate in the same areas. That was sickening to me personally. So while it is tough to understand, the fact is that some of our new Soldiers that have to be changed from civilians to Soldiers in IET (main focus) some of them have NEVER been physically active in their life. It is the responsibility of the unit as well to further train and mentor them.
Traditions being less is also a common subject. That is on US as the NCOs and leaders in the force. We need to take that responsibility, and capture the opportunity to train our Soldiers. They have never, and will never come from IET knowing everything and being THE BEST. That is OUR job.
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1SG (Join to see)
When I was a young Drill Sergeant I received a brief from our BN CDR. In his brief he said to us that we should train the type of Soldier that we want next to us on the battlefield. Being fresh from OIF 2 I thought to myself: I want a Soldier that is physically strong and mentally tough. Iraq was a 360 degree battlefield and the weak got eaten very fast. So I was hell bent on ensuring that any Soldier that was entrusted to my care received the best training that they could get. I couldn't accept a Soldier scoring 50% on the APFT. I couldn't accept them not being able to qualify on their weapon. I was enthusiastic about teaching them the history of the Army. I wanted that Soldier to have pride in who they were choosing to become and I wanted them to be strong enough to deal with any situation that arose. It truly pains me to see a Soldier who comes from IET land overweight and unable to do basic Soldier tasks. I feel like I'm back on the trail again and I'm starting from Red Phase when a troop comes into my platoon. I had a troop come to me and tell me right before a range that she has never qualified with her weapon and that her Drills just pushed her through. I trained her on how to shoot and she shot a 35, but when I went home that night I wondered how many more Soldiers were like her...just pushed through. I see more and more new troops failing multiple APFTs and bolo-ing on the range, and it's even more sad that they see nothing wrong with it. But, they look at you with amazement when they're being chaptered out...they have looks on their faces as if they had never been told that they can't fail at these tasks or they will be booted out. It really angers me to my very core that this is happening in our Army.
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1SG (Join to see)
I feel your pain 1SG (Join to see) and want to tell you thank you!! It is tough being an outstanding leader and sometimes tough doing the hard right over the easy wrong. As long as we do that then we will be OK. I truly believe that. We will never get 100% of the Army on board and we will always face these challenges. Sounds to me that you are doing the right thing and the Army will be better for it. The Soldiers you lead will emulate that and carry on that legacy. TRUST ME when I say I feel your pain.
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I would have to say that the biggest underlying issue is the mentalities and perspectives of the citizens in this country as a whole. There has been an overwhelming loss of pride in hard work and self sacrifice, and I feel that is being translated to the military. I'm sad to say that I am a part of the "Millenial Generation" but only by time of my birth, not by mentality or decision making.
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I have been in a little while and seen the Army change. We went from a professional Army to a war fighting army. This was evident when a general made the ACU the work uniform for all soldiers. As with the myth of the good field soldier you should not sacrifice any standards for the rapid expansion of a expeditionary force. That is what we did. We are paying for it now. Many current NCOs don't see the issue here but that is only the case because they never saw the pre-war army. I agree that reduced expectations, however small will take there toll on the force. This issue was first tackled when the first developed by GEN Von Stubon. Many don't like this point of view and would even argue against it but them ignorance is bliss.
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