Posted on Oct 21, 2016
“I'm going to fail height-weight on purpose and get booted” – how would you handle this?
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This actually happened to me while I was a battery XO in Hawaii. My brigade had just gotten back from OIF and we were in that weird period of tons of people leaving the unit, and tons of new people coming in. I was in the motor pool like a good XO and one of the guys came up to me and asked to chat in private – he was a SPC (E-4) who was on soft shoe profile and had been for a few months. He was also on some PT profile, which many were skeptical of but that’s not the point. He was also quite overweight and in bad physical shape.
“I don’t want to be in the Army anymore,” he told me. “I’m just planning to keep failing height-weight over and over until I get booted out.” So I talked with him and we went back and forth about what’s really going on with him, etc. But he just stayed firm on: (1) wanting to get out of the Army ASAP; and (2) planning to put no effort into passing height-weight, to get booted.
Obviously I know what actions I took here but I don’t want to spoil it for everyone. How would you have responded in this situation?
“I don’t want to be in the Army anymore,” he told me. “I’m just planning to keep failing height-weight over and over until I get booted out.” So I talked with him and we went back and forth about what’s really going on with him, etc. But he just stayed firm on: (1) wanting to get out of the Army ASAP; and (2) planning to put no effort into passing height-weight, to get booted.
Obviously I know what actions I took here but I don’t want to spoil it for everyone. How would you have responded in this situation?
Height and Weight
Army Regulations
UCMJ
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 259
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Let him dig his own grave. Probably the quickest way out for him, and it would be a honorable discharge. Win win.
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If the chain of command was not able to keep the soldier motivated, the soldier in question did not want to be motivated. Better spend time and energy on the individuals that seek assistance to stay in the service rather than waste valuable time and resources on this lost cause.
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I had an Army doctor tell me this when I was an LT in Korea. He had gotten all his student debt paid off and was going to get himself booted. Basically, he was not allowed to get promoted but the Army was going to keep him around as long as needed to get their investment back. Not the same as a regular soldier.
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It's hard to motivate someone who does not want to be motivated. If he is a liability to the unit and unit morale, and does not want to be there, I'd initiate paperwork to administratively discharge him. The unit would probably be better off without him.
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Gotta wonder about the mentality behind the actions of the Soldier. Why do they not want to serve anymore? Hence the decision on their part to just say to hell with it and quit without going the UCMJ route. Have seen this happen a few times over the course of my career. Something is going on in that troops head that may not be open for the world to see. The whole "get them out and be gone with them" is the easy route to go when dealing with Soldiers who present themselves a s a problem child, so to speak. The harder route is seeing if there is something that is causing the troop to just give it all up and to try and reverse it if the troop has some promise. I learned the hard way that as much as a leader wants to be firm, hard and resolute, if they stop being human than they stop being able to relate to the human condition and sometimes it is the ear to bend that makes the difference than if the boot had been applied to the butt.
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Bust him down to E-1. Chapter him out RE4. Dishonorable Discharge. No med board. No VA. No education. NOTHING
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Can't say how the Army feels about this now, but when I was looking for an incentive to reenlist '92-'93 timeframe, the Army was PAYING profiles, overweight, and PT failures to leave the Army. Retention bonuses on the other hand were scarce. That said, I'd counsel as to consequences, and begin the process.
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I would make it as painful as possible and drag out the process so they got out maybe maybe 2 weeks early.
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A request like that needs to be respected and honored simply because this person will probably end of getting others killed or wounded. Fighting to keep someone in who do not wish to be makes no sense if the entire unit and service in whole loses.
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When I was in a Marine I knew got a tattoo on his neck to purposely to attempt tp get kicked out. Well that didn't work all they did was bust him down to private and make him finish his enlistment.
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