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

Immediate article 15, and if it happened again, dishonorable discharge! When I served that was the result of disrespecting a superior officer no matter the rank! That kind of nonsense in combat can get people killed!

not in my Army back in the day we done it another way, . he would have some wall to wall counseling , I don't know how they do it these days I got out in 1999. The first time he tells me to shove it I will do that very thing I will shove my foot so far up his ass he will see stars for days.

punch him square in the jaw.

In my day you would be dead meat,no mercy.now you have to feel for their feelings.you enlisted to defend this country not to cry when things don’t go your way.

I only have one comment: I'm glad I didn't have to spend my 26 years in "today's military". Too much bullshit for my taste, as I believe in following legal orders first and directly, and asking questions later if mission permits. Oh, I will add that AR15's should be a last resort IMO. Too much time spent on attitude alignment through channels/on paper can cost lives in a pinch.

This E2's assignment for the day would be explaining his actions to the 1st Sgt and the C.O. while I busied myself adding pages to his SRB for his Article 15 hearing.

(and this is just because they'd probably wanna bust me if I smoked the turd)

Get all the E-5s in the platoon and take way out in the woods and "have a attitude adjustment party".

I recently spoke with a medically retired E5 who was injured in Iraq and he told me horror stories of Enlisted folks showing their "Stress Card" which denies you of interacting with them for 30minutes. I had BCT in 1971 and the DI's didn't have any problem maintaining discipline. If you were having a hard time adjusting, you were put in a special training platoon that gave you a lot of attention. But they produced some good soldiers. We had some physical punishments such as extra PT or uncomfortable physical situations, Article 15's and deprivation of pay. You could be arrested by the MP's for significant insubordination. We have coddled our youth so much and expected so little of them that we are getting the harvest of the seeds we have sown. Compassionate discipline without accepting whining and crying as excuses is what we need to get back to. When I first started Basic I thought the DI's sure were assholes, but after a couple of weeks I discovered that they had all been to Vietnam and had lost friends and comrades there. They were determined that they would loose noone else on their watch if they could help it. My attitude changed with thjat epiphany. Discipline saves lives literally.

Straight up E-2 or former E-6?

In my time there never was a doubt that someone would not react to a command. Disrespect has no room in the military!!!!

Look, the young are so disrespectful, and then get sensitive. There are rules and laws in the military. If it continues, start a paper trail, and if that doesn't work,let the senior members handle it.don't just threaten the consequences of their actions, show them. Be the leader the rest of your people need and want.


We had to adjust and if something isn't done, then they become a detriment to morale,and maybe even in the field

Tree line, right then and there.
Writing someone's name on the naughty list doesn't motivate them to do anything if they don't care. You gotta crush that behavior fast or everyone else in the platoon will start treating you like a punk.

A Specialist in@my unit did this once to a junior E-5. The Specialist went to the prison at Manheim for several months and came back to us as an E-1 with a completely different attitude.

Smoke the entire squad excluding him, let nature sort it out.

Take the private aside and with another NCO or officer as a witness, have him stand at attention,let the private know that his behavior is insubordination and failure to follow orders. Your first offense can be punishable by article 15 resulting in a loss of pay and confinement, second offense can result in court martial and prison time.
I would be willing to forget this instance providing you apologize, follow your orders and give me your assurance this won’t happen again. I will not tolerate insubordination under any circumstances. The problem with young people today is they don’t think there’s consequences for their actions.

When I served in the mid to late 1970’s, I, and or we did what ever order or task that was given, without question.

"Shove it" puts that firmly in the negative, and in need of consequence. That said, when I went through six months of being switched around from supervisor to supervisor, with all sorts of duties from handling freight to issuing portcalls, I was pretty burned out. I took a call about entitlement for a "colonel." I asked "Bird or light?" There was a moment's silence on the other end, and I truly do not remember the reply. I was rude, and that officer was nice enough to let it go.

I try to attack issues not the personal attacks . That way they can’t say I made them feel less than a man . I’ll just let them know what action they did was unsat . Sometimes an ass chewing needs to be done public but it depends on the person

We as leaders don’t have time
For those that have a chip
On their shoulder coming in the military every time someone hurts their feelings . If you can’t handle the constructive ass chewing don’t join

Give them KP… I’ve also threatened to take them out back. And don’t say you can’t do that. BS… Worked for me on that extremely rare occasion. I rarely gave a direct order. I just told my platoon what needed to be done and assigned certain tasks to my squad leaders. Then I would get in there with them and help. Lead by example…

Stand fast grunt!! Under no circumstances should an NCO stand for open insubordinate behavior, especially in a public environment such as a formation. Burn his ass, then to make sure my point was driven home, assign his but to the more shitty extra duty possible.

Afterward, once the detail was done to my satisfaction, I might bring the young man into my office to discuss his options and yes I’d try to dig a little to find out if there was a personal problem that caused him to have a piss poor attitude and if there was anything that I could do to help ( I’m not a monster). But he would leave my office with a clear understanding as to what is acceptable and what is not.

In my career I’ve been on both sides of that table.