Not allowed to address IET Privates by their rank.

This is ridiculous. It's a rank. I see this happening more and more and it kills me. There is a sense of entitlement among junior soldiers that must be counteracted. As a junior soldier I was reminded everyday that I was a private, the labor force so to speak. I grew up with the infantry and was spoken too in a very "special" way. It made me who in am today. I was a private then...I'm a Sergeant now. No last name needed.

SSG Robert Burns, SSG Nathan Bryant

Wow, I do not even believe what I am reading hear! When I was in basic training we were lucky to be called Private! D**K Face was the most common term I remember, as well as B***h. In fact every other word was some sort of insult. Then there was getting hit in the head with the Brown Round when the DI would get in your face screaming at the top of his lungs. Then there was being put in the leaning rest for several hours at a time. Other fun things to do with a basic trainee:

The Duck Walk
The Crab Walk
The Dying Cockroach
Siting in a pretend chair
Holing your arms strait in font of yourself for an extended time
Front leaning rest with your feet elevated on a chair or wall
Getting smoked in the latrine with all showers running hot water
Getting smoked in MOPP 4

I think this comes from the top in an effort further diminish pride, loyalty and position. They better codify that....lol

Simple: Weak leaders produce weak soldiers, and the policies of weak leadership destroys the moral or the strong soldiers. These ridiculous cowardly policies are the result of fear. Fearful weak leaders who hate the stronger leader. I would go so far as say they are jealous to their core, knowing they are weak and afraid of everything, and instead of being a man, they create policies they themselves do not have to enforce, but get others to do so IOT make themselves feel like a real leader. This becomes, in their own perverted leadership way, a method to be equal to the stronger leader by destroying him rather than muster the inner courage required to be a leader, live the standard and hold others accountable accordingly. Bad soldiers make bad future leaders, and this is why I preach hard about identifying weak and potential future toxic leaders early, and getting them out of the military by using the Bar to Re-enlistment program. I always ask myself when evaluating every soldier this: "Would this soldier be a leader who inspires and raises the standard, or one who would destroy great works in order to lower the standard."

I will let my actions of calling a soldier by their rank IAW Army regulations be my attorneys opening remarks at my trial.

Time out cards, PT belts, and now this. Oh boy - what's next PC jody calls, you can jump "when your ready", unicorns and pixie dust... Bad policy as it devalues the rank.

SSG Kevin McCulley, Another sip of their "Kool Aid" will ease the distress this PC BS causes! You must swallow to attain relief!

I remember the term "Flip Chart" being banned as insensitive to our Filipino shipmates at the Trident Training Facility. Think the new term was "VAP" which meant vertical appliance or something similar.

It seems like the liberal universities, the training side spends a lot of time on sensitivity issues.

In the day E-3 and below were called by their last name only. Since it was universal, nobody thought anything was strange about it.

Question: What is the proper way of addressing an E-4

Answer: Well .. since there is little chance of you actually finding one ...


E-4 Mafia strikes again!

sigh

You tag this conversation with the thought of crumbling NCO corps, and I think that is a valid point. During my reclassification (or the addition of the Broadcast side of the house to my Print side skills), there were new rules or guidelines to how a "Re-class" treated an IET. Now, I understand the dynamics of 'protecting' new Soldiers from older Soldiers from a woodline-education. But, when an NCO gets counseled for correcting an IET for their attitude and disrespect of a senior NCO; there is a serious issue here. Babying or coddling a Soldier's feelings does no prepare them for release into the military, or any job for that matter. And, everyone starts at the same position--the bottom.