Should single and married Soldiers be treated differently?
to be bothered about the barracks when I was not at work. There is a CQ and it is his or her job to take "charge of quarters" as their resposibility on their shift.
Shift workers get the shaft in most ways. The problem with shift workers is that leaders do not understand how to prioritize the many different events that we undergo during a typical month. How can leaders schedule APFTs, Weapon Qual ranges, mandatory training, UAs, and many more so it is fair to everyone involved. It is easy for 1SG to say lets have Suicide Prevention training on this Wednesday at 1000. 1SG fails to realize that Wednesday is Shift Worker B's Saturday. Shift Worker B comes in on "Saturday" because it is required becuase he has to complete training.
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If leaders took the time to say would I want to come in on Saturday to complete training? The answer would be a no, and I know the arguement is we are Soldiers 24/7 (check, got ya) but why does that arguement only come up when it makes a Soldiers life difficult?Â
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A better solution is to offer the training around the Soldiers shifts, that way it only causes pain to one person (the trainer). This also keeps morale in the unit under control.
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Although the marriage retreats seem like the married folks are getting a pass to get out of work but these are usually conducted over an entire weekend. I have also seen Single Soldier retreats but for some reason they were not successful. Why were they not successful? Because Single Soldiers do not like giving up their weekends. If a program is not being used then it will be taken away. It is not discrimination to the single Soldiers, it is more why offer (fork over money) for 1 or 2 Soldiers that will attend as opposed to offering a marriage retreat where 5 or 6 Sodliers will attend with their spouse.Â
SPC Bobchin,
This is all my personal opinion, but, lets look at the average across the Army. A majority of single Soldiers are 18-21 years...barely old enough to drink. Soldiers of a young age or maturity level tend to be more unruly. Soldiers are treated like children because most of the time, they act as so. I don't have enough hands to count the number of times I've walked through the barracks to see trash in the hall, laundry rooms in disarray, Soldiers rooms are messy, have excuses as to why their room is not to standard, etc., and this is all during the work week, lets not even talk about the weekend! Granted, there ARE Soldiers who NEED housing inspections because some of these Soldiers who are married behave as if they live in the barracks, but, I believe that if you decide to make the decision to get married, that's a "grown up" decision..therefore, the Army gives you "grown up" privileges. Not saying that single Soldiers aren't grown, but Im simply speaking on the decision to get married. I believe that the inequality exists because being single and being married is not equal. I hope this gives you some sort of guidance! Good post!
Yep, another old-timer saying how it used to be!
I am assuming when you say "you don’t get enough
support" you are referring to your CoC, otherwise I assume your peers
(single Soldiers) do not want to get involved. Regardless it sounds like a leadership issue within your CoC. Where is your senior military advisor (typically installation CSM)and what has he done to rectify the issue you are having?
SPC,
I can tell you from experience about some of your concerns. The issue with there not being more events for single Soldiers is that a majority, based on studies and survey conducted at all installations pre-9/11 and in the last decade have shown that the active participants are so low that it is not financially viable or feasible compared to marriage retreats and participants.
2nd, most Soldiers that do complain about not being able to participate have disciplinary issues or use the event to just get out of work and not actively participate or even show up for the event, this has been shown to be a large majority of problem for years.
I applaud you on being the representative you have been and contributing to the program and pursuing more activities, but I would also encourage you to be an advocate for getting more participation from your fellow single SMs, which will also show the command that there are more Soldiers looking to and willing to participate in recommended events or activities. CDRs do conduct research and look for recommendations and suggestions from COC and single Soldiers for these types of issues, but they many times receive little input from the ones that complain about the issues but also are unwilling to commit and participate when the opportunity does present itself.
Hope this helps to explain and give you an idea of what occurs and what can be done and what you may be able to do to help and continue to do what you do as well.
I lived in the barracks
and never was bother with inspections only once a week on Mondays. My first
line gave me that breathing room because I never made him look bad when my room
was inspected. Even when unannounced my room was orderly and clean. However,
some of my section battles did not have that privilege because they could care
less about having their rooms in order. Â
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