How to keep your peers motivated under challenging leadership?

SGT Robert Pennington — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 21:37:26 -0400

I am a soldier who is still in IET AIT. Motivation is a large issue every day, despite my attempts to keep myself, and my battle buddies, highly motivated. Granted, I have come to realize that AIT is just something you just have to buckle down and get through, but a lot of us are in training for many months. Being here so long makes the leadership's "encouragement" to stay motivated push the majority of the unit to sheer apathy. Any advice I can pass along to my battle buddies that will make the daily life here more fulfilling?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 16 at 2015 9:41 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 21:41:33 -0400

There are outlets - chaplain, other Leaders you can better relate to, student Leadership that deserve the position, PT, comradery. Camradery is one of the biggest ones. Don't forget EO, SHARP, and Chain of Command all exist for a reason.

Response by MSgt Darum Danford made Aug 16 at 2015 9:45 PM

MSgt Darum Danford — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 21:45:21 -0400

My initial AF job was five months learning the basics of a lithograph machine, something Air Force folk never had the opportunity to use. I learned something for five months out of my life that I was never going to and never did use. The moral of that story is just a little bit longer and you will have the rest of your career to do what you've been trained to do. Just my two cents.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 16 at 2015 9:47 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 21:47:01 -0400

You're whole career you will have to struggle with motivation everyday. Once you get to the operation army it is no easier. You will have field problems, deployments, details, etc. just remember you joined the army for a purpose and you have a role in the battle. What you do in AIT will become who you are when you get to your first unit. Sometimes I miss AIT. You knew what everyday was going to be like and all you had to do is learn with no real responsibilities. When you get to your unit there will be high ranking people expecting you to get comms up.

Response by SGT Aaron M. made Aug 16 at 2015 10:22 PM

SGT Aaron M. — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 22:22:00 -0400

Every duty station is what you make of it. Sure, AIT has some different rules and little things that you might fret over but that's just the point. Don't get all bent out of shape over the little things like 'silly formations' or the Battle Buddy concept. (Just the things I remember people didn't like) Focus on the big picture. Why are you there? Why did you join the Army? Obviously you had a desire and motivation that 99 percent of the country didn't. Blow that off of you may, but it's a big step into being a better soldier and individual in your life.

I could ask who here has or had an AIT at least a year long. (Raises my hand) If your AIT is shorter, that might be some motivation? My recommendation (or advise that helped me get through AIT) is to help others. Get yourself straight and be the best you can be. Then take all your extra knowledge and willpower and help those around you susseed as well. It's an amazing feeling and makes you feel like you accomplished a ton at the end of the day. This is especially great if you want to be a leader down the like. Hopefully I was able to give you some thought on staying motivated. Keep positive with your head up. Don't look at the ground for where you are, look ahead to where you want to be.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 16 at 2015 10:55 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 22:55:32 -0400

Just be a positive role model and do everything to the best of your ability without trying to push it on to others. They will see what you're doing and slowly follow along. The moment you try to be hard ass and NCO-like, you will lose respect and influence among your peers. There's no quick fix to motivation but there's always a foundation you can build upon.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2015 4:11 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:11:34 -0400

SGT Robert Pennington,

I went through OSUT '97-98 for five months, Fort McClellan, AL. The base was shutting down, the barracks were a dump (no heating oil, broken everything, leaking roof), and everybody was wearing on my nerves. The same DS on our butts for five months, man I hated them. I had two simple motivators: Get the hell outta there, and learn my MOS as best I could. We didn't have cellphones, we didn't have television or radio, we only had each other.

-Set goals. You want to max the next APFT, you want to score over 98% on every exam, you want the barracks streamer, etc. Setting a high standard for yourself and striving to achieve it will help you motivate yourself to give that little extra.
-Define your own motivators. What drives you to crawl out of your rack and get the day done? Why did you join? Embrace it, share it.
-Develop bonds with your fellow Soldiers. Shared trials and tribulations develop cohesion. Through that you can motivate your peers and derive motivation from them. The only reason none of us went insane was our cohesion. Some of the best memories I have were during our boot polishing sessions. That's when we were able to sit down and really get to know each other, talk smack, etc.
-Develop a thick skin. What I've noticed is that sometimes Soldiers are prone to take correction (or an ass-chewing) personally. It's not personal. Make the correction, chin up, and drive on. My battle buddy was a Grade A screw-up, and he had us in the front leaning rest every day. But you know what, "it ain't no thang."
-Be yourself what you want others to be. If you've got your head down, doing the right thing day in and day out, your peers will begin to emulate you. We had "BE, KNOW, DO" stenciled on the stairs up to our barracks. That one stuck with me. It's old and the Army has moved past it, but I'm sticking with it.
-Help each other. There's always a handful of Soldiers who struggle with everything, to the point where you may ask yourself "what the hell are they even doing here?" Be the Soldier who takes the time to help others. You'll be making a positive statement and setting the example.
-Seek help when you need it. Rambo doesn't exist, everybody needs a hand sometimes.
-Understand this is only a step, a temporary halt on your path. You made it through IET, good job. Now you make it through AIT, excellent. Then you get out of there and go to your unit to do good things. Basic and AIT are not the real Army, they are simply steps you need to take to prepare you. When you get to your first duty station you're going to meet a ton of new people, you're going to really apply your craft, and you're going to work your butt off. Time will fly and it won't be long until you'll have to decide to re-enlist or ETS. I know it doesn't seem like that now, but that's how it'll be.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2015 4:49 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:49:49 -0400

I would tell them those are the easiest days of their Army career.
I was in training for 68A and 68K and lost motivation after a few months. But looking at the big picture now, I wish I had buckled down and kept going.
I enjoy what I do now (92y) but hindsight being 20/20 I would've set myself much better had I continued in the medical field.
The regular Army ain't going nowhere. You guys need to enjoy that time y'all got in AIT

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2015 8:09 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 08:09:26 -0400

Everyone here has great answers. My AIT was only 16 weeks long. Although this was back in '06 when we didn't have as many rules and had plenty of freedoms. But the main thing is to buckle down, study and learn your MOS the best you can. Other than that, as others have stated, set some personal goals for yourself to help you through it. To help your buddies, some good outlets that I like to use now even after 9 years of being out of AIT is running. Do something like sports or going to the gym with your battles. It'll help with the stress and improve your PT score which will not just help you in AIT, but also when you get to your unit.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Aug 17 at 2015 8:09 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 08:09:31 -0400

The struggle for motivation goes beyond AIT or even whatever time you spend in the military. That struggle is with us all daily for however long we are on this earth taking up oxygen. Sometimes you must find the motivation within, other times you can find it from external sources, either way you must look around your situation and figure out what exactly will it take to push yourself over the hump.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Aug 17 at 2015 8:15 AM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 08:15:07 -0400

Team building exercises. Frequent, short conversations with words of encouragement.