The VIP Culture - a myth or a result of a growing sense of entitlement?

2014-10-14T18:12:58-04:00

The story is a couple of weeks old, but it's worth reviewing if you're a leader. Read through some of this and ask yourself - have I seen this? Am I guilty of the same behavior? What do I do to point out or stop this behavior when I see it?

Keep in mind that this is obviously not an indictment to ALL Soldiers who hold the ranks I mention below - but it's certainly ENOUGH of the ones I've seen in 21 years of service that I feel comfortable bringing this up for discussion.

After nearly ten years serving at GO-level headquarters, I have seen the VIP culture firsthand. I have seen the E9/E-5/O-6 community go where they want, how they want, and when they want. Regardless of time, place, level of appropriateness, they do as they wish without fear of reprisal... and if someone dares to tell truth to power, they will lash out ferociously. Where and when did this start? Has it ALWAYS been this way? I've always heard of RHIP - Rank Has It's Privileges - but in the last 5 years or so I feel like it's gotten out of hand.

As an example to add to the unfortunate and tragic death of COL Darron Wright at Ft. Bragg, TDY travel is the next biggest area where I see this overwhelming sense of entitlement rear its ugly head. As the 1SG of the US National Support Element for HQ ISAF, nearly every COL that I can recall during my tenure took R&R leave in conjunction with some other type of travel for TDY enroute. The warrants and CSM/SGMs weren't that bad, but they did the same thing when they could. Why did they do this? Often a conference, or a site visit, or a "training seminar" that they absolutely HAD to attend. Not sure why, and I'm sure there were reasons - but if SSG Snuffy turned in his leave packet with a request to attend a seminar TDY enroute, we'd all still be laughing. So why is it OK?

In three different HQs before and since, I've really gotten the sense that this sense of entitlement comes with these ranks - "I'm senior so I get mine now" - and it's disgusting. I don't have any problems pointing it out when I see it - and I do, much to some of these folks' chagrin - but I'm also a MSG with more than 20 years in. I cannot imagine being a young SSG or SFC responsible for facilitating some of the silliness I've seen, like filling out travel vouchers for seniors because "they're too busy" and having to justify expenses or layovers that would get a more junior Soldier hemmed up.

Simply put, I think our culture has failed in recent years in calling out bad behavior for fear of the repercussions that could result from telling your emperor he has no clothes. That lack of telling truth to power arguably contributes to some of the command climates that have led to relief/investigations/etc.

Sorry for the rambling manner in which this is presented, but this stuff raises my blood pressure. I'm really curious to hear counterpoints, and perhaps my thoughts will be a bit more cogent once I see some alternate or supporting viewpoints.

Some of the key takeaways from the story - "the general's report found four noncontributing factors that were not linked directly to COL Wright's death. Those factors were a VIP culture that enabled him to skip procedures that lower-ranking soldiers have to follow, problems with his parachute, problems with the 11th Quartermaster Company that packed his parachute and problems with the jump's planning that allowed him to circumvent the process that lower-ranking soldiers must follow."

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 14 at 2014 6:25 PM

2014-10-14T18:25:12-04:00

SGM Private RallyPoint Member, I served in the Army G-2 and G-3 at the Pentagon for a total of just under six years. I saw this power syndrome among the senior officers who were XOs (and such) to general officers. Some of them often seemed to be wearing their boss's rank. It was brutal dealing with some of those folks. There were exceptions, but on the whole, they had the syndrome you describe.

What I'm describing dove-tails pretty nicely with a civilian spouse "wearing" their military spouse's rank, which is the topic of other discussions on RallyPoint.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Oct 14 at 2014 7:18 PM

2014-10-14T19:18:30-04:00

I ran an Exec Comm Flight for 6 years at a MAJCOM HQ base. Every E9 and O6 thought they should be handled via Exec Comm vs the regular Base Comm folks. We had a very clearly defined customer base that was based on billet, not rank (outside of GO's). We didn't handle the Host Wing's Squadron Commanders either, but as soon as the summer Officer change out, we would have a Major/Lt Col new Squadron Commander demanding they deserved Exec Comm service because they were a "Commander".

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2014 1:55 PM

2014-10-15T13:55:31-04:00

1SG Lavigne--relates to my new discussion:
Is our military today a volunteer military or volunteer mercenaries?

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2014 2:02 PM

2014-10-15T14:02:15-04:00

1SG Lavinge, once upon a time I proposed that we eliminate most of the reserved parking on post, partially because spouses (wives at that time) were the main users based on an observational study, and partially due to increased needs for security. For example, how many parking places does the general/CSM need when his driver pulls up and drops off at the front door? We were also seeking to get employees at PX and commissary to park in a special zone rather than use up the customer parking which should be a no-brainer to make customers important so they can get in and out and contribute to MWR....
Whereas we needed more handicapped, disabled spots. I was all for Soldier of the Month/Quarter/Year, any pregnant person, and so on...
You should have heard the nashing of teeth as though I had uttered blasphemy!

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2014 2:08 PM

2014-10-15T14:08:06-04:00

1SG Lavigne--it's not a myth. It's a symptom. We are a status-conscious culture. When I taught Martial Arts on post for free, because I couldn't afford it as a kid, many showed up randomly, few people consistently attended class. When we started charging $20 a month, people rarely missed a class. But they all insisted on achieving the status of different "ranks" so we had to charge for that to get the paperwork. Once the business model fed the beast we had the full array of "cool aid" colored belts, that ones that put a smile on your face, when the ones that count are student and master. No one wants to be a private for long, so we added stripes to the belt--and charged more money. It was all rather silly, but it met the need.

Response by CW2 Ernest Krutzsch made Oct 15 at 2014 6:39 PM

2014-10-15T18:39:36-04:00

I will say that there are Commander's who I knew and I suspect are still serving whose goal in life was to win some sort of medal. They had no concern for their troops, but were more concerned about numbers and statistics (Heaven forbid in a combat zone you lost a vehicle or had an injury or death, that screwed up their stats) For those who say that did not happen, I will pull the BS card, we have all seen it.

Response by SPC James Mcneil made Oct 15 at 2014 7:40 PM

2014-10-15T19:40:59-04:00

This is a situation that I did not dare approach as a soldier. As you can tell by my rank, I did not break free of the junior enlisted ranks, even though I made it to specialist in just over a year and a half.
But I have seen this, both as an enlisted person and as a civilian.
I was teaching a class for the 1SG as a SPC. I had a SGT in the front row that thought he could disrupt the class, and because he technically outranked me, I couldn't do anything. I (not so) kindly reminded him that while I was teaching that class, I was a representative of the 1SG. (The 1SG had told me ahead of time to expect resistance and what to say.) When he told me to "check down, not up" I told him he could leave my class and go tell the 1SG why.

I own my own business now, and I endeavor to treat everyone with the same respect I would want if I was in their shoes. Sometimes, that means they get treated better than they are prepared for.

Response by SSG David Opsahl made Mar 28 at 2016 6:57 PM

2016-03-28T18:57:58-04:00

My grandfather served in the Marine Corps during WW II, according to him the entitlement mentality among the high ranking has not changed one iota.