Why does the Army appear to have a discipline issue with the lower enlisted ranks?

Though I am not in the service anymore, I saw that starting back in the late 60's. It seems even worse now, even in the private sector. I have seen smart, collage graduates, apply for jobs and think they should start at the top rather than work their way up and I think that is caused by their upbringing and the environment they grew up in.

While not Army, I don't think the situation is much different in any of the services. To me what you describe as lack of discipline is the view of what I refer to as the 'black and white mentality'. If something isn't exactly as a person with that mentality expects it to be the outcome is viewed as a lack of something, in your case discipline. The problem is that in the military there is a huge grey area between those black and white goal posts. If the higher ranking soldiers didn't see an interaction with lower ranking soldiers as lack of respect or discipline then I suspect the scenario occurred in that grey area. The 'black and white mentality' will never grasp that concept, so my advice is suck it up and move on or try to understand that grey areas exist. Heck in my past life even special weapons maintenance procedures had grey areas so to think that military discipline doesn't have them is totally out of the realm of reality.

Many years ago, the DOD had an outside think tank inform them that they needed to become "Kinder and gentler" to their military personnel, something about military discipline and civilian discipline didn't match[thank you Dr. B. Spock] and so it began, the BCT that I'd endured in the mid '70's no longer existed. I'd been informed that "Stress Cards" were issued to new recruits so as to not harm their fragile egos(GAG me please), placing recruits in the "Front Leaning Pest Position" for extended lengths of time for individual transgressions was now unacceptable. Other tools of discipline were removed from the DI's hands and now the mess that exists, created by an outside "expert" with NOooooo real idea of the militaries need for firm discipline and the respect of rank and authority has lead to this...…… To fix it, DOD must think of returning the services induction training to that of maybe??? the 1960's....

I am retired Army for 20 years now and have been dismayed and disappointed with the lack of military bearing and discipline that I see when I visit Army posts these days. Pride and discipline are just not taught anymore in basic training. The Army doesn't even teach its recruits Army history. Without this, there is no pride. No pride leads to lack of discipline. This has been going on for so long that the a lot of the NCOs in today, those that are responsible for teaching the next generation, are soldiers who also missed out on this critical education themselves. You cannot teach something that you, yourself, never learned. I'm not bagging on the Army in any way, just telling it like it is. I was taught pride and trained in discipline when I was in and that carried over into my time on active duty and even into my life afterward. We need to take a step back and return to what we know worked--hard work and discipline.

I dont see it as a discipline issue, i see it as a cultural one. The Army and Marines are not the same animal. The Marines have embraced a culture that is fitted to expeditionary, high intensity combat. The Army seemingly has been used as a test bed for all sorts of initiatives. On top of that the "professionalism" approach that leaders have pushed for several years now has hog tied leaders from demonstrating the same intensity as our USMC counterparts. I can tell you that when I came in during 2001. It was clear the only rights i had were the ones my NCOs allowed me to have. Now soldiers have rights to their dignity that also contribute to a degree of freedom from the chain of command. As many senior NCOs have grown up in this enviornment, their opinions have been shaped by these entitlements. Now rather than it being a discipline issue, it effects the organizational culture of the army and has become systemic.

That said... the Army is not an expeditionary force in the same manner as the Marines. We are not a global QRF. Because of that we are structured and sustained differently, from the team level up. It is not an apples to apples comparison.

I don't believe you can generalize about any of the services. The CO of a unit and the unit staff set the tone for interaction between the ranks.

Before I could comment I would have to know what bases you served on with the Army.

I was a Squad Leader; in the Army. I didn't have a problem with discipline. Capt Michael Wilford

As someone who is published in the field of healthcare and statistical analysis I think your idea for a while paper is an excellent one. I would think that some societal factors are playing into it with regards to millenial culture. This is not a bad thing, but a social dynamic that is affecting all our institutions in many ways. One of the things I'd recommend you'd do is join some social media groups like TIKTOK. I did on a whim, and have seen ALOT of junior enlisted posting videos which air some interesting complaints (11Bs not training enough in the field or their MOS, other units on an FTX showing soldiers using their phones while guarding a checkpoint, and so on. I have some anecdotal information if you'd like to reach out, please do so.

Here is my take and it applies to all services. If you are seeing these issues know this, there is no such thing as bad units or troops, only bad leaders.