How would you react to an E2 who "smart mouths" you in formation?

Write up and counseling. If it happens again another write-up, more counseling, and possibly an Art.15-company level(2wk/2wk). 3rd time deserves a write up and art15-Co.lvl. no matter what. 4 th time go Field grade and out they go.

As to "counseling" - a problem private is your problem. You are required to fix. So be prepared to spend some time finding out what the real problem is and doing some correction, not just the paperwork and explaining why.

Did happen. I was happy to oblige. Instead of the four hour road trip that was under question, my annoying troop found himself waxing a school bus for two days. Never had another problem with him.

It's simple. Address it immediately while in formation and then take the wayward lad somewhere private and tear him a new *******. Also, give written counseling so that you have proof if/when he/she does it again and in becomes necessary to take him/her to Captain's Mast (Article 15 or NJP).

Rallybook should have something like GoToMeeting where we could all log in and role play stuff. Hope I am still alive when they figure out some type of large virtual reality thing where we can really get into it.

Wow... when you said smart mouth, I assumed you were talking about cracking a joke and then I would have assumed you had a lax work environment. But that is blatant disrespect regardless how much time he has in or how long he's been under your charge. He needs to be taken to task immediately because that is a severe lack of respect for authority and can undermine your authority if he gets away with it.

Chances are he is someone who is literally trying to get kicked out. Maybe he is disillusioned with why he joined in the first place.

First, separate him from the rest of the platoon. Send the rest to do their work or whatever it is you were tasking them with. Talk to him on a one on one basis. Figure out what's going on. If the disrespect continues, then you bring it to the next chain higher whether it's your SNCO or workcenter supervisor or whomever. Brief them on the situation and then get to the bottom of it.

2 things are going to happen. You guys are going to break through to him and figure out where the lack of respect is coming and nip it in the bud. Or he's going to continue with his disrespect and then you'll probably be forced to do paperwork on him and punish him with cleaning the COs toilet after working hours. But if he's trying to get himself kicked out, make sure he knows that it's not going to work. We can make his life a whole lot more miserable if he thinks the military life sucks.

Either Fall In Line or Accept the Consequences

Bring him to a closed door session with another leader preferably your squad leader, with a counseling discussing the negative treatment. The way the army is now and they way that soldier is corrective training wouldn't work. remember now a days in the army corrective training isn't gonna sort out everything. He soldiers these days feel entitled and think they know everything. Look up article 91, easiest one to throw around and use against a bad mouthed soldier. Especially after a first offense you wouldn't need a paper trail for disrespecting a NCO. Do your homework and research that's basically 85% of your job.

I would react with mild shock because I would be trying to figure out why an E2 was in my formation.

Step back and call out his section leader and him
Dismiss the platoon to continue the work detail
find out what is going on and what's with the attitude/ while giving a formal written counseling
Send him back to work detail and have section leader report back if any other problems arise

HE OR SHE WOULD HAVE A ROUGH FOUR WEEKENDS OF MOTOR POOL, CLEANING HEADS, IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN THEN THEY WOULD TALK TO THE OLD MAN.

You still have them do it and you wright them up and give them more things to do.

His team leader had better be all over him. That's what I would have seen in my units. Team leader would have blown his top.

Investigate and evaluate. Investigate what caused the behavior and if there is a documented history of said behavior. Once you have done that, evaluate your options and act accordingly. Remember two things. You are in charge of investments made by the taxpayers, whether they appreciate it or not, and according to Sun Tzu, there are no bad soldiers, only bad generals.

"We will send you home to your mother a failure and a loser." E-2's don't act that way unless they think that the consequences are acceptable. But, most E-2's, probably haven't thought of all of the consequences. Remind them, in an uncaring fashion, that the path your both going down ends favorable for only one of you.

1) Segregate the "problem child." Ask him to step to the side along with a trusted lieutenant (in my case a senior LCpl or a Cpl). "Cpl X, PFC Y, do me a favor and stand by next to the connex box for a moment. I'll be right with you. Cpl X, please wait for me."

2) Get the rest of the troops moving. I'm still in charge and they need to understand that. Segregating the "problem child" was the first part. The second part is reassigning Cpl X's duties to someone else (there's a reason for this below). "Cpl Z please take care of Cpl X's assignment." (if I have already given it out. If not adjust on the fly).

3) Investigate the problem. Although the troop might be blatantly disrepectful, there "may" be a reason for it. Everyone has a breaking point, sometimes it's a snapping point. In this case, we (Cpl X & I) need to find out what is going on. I am leading an investigation and he is acting as a witness. I'll walk through the last few minutes of our exchange and make sure I haven't missed a pertinent piece of info, that Cpl X saw everything, and that the troop understands the issue as I see it. The reason for investigation is that "I" might have been sending him into a hornet's nest and taking an $^% chewing from me may have seemed like a better option. Without investigating it's impossible to know. With investigation, it narrows things down and I have a witness.

4) Reassign, Escalate, and Document. "If" there is a valid reason for the troop not wanting to do the assignment (although unlikely), take it myself, have Cpl X do it, and have the troop take Cpl X's (or Cp l Z's etc). Work still has to get done. Further investigation may be necessary "on site" where a civilian/another person is abusing him (or had previously), and I need to find out what is going on. Depending on the severity depends on how I escalate. If the troop is non-cooperative, it gets escalated up the chain with Cpl X's witness statement. But everything gets documented. Everything gets backbriefed to my SL/PSG/etc so that there is a trail.

The big thing is to stay calm. Lose your cool, and you lose control.

Is this a hypothetical question or does this actually happen in today's Army/MC/Navy/AF. Maybe some of the active duty RPers can weigh in with real life examples of this or something akin to this situation. I cannot get my mind around the idea as even potentially possible in any day and age, but things have been known to change over time. The scenario doesn't provide any background or insights into what exactly was going on.

The appropriate response would be "Please see me after the formation is dismissed."

The leadership theory is that you praise in public, but criticize in private. Once I got him in private, I would explain to him, the "error of his ways," assign him to the crappiest detail, and tell him that if he ever pulled that kind of crap again, he could explain it to the First Sergeant, or to the Company Commander. (Dogs and damn fools get second chances.)

Lock his heels, tell him it's not a choice, then write it up.
Many push ups will happen and said Pvt. is on a doo doo list until I hear the pop of his head coming out of his ass.