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

I’m curious if this is an issue of friendship instead of leadership between this young soldier and his E5? When that line becomes blurred the leader/subordinate role is gone.

Wall to wall counseling, extra duty, singlehanded Operation Clean Sweep. Chute shakeout after scooping up a lot of hastily packed parachutes. Shape up, or shape OUT

So, THIS is what has become of a well trained and disciplined army. Sounds like a boys scout camping trip to me! Seems like discipline it not enforced or reinforced like it use to be. You can't have control of a soldier and expect them to follow instructions to a 'T', if there's no discipline. It's what our army was based on! As a matter of fact, this soldier would BE disciplined by an Article 15 punishment without a second thought, and placed on lock down.

Explain to the young man that he is not home with mommy and daddy and that in the Army when your are given an order it's not a request. Also let them know that if this should happen again there will be disciplinary action, you only get one freebie.

Smoke in right there. And give him the choice of do the job or get an AR15. With loss of rank & pay & extra duty.

In the Marine Corps we can take care of our problems without going up the chain of command . . .

You can probably thank our snowflake society for this troop even thinking this would be okay. That said, this might just be the first poor choice made in his short military career. As a very young (17) new soldier I spent ten minutes locked at attention while the Ft Bragg Provost Marshal read me the riot act… no shouted it at me for a really dumb choice I made. I remember a particular phrase of his, “You are the first, and by God you’ll will be the last person to pull this stunt and NOT go straight to the stockade”. I made E-4 and earned the EIB within a year of that dumb choice. Just make sure he knows the consequences, in no uncertain terms, if he doesn’t repent (turn around, change his ways). I was ordered to spend 30-days in CCF (open door jail/boot camp redo) for it and lost 1 rank and some pay (ART-15) and this was after having made E-3 out of Basic Training.

As a former Drill Sgt from the late 60s, I would have his ass! He will not dictate what he will and will not do to me!

Yank him out of formation, make him stand at parade rest in from of the Top's door, and he cant go anywhere Top shows up to have the E-2 taken out and ran to death

Put everyone else to work, then take them aside and talk to them on a personal level. Being a leader means recognizing when someone is going through something and being there to show they can trust and confide in you. If something is going on do what you can to help them through it and go do the work with them. We lead through example, not dictatorship. Dictators aren't leaders their pieces of shit.

If it's just them being a shitbag then start chapter paperwork, that has no place in the military and compromises unit cohesion and integrity.