Posted on Apr 11, 2016
Which concerns you more: the known enemy or some of the Soldiers we are seeing in the formation?
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I had a wise leader who once told me that he was not as worried about the known enemy as he was some of the Soldiers he was seeing in his own formation. He said we have eyes on the enemy. But he had a hard time wrapping his brain around some of the rookies showing up to the unit with a plethora of serious issues. He said he has great concerns about the strength of our homes today and a rising trend of Soldiers showing up broken psychologically or behaviorally. Has that been your experience? What are you more concerned about? The known enemy or some of today's new recruits?
Readiness
Soldiers
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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Soldiers can grow. I can train them, coach, and mentor them. It's the rare few that struggle and they usually get out after their first enlistment. And as far as the enemy goes? Send me, I'll fight anyone.
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I spent 3 years as a recruiter when I was enlisted, and there is a tremendous amount of pressure placed on these NCOs from higher. If there were some way to mitigate that, it might help with first -term Soldiers turning up with issues.
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SFC J Fullerton
Higher enlistment standards are supposed to translate into "Quality". But the metrics used to gauge quality don't always pan out. When 70% of the enlistment age market doesn't meet the enlistment qualifications, then we are trusting that the remaining 30% left to work with will have the character and fortitude to be good Soldiers.
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SFC J Fullerton - And also, SFC, we're trusting that none of that 70% is getting in there. You and I both know better.
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Good points by all. Different generation of troops compared to 10 years ago. As leaders, we must continue to uphold the standards and discipline. With that comes understanding of the human dimension. No doubt, leadership is much more challenging than before, but we must do our best take care of the mission while simultaneously taking care of our Soldiers, and ourselves mentally and physically.
Great topic!
Great topic!
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