Posted on Feb 14, 2021
Can senior NCO’s make soldiers drive from home to a duty during harsh conditions such as frozen roads?
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Is there a regulation on this kind of stuff. I understand that a duty must be preformed such as CQ and Staff Duty. However in my mind it’s very dangerous to have soldiers who live 15+ minutes away from post to preform such duties when they can have someone who lives on base preform it. And have their duties switched up. Is there any regulation on this.
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Duty
Regulation
Duty Regulation
Posted 3 y ago
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It's your turn it's your turn. How much do you hate it when you get same day notice of a 24 hr duty? Now make it soley because you live in the barracks. That's messed up. That's why joe makes horrible marriage decisions to get out of the barracks. You wouldn't give those icy roads a second thought to drive 15 minutes to bang your favorite porn star, but you need to get to work and all of a sudden it's holy risk assessment batman!
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CMSgt (Join to see)
SFC Thomas McMahon sexual innuendo has no place in respectable forum. With a wide audience as this one should be mindful always.
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CMSgt (Join to see)
SFC Thomas McMahon I am entitled to my opinion. Snd who are you to tell me what To leave!!!! I simply expect professionalism from my fellow veteran, especially senior leadership. Again, like you I am entitled to my own opinion. In or out of uniform I still try to live my core values! And on that note I'm done with this!
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SFC Leon Amer
You nailed it, 1SG Bradshaw! Duty roster is posted usually, or at least should be, at least a week out, so if there are issues of a certain Joe being CQ on a certain night, and with the 1SG's permission, finding an agreeable other Joe to trade with, and the DA-6 doesn't get screwed up, then everybody wins. Just gotta make sure the ones living off post set their alarms early enough to allow sufficient driving time for the less than ideal road conditions. Been there, done that, Germany 84-88, was married before enlisting, black ice on cobblestone streets in the villages were scary !
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It isn't a regulation it's the law - the UCMJ. It is an offense for you to be absent from duty without leave. The law makes no allowance for weather.
So, legally, yes. You can be required to travel through dangerous conditions to report for duty. Your authority to live off base will necessarily be conditioned on your being available on time. If you are supposed to be on duty and you fail to report without permission (regardless of the reason) you are AWOL.
Now for the reality check. What you ought to do if you are at home off post and you believe that travelling would be dangerous, call your PSG, TL or whomever you answer to. Let them know LONG BEFORE you are required to be on duty or as soon as you discover you will not be able to make it in on time. Let them know the situation with as much lead time as possible so they can sort out a replacement for you if necessary.
Any NCO worth his salt will take extenuating circumstances into account so long as you do not have a history of malingering or being a discipline problem. Adjustments can be made so long as they have time to do so especially as they need to let the COC know if they have given you permission to either miss duty or report late.
Best solution: if you see the weather turning bad and you suspect that it may interfere with your ability to report on time, grab your A & B bags and go to your unit while you can. Bed down there while weather is still permitting. It may be a pain in the ass but you should score some major brownie points for taking initiative and being reliable. You will also avoid pissing off your boss -- which is always a good thing.
So, legally, yes. You can be required to travel through dangerous conditions to report for duty. Your authority to live off base will necessarily be conditioned on your being available on time. If you are supposed to be on duty and you fail to report without permission (regardless of the reason) you are AWOL.
Now for the reality check. What you ought to do if you are at home off post and you believe that travelling would be dangerous, call your PSG, TL or whomever you answer to. Let them know LONG BEFORE you are required to be on duty or as soon as you discover you will not be able to make it in on time. Let them know the situation with as much lead time as possible so they can sort out a replacement for you if necessary.
Any NCO worth his salt will take extenuating circumstances into account so long as you do not have a history of malingering or being a discipline problem. Adjustments can be made so long as they have time to do so especially as they need to let the COC know if they have given you permission to either miss duty or report late.
Best solution: if you see the weather turning bad and you suspect that it may interfere with your ability to report on time, grab your A & B bags and go to your unit while you can. Bed down there while weather is still permitting. It may be a pain in the ass but you should score some major brownie points for taking initiative and being reliable. You will also avoid pissing off your boss -- which is always a good thing.
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LtCol Bruce Janis
LTJG Sandra Smith - 50 plus years ago I was stationed at Pendleton. All us unmarried lieutenants lived at the Del Ray area and our units were at Pulgas, usually a 25 minute drive. Every weekend one of us had the duty each day. The married lieutenants rarely, if ever, served. One of the perks of marriage. Plus there were more calls during the week when a married officer had a problem at home; sick baby or wife, etc.
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SFC Olivero Rodriguez
where ever I was, I always knew about my time to do duty, so unless they call you on the last minute, you had several days to get to work on time. Just saying.
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1LT Rich Voss
LtCol Bruce Janis - Sir, we share some similar experiences. Also 50+ years ago, this time in Germany, tight up against the corner of East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Unmarried LTs (mostly me at that point) got virtually ALL the Holiday and weekend duty until about 6 months later when other single "Butter Bars" arrived. Didn't matter whether I lived in the BOQ right across the entrance to the Kaserne, or 3 months later when I lived all the way across town. I did NOT get married just to avoid duty. The odd side-benefit was that some of those young wives felt sorry for me, so I was invited to family meals on weekends I didn't have duty !
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Does the enemy stop when the weather gets scary? Is it fair to the soldier that lives closer to duty location to pull someone's duty that does not live so close? As a leader I would suggest to the soldier that is concerned about driving in weather to see if someone lives closer would be willing to switch. Each soldier made decisions on where to live and that does not change duty requirements. I drove 90 miles in snow and rain today because of my paramedic job. People still need help and I am the one that chose this profession. The only regulation that exists in regard to your question is command authority, nothing is written that automatically gets you out of duty in bad weather.
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Maj Gail Lofdahl
My father-in-law fought in WWII with Patton's Third Army. At least you have a vehicle; they had to march through the blizzards!
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CW3 Kevin Storm
I have driven 700 miles from College Station, TX to El Paso. If Snuffy can't handle some bad weather, move him back in the barracks. Issue solved.
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SPC (Join to see)
And in most cases u have days if not hours to plan for it and could stay on post so u could make ur duty station. In very rare instances any more do we wake up to be shocked that we have been snowed in and cannot move. Those are the only times on things that were not expected and ur snowed in when u wake up that might be an exception. Tho they could CC ski or snowshoe in
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