Posted on May 18, 2014
Why does the Army discriminate against single soldiers?
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First let me say I am biased in my opinion since I am a single soldier. The Army stacks the deck against single soldiers, in a variety of ways. There are standards that single soldiers are forced to obey that married soldiers are not. Purely just because of their marriage.
Housing is my personal biggest area of concern being a single soldier. I am a 27 yr old college graduate. I get the same "rights" in my living quarters that a single 17/18 yr old straight out of high-school would get. If that same soldier is married, they get considerably more freedom, pay, and budget control than I do.
I as a single soldier get no say in where I live. At my current duty station the BAH for my rank and dependent status (Single, E-4) would be $1,068. So I essentially pay $1,068 dollars a month to live in the barracks. The barracks I live in have two separate bedrooms, with a common kitchen and bathroom area. Since there are two soldiers in each little barracks apartment, we collectively pay $2,136 a month for this set up. That is FAR more then what a similar apartment style would cost in the surrounding communities. If single soldiers were allowed to have BAH and live where they choose we could potentially save several hundred dollars a month by controlling our living expenses. That's not including the approximately $300 a month we are forced to pay for the DFACs.
There is also the issue of furniture in the barracks. Again we have no say, we get whatever the Army already has in the room. Personally I would love to have an actual nice mattress, instead of these cheap plastic blue ones.
Barracks inspections. I can't stand barracks inspections. The inspections are completely up to the person doing them and what they "think" the standard should be. One inspection your could be fine, the next one your getting lectured about how to make a bed. Last summer I had to write a 2 page paper for an LT about personal standards in the barracks. All because my bed didn't have hospital corners. (That morning when I get up I tossed my blanket off to the right of me, where it was just sorta crunched up against the wall running the length of my bed.) If I want to know what I am allowed to have and not have in my room, I have to read three different policy letters to find out. Division could allow something, Brigade could say no, and then Battalion have nothing about it at all. I get that lower commands are allowed to restrict privileges as they see fit. I'm just saying it's cumbersome to have to read three different levels policy to find out what is what.
It annoys me that I have to have periodic inspections(currently every morning before PT for my company) while married soldiers receive no inspections just because they are married. I get that they have a family, I just don't see why that should stop a squad leader from making a planned, announced, and visual walk-through of the house of the married soldier. Keeping the same standard of living as a single soldier should be part of the military life.
Meal Deductions. I don't think the DFACs are worth the $300 a month I have to pay. I hate having to "play" the "I am a Meal Card Holder" card to get lunch sometimes during work. It's usually followed by a married soldier saying "I'm working thru lunch, you don't see me bitching about wanting to leave for food". True. However when we miss our lunch it's gone. The money we paid is gone rather we ate that meal or not. Married people if they bring their lunch it'll still be there later. If they eat out, then well that's just money they didn't spend that day. They can use it tomorrow to get twice as much for lunch or eat somewhere more expensive depending on their budget.
We get no say in what sounds good for dinner. It's whatever the DFAC has. Sometimes that means either fried or grilled chicken. If they run out of one thing, it'll be whatever they have left. It's not right. It leaves married people with control over their diet and single soldiers with whatever the Army needed to clean out of the fridge.
The above is just Big Army things, the discrimination continues all the way down to the company level. At my company single soldiers who live in the barracks are not allowed to park in the lot in front of the company. Now our barracks is approximately 3/4 mile down the road. Our motor pool is another 3/4 mile the other direction. I find it silly that an entire parking lot is reserved for married people. Sure single soldiers can drive to work, but we have to park in the barracks across the street. Which is not the barracks we live in. Married people can't park in that same lot if the one in front of company is full? To a point I can understand the reasoning behind this, but single soldiers have to leave and run here and there just like our married counter-parts. Why should they get special parking treatment? I don't see anyone stopping married people from using the barracks washers and dryers to avoid buying their own/going to coin laundry mats. Why are married people allowed to dip their hands in our honey and slap ours away from theirs?
Like I said from the start I'm biased. I look over the fence and see greener grass. Perhaps this is all just one single soldier bitching and complaining.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Update FEB 2019: Since I originally posted this message, I have gotten married. My view on the subject has not changed. I want to respond to some of the overarching themes in everyone responses.
“Quit bitching/whining/complaining.” I feel there is a difference between logically laying out issues and grievances and just bitching about them. The number of leaders who contributions on this post/topic amounted to “quit saying words” is disheartening.
“Get married/Army will issue you a wife.” Saying to get married just to move out of the barracks is a failure of leadership. Those of you (in my opinion) with that mentally should reconsider what you do/did and what your job is/was. As a former Infantry NCO I have dealt with the countless issues that arise when a soldier quickly marries someone for the wrong reason (example: get out of the barracks). The domestic issues, spouse calling in to the Staff Duty, soldier isn’t training because of counseling/FAP/court/Divorce related nonsense, greatly diminishes readiness which the last I checked the Army still considers to be pretty important.
“I had more money/I wish I was back in the barracks/ but but bills! etc.” Bull. I wish I could challenge anyone who says that to actually prove it. As stated, I am married now. I have more money, flexibility, and financial freedom then I did as a single E-4. Now some of that is because I’m a higher rank. Part of it is because I use BAH as intended to cover housing/bills, my BAS for food, and having the control over how much I spend on those two items is very important. Also, my spouse works. I have come to realize that is less than common for married soldiers in the Army. However, I would argue that getting married and not having both spouses working is a decision that you made going in to it. I’m not arguing/stating if it’s the right or wrong choice. It’s what you decided worked for ya’ll. To me it’s the equivalent of a private going out and buying that 23% interest Mustang then complaining about how much money it costs and how he used to have it so much better without that car payment. If you choose (by getting married/having kids) to feed/house/care for additional people (spouse/kids) and yet do nothing to increase your income than yeah…you’ll have less money. That is a very poor argument for what the original post was about.
a. Hopefully ^above^ I’ve made my point clear and concise seems a little muddy to me, I guess we shall see in future comments.
“Move off post.” That’s not an option. Well I guess it is, however single soldiers still have to maintain the barracks room they get assigned, they still wouldn’t get the BAH entitlement, and they would have to still pay the DFAC out of their BAS. Do I need to continue on the ignorance of that statement? Sure, there’s a packet you can submit and ask to receive those allowances, I’ve only ever seen get accepted once and that was when my BDE changed from Light to Armored, only for E-5s, and it was suggested only if they were on orders and would be PCS’ing soon anyhow. They wanted non-PCS’ing E-5s still in the barracks. I don’t recall if I stated it in my original post but that unofficial additional duty of being an NCO at the barracks is crap. “You’re an NCO at the barracks keep everyone in line down there after work and on weekends”, thought that’s what CQ was for. I’ll also comment on the “single people off post would party to much/be late to formation/traffic at the gates/ get in trouble in town more” line of nonsense. It’s ignorant. Along with the “paying dues” comments.
Veterans- I appreciate you are still active in the boarder military community, and recognize that your time in the service paved the way for what we did/do/have accomplished today. However, pointing out how things were worse yesterday compared today and to “suck it up” is lazy. There is no reason we can’t keep pointing out things today to make tomorrow even better. I’m sure there is crap I can’t even fathom that ya’ll dealt with back in the 60s, 80s, and what have you that were fixed because of people continuing to bring the issue up.
Lastly, I’ve enjoyed reading the varied amount of responses everyone has on the topic. If mine come off as aggressive or across the line it was not my intention. When I posted the original stuff above 4+ almost 5 years ago I never expected it to get attention and still receive emails notifications years later. I’m fairly sure I’ve read 90% of the comments because Rally Point sends me an email every time someone comments. No I did not add that picture at the top, it’s the website. Sorry if you clicked on a Rally Point ad somewhere that linked to this post only to see it’s from 2014. I don’t control those. It’s the website. Yes I’m sure there are a few grammar and spelling errors. If you point it out at the beginning of a comment, I’m more likely to see it and correct the issue. Cheers to several more years of being told why I’m wrong.
Housing is my personal biggest area of concern being a single soldier. I am a 27 yr old college graduate. I get the same "rights" in my living quarters that a single 17/18 yr old straight out of high-school would get. If that same soldier is married, they get considerably more freedom, pay, and budget control than I do.
I as a single soldier get no say in where I live. At my current duty station the BAH for my rank and dependent status (Single, E-4) would be $1,068. So I essentially pay $1,068 dollars a month to live in the barracks. The barracks I live in have two separate bedrooms, with a common kitchen and bathroom area. Since there are two soldiers in each little barracks apartment, we collectively pay $2,136 a month for this set up. That is FAR more then what a similar apartment style would cost in the surrounding communities. If single soldiers were allowed to have BAH and live where they choose we could potentially save several hundred dollars a month by controlling our living expenses. That's not including the approximately $300 a month we are forced to pay for the DFACs.
There is also the issue of furniture in the barracks. Again we have no say, we get whatever the Army already has in the room. Personally I would love to have an actual nice mattress, instead of these cheap plastic blue ones.
Barracks inspections. I can't stand barracks inspections. The inspections are completely up to the person doing them and what they "think" the standard should be. One inspection your could be fine, the next one your getting lectured about how to make a bed. Last summer I had to write a 2 page paper for an LT about personal standards in the barracks. All because my bed didn't have hospital corners. (That morning when I get up I tossed my blanket off to the right of me, where it was just sorta crunched up against the wall running the length of my bed.) If I want to know what I am allowed to have and not have in my room, I have to read three different policy letters to find out. Division could allow something, Brigade could say no, and then Battalion have nothing about it at all. I get that lower commands are allowed to restrict privileges as they see fit. I'm just saying it's cumbersome to have to read three different levels policy to find out what is what.
It annoys me that I have to have periodic inspections(currently every morning before PT for my company) while married soldiers receive no inspections just because they are married. I get that they have a family, I just don't see why that should stop a squad leader from making a planned, announced, and visual walk-through of the house of the married soldier. Keeping the same standard of living as a single soldier should be part of the military life.
Meal Deductions. I don't think the DFACs are worth the $300 a month I have to pay. I hate having to "play" the "I am a Meal Card Holder" card to get lunch sometimes during work. It's usually followed by a married soldier saying "I'm working thru lunch, you don't see me bitching about wanting to leave for food". True. However when we miss our lunch it's gone. The money we paid is gone rather we ate that meal or not. Married people if they bring their lunch it'll still be there later. If they eat out, then well that's just money they didn't spend that day. They can use it tomorrow to get twice as much for lunch or eat somewhere more expensive depending on their budget.
We get no say in what sounds good for dinner. It's whatever the DFAC has. Sometimes that means either fried or grilled chicken. If they run out of one thing, it'll be whatever they have left. It's not right. It leaves married people with control over their diet and single soldiers with whatever the Army needed to clean out of the fridge.
The above is just Big Army things, the discrimination continues all the way down to the company level. At my company single soldiers who live in the barracks are not allowed to park in the lot in front of the company. Now our barracks is approximately 3/4 mile down the road. Our motor pool is another 3/4 mile the other direction. I find it silly that an entire parking lot is reserved for married people. Sure single soldiers can drive to work, but we have to park in the barracks across the street. Which is not the barracks we live in. Married people can't park in that same lot if the one in front of company is full? To a point I can understand the reasoning behind this, but single soldiers have to leave and run here and there just like our married counter-parts. Why should they get special parking treatment? I don't see anyone stopping married people from using the barracks washers and dryers to avoid buying their own/going to coin laundry mats. Why are married people allowed to dip their hands in our honey and slap ours away from theirs?
Like I said from the start I'm biased. I look over the fence and see greener grass. Perhaps this is all just one single soldier bitching and complaining.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Update FEB 2019: Since I originally posted this message, I have gotten married. My view on the subject has not changed. I want to respond to some of the overarching themes in everyone responses.
“Quit bitching/whining/complaining.” I feel there is a difference between logically laying out issues and grievances and just bitching about them. The number of leaders who contributions on this post/topic amounted to “quit saying words” is disheartening.
“Get married/Army will issue you a wife.” Saying to get married just to move out of the barracks is a failure of leadership. Those of you (in my opinion) with that mentally should reconsider what you do/did and what your job is/was. As a former Infantry NCO I have dealt with the countless issues that arise when a soldier quickly marries someone for the wrong reason (example: get out of the barracks). The domestic issues, spouse calling in to the Staff Duty, soldier isn’t training because of counseling/FAP/court/Divorce related nonsense, greatly diminishes readiness which the last I checked the Army still considers to be pretty important.
“I had more money/I wish I was back in the barracks/ but but bills! etc.” Bull. I wish I could challenge anyone who says that to actually prove it. As stated, I am married now. I have more money, flexibility, and financial freedom then I did as a single E-4. Now some of that is because I’m a higher rank. Part of it is because I use BAH as intended to cover housing/bills, my BAS for food, and having the control over how much I spend on those two items is very important. Also, my spouse works. I have come to realize that is less than common for married soldiers in the Army. However, I would argue that getting married and not having both spouses working is a decision that you made going in to it. I’m not arguing/stating if it’s the right or wrong choice. It’s what you decided worked for ya’ll. To me it’s the equivalent of a private going out and buying that 23% interest Mustang then complaining about how much money it costs and how he used to have it so much better without that car payment. If you choose (by getting married/having kids) to feed/house/care for additional people (spouse/kids) and yet do nothing to increase your income than yeah…you’ll have less money. That is a very poor argument for what the original post was about.
a. Hopefully ^above^ I’ve made my point clear and concise seems a little muddy to me, I guess we shall see in future comments.
“Move off post.” That’s not an option. Well I guess it is, however single soldiers still have to maintain the barracks room they get assigned, they still wouldn’t get the BAH entitlement, and they would have to still pay the DFAC out of their BAS. Do I need to continue on the ignorance of that statement? Sure, there’s a packet you can submit and ask to receive those allowances, I’ve only ever seen get accepted once and that was when my BDE changed from Light to Armored, only for E-5s, and it was suggested only if they were on orders and would be PCS’ing soon anyhow. They wanted non-PCS’ing E-5s still in the barracks. I don’t recall if I stated it in my original post but that unofficial additional duty of being an NCO at the barracks is crap. “You’re an NCO at the barracks keep everyone in line down there after work and on weekends”, thought that’s what CQ was for. I’ll also comment on the “single people off post would party to much/be late to formation/traffic at the gates/ get in trouble in town more” line of nonsense. It’s ignorant. Along with the “paying dues” comments.
Veterans- I appreciate you are still active in the boarder military community, and recognize that your time in the service paved the way for what we did/do/have accomplished today. However, pointing out how things were worse yesterday compared today and to “suck it up” is lazy. There is no reason we can’t keep pointing out things today to make tomorrow even better. I’m sure there is crap I can’t even fathom that ya’ll dealt with back in the 60s, 80s, and what have you that were fixed because of people continuing to bring the issue up.
Lastly, I’ve enjoyed reading the varied amount of responses everyone has on the topic. If mine come off as aggressive or across the line it was not my intention. When I posted the original stuff above 4+ almost 5 years ago I never expected it to get attention and still receive emails notifications years later. I’m fairly sure I’ve read 90% of the comments because Rally Point sends me an email every time someone comments. No I did not add that picture at the top, it’s the website. Sorry if you clicked on a Rally Point ad somewhere that linked to this post only to see it’s from 2014. I don’t control those. It’s the website. Yes I’m sure there are a few grammar and spelling errors. If you point it out at the beginning of a comment, I’m more likely to see it and correct the issue. Cheers to several more years of being told why I’m wrong.
Posted in these groups: 
Barracks
BAS
Marriage
DiscriminationBetter Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) President
Barracks BAS Marriage DiscriminationBetter Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) President
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 488
You know, I was a 23 year old Sergeant (24 now, so this was less then 1 year ago) who lived in the barracks once. It was infested with huge roaches and mold everywhere. I was sweeping dead roaches out of the room every day. One night, one the size of my finger crawled up my arm. At that point I paid rent out of pocket to live somewhere else. I told the housing NCO, but he doesn't care, he lives off post. (Ft. Campbell)
The barracks I lived in when I was lower enlisted weren't infested by roaches, but I completely agree with you that there is no privacy. On the weekends you have to stay inside, if your caught outside staff duty will make you clean something. Every time people are called back to work to do stuff, its always the barracks soldiers, same group each time.....
Oh and let me tell you about those inspections, I had an NCO who was so bad he pretty much owned my barracks room. He told me what close will go in what drawer, where my tooth paste and tooth brush will be, what goes in which space, etc.... that was just miserable....
All my other friends got contract marriages, but due to my religion my family would not be happy if I got a divorce... So I didn't go that route.
On a positive note though, DADT has be re-appealed. You can marry one of your buddies in the barracks and live off post. We used to joke about doing that when I was in the barracks (lol flashbacks) .
The barracks I lived in when I was lower enlisted weren't infested by roaches, but I completely agree with you that there is no privacy. On the weekends you have to stay inside, if your caught outside staff duty will make you clean something. Every time people are called back to work to do stuff, its always the barracks soldiers, same group each time.....
Oh and let me tell you about those inspections, I had an NCO who was so bad he pretty much owned my barracks room. He told me what close will go in what drawer, where my tooth paste and tooth brush will be, what goes in which space, etc.... that was just miserable....
All my other friends got contract marriages, but due to my religion my family would not be happy if I got a divorce... So I didn't go that route.
On a positive note though, DADT has be re-appealed. You can marry one of your buddies in the barracks and live off post. We used to joke about doing that when I was in the barracks (lol flashbacks) .
SPC (Join to see)
I can't agree with you more. Most of these NCOs that are saying that there is no unfair treatment either came into the military with dependants, or are completely discarding their duties as NCOs. Possible several divorces as well because they didn't want to live in the Barracks lol.
SGT Josh Beers
When our Unit left Ft. Ord for Ft. Lewis Washington back in 1993, we were housed in the old WWII barracks on the North Fort. Terrible.....lol....they threw on some new paint and added some new "walls" and called it home....lol...good times
SGT Brian Poe
I never saw anyone go to a married guys house when everyone was off and have him go in and clean CP or somewhere. However, if you had the day off from doing CQ that night as a single soldier, you had to immediately leave the barracks and find somewhere else to sleep.
You are incorrect. The Army "discriminates" against junior enlisted by developing one-size -fits-all policies. You are experiencing that by being a non-traditional junior enlisted (presumably by entering later than most). The Army says it will feed and shelter -- not feed and shelter according to your preferences. The majority of junior enlisted are 18-22 who can use a little oversight, especially when they aren't in a more rigid combat zone. Having a roommate and limited personal property is the norm for people in this age group.
PO2 Karl Lehn
I not sure I agree with the a little more oversight idea. If you can trust an 18 year old with the responsibility of using full automatic weapons (and all that implies) and by age 22 with leading men into battle treating them like children is counterproductive. (By the way I'm a licensed counselor doing the same thing clinical psychologists do. This IS a professional opinion)
At 21 a person can become a law enforcement officer carrying a weapon 24/7 and exercising snap judgement in any given situation. That same person can drink, legally own firearms and exercise the right to vote. The 18 year old can only vote and yes 4 years is a difference. But everyone matures at different rates and a one size fits all approach doesn't fit at all and can in fact be counterproductive by creating animosity toward the service that reduces retention.
How can anyone justify holding a 30 year old private who has a degree and decided to enlist to serve his country as an enlisted man vs competing for a commission. How does the service explain that that 21 year old academy graduate is more mature than that 30 year old private with a degree who isn't an officer? In fact how does the services maintain that a 21 year old officer is more mature than a 21 year old private? Especially when the reverse might be more true.
So a 30 year old feeling the call of his country to serve is treated with discrimination by an organization that openly fights discrimination just because of his lack of rank. Truth is I have seen some very immature senior enlisted and officers and wondered how they got as far as they did.........
No Colonel one size does not fit all.
Heres an example. As an E-4 for the second time I was made the leading petty officer of a newly formed division (the Navy's equivalent of a platoon I believe). This is usually a slot filled by an E-6. I had as the acting leading Chief a Marine Staff Sergeant and as Division officer a Marine 1st Lt. One day I had was tasked with taking my crew to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to get supplies for my ship. One of my men was supposed to stand watch (post) the day in question. Navy ships are divided into watch sections with each section having a section leader who writes out watch bill assignments. My man's Corporal the question remains will the Army ALLOW them to purchase their own mattress. Maybe your beloved Corps will but I doubt that too. The Navy never offered me the option. section leader was an E-8 in personnel. I was ordered to advise him we would be needing my man for the trip and requested he relieve my man of his duty requirement so he could accompany me to the shipyard. The E-8's response was, " You better get someone with more horsepower to come talk to me" vs "Can you have your division officer call me about it Petty Officer?" which would have been an much more professional response. Either way it shouldn't have mattered as my authority was positional vs rank oriented. However, being the good obedient sailor I am I immediately went to my acting chief and my division officer and related verbatim what the E-8 told me. The E-8 I am sure will never forget the butt chewing he got from that Marine 1st Lt for being uncooperative, for not treating me as a professional and not respecting my position no matter my rate (Navy for enlisted rank) at the time. That E-8 showed more ignorance and immaturity in his choice of wording that any one half his age I ever served with. He also learned to never tick off a Marine officer I might add.
AGE IS NEVER A GOOD INDICATOR OF MATURITY COLONEL. ACTIONS, CONDUCT AND SELF CONTROL ARE.
I submit the services as a whole must reassess how it views and treats its junior members. It can only help retention.
At 21 a person can become a law enforcement officer carrying a weapon 24/7 and exercising snap judgement in any given situation. That same person can drink, legally own firearms and exercise the right to vote. The 18 year old can only vote and yes 4 years is a difference. But everyone matures at different rates and a one size fits all approach doesn't fit at all and can in fact be counterproductive by creating animosity toward the service that reduces retention.
How can anyone justify holding a 30 year old private who has a degree and decided to enlist to serve his country as an enlisted man vs competing for a commission. How does the service explain that that 21 year old academy graduate is more mature than that 30 year old private with a degree who isn't an officer? In fact how does the services maintain that a 21 year old officer is more mature than a 21 year old private? Especially when the reverse might be more true.
So a 30 year old feeling the call of his country to serve is treated with discrimination by an organization that openly fights discrimination just because of his lack of rank. Truth is I have seen some very immature senior enlisted and officers and wondered how they got as far as they did.........
No Colonel one size does not fit all.
Heres an example. As an E-4 for the second time I was made the leading petty officer of a newly formed division (the Navy's equivalent of a platoon I believe). This is usually a slot filled by an E-6. I had as the acting leading Chief a Marine Staff Sergeant and as Division officer a Marine 1st Lt. One day I had was tasked with taking my crew to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to get supplies for my ship. One of my men was supposed to stand watch (post) the day in question. Navy ships are divided into watch sections with each section having a section leader who writes out watch bill assignments. My man's Corporal the question remains will the Army ALLOW them to purchase their own mattress. Maybe your beloved Corps will but I doubt that too. The Navy never offered me the option. section leader was an E-8 in personnel. I was ordered to advise him we would be needing my man for the trip and requested he relieve my man of his duty requirement so he could accompany me to the shipyard. The E-8's response was, " You better get someone with more horsepower to come talk to me" vs "Can you have your division officer call me about it Petty Officer?" which would have been an much more professional response. Either way it shouldn't have mattered as my authority was positional vs rank oriented. However, being the good obedient sailor I am I immediately went to my acting chief and my division officer and related verbatim what the E-8 told me. The E-8 I am sure will never forget the butt chewing he got from that Marine 1st Lt for being uncooperative, for not treating me as a professional and not respecting my position no matter my rate (Navy for enlisted rank) at the time. That E-8 showed more ignorance and immaturity in his choice of wording that any one half his age I ever served with. He also learned to never tick off a Marine officer I might add.
AGE IS NEVER A GOOD INDICATOR OF MATURITY COLONEL. ACTIONS, CONDUCT AND SELF CONTROL ARE.
I submit the services as a whole must reassess how it views and treats its junior members. It can only help retention.
LTC (Join to see)
PO2 Lehman - Your example of fully automatic weapons and orders under combat misses my differentiation between combat (when there are actually more requirements and parameters) and garrison time.
Are there 18 yo who can effectively command? I’m sure there is, but not on the norm — primarily because our society and services don’t train for that. The difference between the 21 yo academy graduate (or any officer for that matter) and private is not age, not necessarily experience, but *training*. The training we put our enlisted through is for a specific purpose: to follow the orders of those appointed over them. The same aged officer has been put through training to ferret out best decisions not just for themselves (what should I do?) but for the good of the group (what’s best for my people) and the organization (what meets the mission as a whole). It’s about parameters; the more reps a person has at any type of decision-making, the better they will be. Does that account of innate skills? Nope. There are privates who make great decisions and could be great leaders — but until they gain enough rank to be responsible for more than themselves, they are treated as a mass entity.
If someone falls into this category, where they have enlisted but feel squashed under the one-size practices ... their best bet is to do the work to gain rank (enl or officer) or get out.
I’m not sure where you wanted to go at the end there — the OP’s point was: I’m 30 and shouldn’t be treated like an 18 yo. Your top response was consistent with that, but your final comment was that age isn’t a good indicator of maturity, which was a tenet of the OP.
My point is this: should the services reassess? Perhaps. But they don’t particularly care about retaining a certain population of junior enlisted. They want to retain those they’ve really invested in, at the NCO level. This is where retention matters (not saying it should, just pointing out that it does).
The services do a person-by-person assessment of action, conduct, and self-control in the form of their promotion systems. There are sufficient recruitment and training dollars to support an en masse system (although I dare say the Navy and USMC are some of the greatest offenders of a cookie-cutter mentality) to not require cultural change.
Are there 18 yo who can effectively command? I’m sure there is, but not on the norm — primarily because our society and services don’t train for that. The difference between the 21 yo academy graduate (or any officer for that matter) and private is not age, not necessarily experience, but *training*. The training we put our enlisted through is for a specific purpose: to follow the orders of those appointed over them. The same aged officer has been put through training to ferret out best decisions not just for themselves (what should I do?) but for the good of the group (what’s best for my people) and the organization (what meets the mission as a whole). It’s about parameters; the more reps a person has at any type of decision-making, the better they will be. Does that account of innate skills? Nope. There are privates who make great decisions and could be great leaders — but until they gain enough rank to be responsible for more than themselves, they are treated as a mass entity.
If someone falls into this category, where they have enlisted but feel squashed under the one-size practices ... their best bet is to do the work to gain rank (enl or officer) or get out.
I’m not sure where you wanted to go at the end there — the OP’s point was: I’m 30 and shouldn’t be treated like an 18 yo. Your top response was consistent with that, but your final comment was that age isn’t a good indicator of maturity, which was a tenet of the OP.
My point is this: should the services reassess? Perhaps. But they don’t particularly care about retaining a certain population of junior enlisted. They want to retain those they’ve really invested in, at the NCO level. This is where retention matters (not saying it should, just pointing out that it does).
The services do a person-by-person assessment of action, conduct, and self-control in the form of their promotion systems. There are sufficient recruitment and training dollars to support an en masse system (although I dare say the Navy and USMC are some of the greatest offenders of a cookie-cutter mentality) to not require cultural change.
LTC (Join to see)
Also, no idea why my phone autocorrected your name, not having luck finding the edit button. Apologies!PO2 Karl Lehn
There are things that you have to endure that soldiers before you were forced to endure. Your education and age are really non-entities. All single soldiers at a rank specified by the command, for example SSG and below in Korea. Live in the barracks, adhere to an SOP and have a curfew. There's a couple ways to look at it; you don't have to deal with a wife and/or kids and making ends meet with those challanges both personal and professional; you don't live in an open bay with your platoons; or just suck it up. If you chose the latter option you're basically admitting that you chose to look at things pessimistically. I live in the barracks from PVT to SGT; now I make almost twice what I made as a SPC including BAH. I also ride the Struggle Bus to make sure my family and I save money every month. When I was a single SPC in the barracks I could drink at the bar virtually every night, spend Wednesday and Saturday in a gentleman's club and buy a dirtbike and still come out ahead.
The barracks quality and standards vary from duty station to duty station. But if Ft Hood is any indication (both West and Main) living in the barracks is cake. For the small fee of the occasional inconvienance you get an unreasonable amount of expendable income and you'll never be homeless. One of my soldiers years ago saved over 50,000 in a little over two years through using the DFAC and minimizing his expenses; he bought a multi family condo and put it on Section 8. All while living in the barracks.
It's all about perspective.
The barracks quality and standards vary from duty station to duty station. But if Ft Hood is any indication (both West and Main) living in the barracks is cake. For the small fee of the occasional inconvienance you get an unreasonable amount of expendable income and you'll never be homeless. One of my soldiers years ago saved over 50,000 in a little over two years through using the DFAC and minimizing his expenses; he bought a multi family condo and put it on Section 8. All while living in the barracks.
It's all about perspective.
CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
SSgt Joseph Baptist Because it is now a volunteer Army! Retaining volunteers is expensive!
SPC, you make quite a few good points. Let me start off by apologizing because I don’t want to sound disrespectful in any way, shape, or form, but a lot of this is the same complaining that hundreds of thousands of Soldiers have done before you and will continue to do long after you and I are long gone.
As far as money goes, the Army is currently and always has been looking at ways to save money. They are trying to find ways to pay for beans and bullets not Sleep Number beds for you and your roommate. One of those ways is to provide Soldiers a place to live versus giving them money to live out on the economy. One of the reasons many apartments and homes near installations have such great deals on rooms is because they know single Soldiers don’t want to live in the barracks and they know how much you make. If the Army just gave you BAH, they would know that as well, and you would see an increase in rent prices in the area. As far as food goes I wish I could spend $300 a month on food for three square meals a day. This money gets taken out automatically and you still see Soldiers at the food court throwing money down like there is no tomorrow. You mentioned missing lunch and losing that money. Look into it because I’m pretty sure you can get your money back for meals you were unable to go eat because you were not afforded the opportunity. We’ve all heard of the mythical and ever elusive “Missed Meal Voucher”. It’s a real thing. (Hint- AR 600-38)
Let’s talk about room inspections. You have obviously lived in the barracks for a while if you are complaining about them already. So what that tells me is that you should know what they are looking for by now. If you know that you are going to get inspected every morning before PT and you know what they are looking for, there should be no issue. You have the answers for the test already. As far as home inspections on married Soldiers living off base with families, they are required to have their homes inspected as well. If they are not happening that is a failure on the leadership.
Finally the parking, it sucks that this is going on, but in all honesty how much of an inconvenience is it really? Is it more inconvenient that having to wake up an hour earlier and fighting through morning traffic and then looking for a parking spot that isn’t half a mile away? If it is then I suggest once again digging in to the regulations. Not going to give you any hints there because I actually like the idea.
As far as money goes, the Army is currently and always has been looking at ways to save money. They are trying to find ways to pay for beans and bullets not Sleep Number beds for you and your roommate. One of those ways is to provide Soldiers a place to live versus giving them money to live out on the economy. One of the reasons many apartments and homes near installations have such great deals on rooms is because they know single Soldiers don’t want to live in the barracks and they know how much you make. If the Army just gave you BAH, they would know that as well, and you would see an increase in rent prices in the area. As far as food goes I wish I could spend $300 a month on food for three square meals a day. This money gets taken out automatically and you still see Soldiers at the food court throwing money down like there is no tomorrow. You mentioned missing lunch and losing that money. Look into it because I’m pretty sure you can get your money back for meals you were unable to go eat because you were not afforded the opportunity. We’ve all heard of the mythical and ever elusive “Missed Meal Voucher”. It’s a real thing. (Hint- AR 600-38)
Let’s talk about room inspections. You have obviously lived in the barracks for a while if you are complaining about them already. So what that tells me is that you should know what they are looking for by now. If you know that you are going to get inspected every morning before PT and you know what they are looking for, there should be no issue. You have the answers for the test already. As far as home inspections on married Soldiers living off base with families, they are required to have their homes inspected as well. If they are not happening that is a failure on the leadership.
Finally the parking, it sucks that this is going on, but in all honesty how much of an inconvenience is it really? Is it more inconvenient that having to wake up an hour earlier and fighting through morning traffic and then looking for a parking spot that isn’t half a mile away? If it is then I suggest once again digging in to the regulations. Not going to give you any hints there because I actually like the idea.
SGM (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) - You should write that Masters-level thesis, or better still a joint research paper with that civilian environmental specialist, then send it to the Sergeant Major of the Army and to the Chair and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees (I'd inform your chain of command you're sending it to these folks). That's the only way to get it some exposure. Make sure you've got a one-two page executive summary on top of the paper that gets the major points across succinctly. Don't complain; ACT.
SSgt Dennis Brown
as an army brat, we only saw a military inspection by the first sgt and my dads co once and that was after our next door neighbor sent a letter to his co complaining about 5 kids, my 3 sisters in one room, me and my brother in another room, parents in the third room and 2 dogs in the house~1 a german shepherd for protection, living in the house...the neighbor didn't like the shepherd and she didn't like the neighbor....his commander came in and found no problems beyond the complaining neighbor...when we lived in base housing at Fort Knox, we never had a command visit to our quarters on base...when I was active duty, I never had command come check my on base quarters or off base apartments, except when in korea, where we had to have someone do an annual inspection to insure the andohl heating system was free of deadly carbion monoxide leaks
MSgt Kerry Lundy
SSgt Dennis Brown - When we lived in family housing at Eglin AFB Fl we had inspections of the outside area around our quarters i.e. lawns,trash accumulation,junk vehicles or unauthorized vehicles/boats.
SSgt Dennis Brown
MSgt Kerry Lundy my comment was when my dad was stationed at fort Gordon and we were living in a privately owned house off base... Having myself been in base hiding at chanute afb, weight Patterson afb and Kadena an,I am familiar with constant inspections of the military quarters
So I did some research. An E1-E4 single soldier with no dependent gets 954 for BAH at fort hood. The most expensive apartment I found was a 3br 3ba at 1,169. If 3 soldiers lived there each soldier would save 564.33 a month on BAH. Plus this apartment has all the amenities as they get on post. They have a fitness center, a pool, A/C, laundry room and hookups for a washer and dryer, and much more. If these apartment complexes can stay in business for this amount of money than it makes me ask the question of where the hell is the money going?
I live in a 4br 2 Ba house for 950. If all 4 rooms were occupied that would save each soldier 716.50 a month on BAH. You wouldn't even need to pay them BAS with those kind of savings. This doesn't make sense to me.
If the army is making so much money on its soldiers living in the barracks then why does it take so long to renovate these old and decrepit barracks.
I went to school recently and I was suppose to stay in the barracks but they recently declared it unlivable. Why does a barracks even get that far before a Reno is done?
I live in a 4br 2 Ba house for 950. If all 4 rooms were occupied that would save each soldier 716.50 a month on BAH. You wouldn't even need to pay them BAS with those kind of savings. This doesn't make sense to me.
If the army is making so much money on its soldiers living in the barracks then why does it take so long to renovate these old and decrepit barracks.
I went to school recently and I was suppose to stay in the barracks but they recently declared it unlivable. Why does a barracks even get that far before a Reno is done?
SPC Nicholas V.
Your question should infuriate you when the president reallocates military construction funds to pay for a wall in the middle of the dessert.
SSG (Join to see)
That's actually a good point, Sgt. Parker. When I was in and living in the barracks (my first 10 years in), not once did I ever live in new barracks. Never, ever, ever, EVER. Not even once. I never spent a single night in new barracks. PCS'd four times, and never got new barracks. On two occasions of moving out of barracks, the ones we left were condemned. No one else moved into them behind us.
On one PCS, my losing unit was moving into new barracks. I still couldn't win. I'm FINALLY in a unit that's getting new barracks...and I'm leaving. Not a single night, even in those barracks. Story of my life.
After the PCS of barely missing new barracks, I'm right into old barracks at a new post. Stayed in those for a few months, and then after that, it was off post living until I retired.
On one PCS, my losing unit was moving into new barracks. I still couldn't win. I'm FINALLY in a unit that's getting new barracks...and I'm leaving. Not a single night, even in those barracks. Story of my life.
After the PCS of barely missing new barracks, I'm right into old barracks at a new post. Stayed in those for a few months, and then after that, it was off post living until I retired.
Yes, you are bitching. There may be some good reason. Food choices being one of them for sure. I hated having to accept whatever the mess laid out. However, there is a lot you don't see that married personnel have to deal with. Your lot in life may not be to your liking, but you will find one day that the married guys don't have it all that good in ways you never knew about.
PO2 Devrie Paradowski
I'm starting to get the feeling that base accommodations may be a little nicer in the Navy. I still feel you on this post.
PO2 Karl Lehn
PO2 Devrie Paradowski - Petty Officer I have had the pleasure of seeing all the services living and dining accommodations for officers and enlisted except for our brothers and sisters in the Coast Guard. I would rate them accordingly: 1. Air Force, 2. Navy, 3. Marine and 4. Army I am told the Coast Guard has facilities comparable to somewhere between the Navy or Air Force. Although the best steak I ever had in the service was at Camp Darby, Brendisi, Italy.
CPL Justin Higgins
You didn’t serve in the Army. Your opinion on this matter is invalid. Try serving in the Army then you may know whether he is “bitching” or not. I knew several sailors who served in the Army. A common thing they would all say is that their worst day in the Navy was better then their best day in the Army. Have a nice day.
I think one of the things that bothered me the most was having different standards for those living in the barracks vs. those that lived off-post. It blows my mind that as a blanket people who are married are considered mature, while those who are single and live in the barracks are immature. If you live in the barracks the Army will dictate what alcohol is allowed in the barracks, how your bed should look, how much trash you are allowed to have in your trash can (anything over 1/4 full is "over-flowing"). In addition to that if there was phased arrival for bad weather single E4s were expected to be at the shop half an hour before married E3s, and to have the sidewalks cleared before they got there, by the way we drove by the married housing on the way from the barracks to the EOD shop on the other side of post from the barracks. When we had FRG meetings our unit would release the married soldiers early so they could go home, change, and get their families. The single soldiers were then required to stay at the shop, stay in uniform, clean and set up, then spent the whole meeting running games and watching out for the kids of the married soldiers, then the married soldiers were allowed to leave so they could get their families home while the single soldiers stayed to conduct clean up.
I know that from personal discussion with over half of the lower enlisted soldiers that got married while I was in the unit with them that the Army's treatment of single soldiers was a primary factor in their decision to get married. Most of them got married because they were sick of all of the garbage they had to put up with from the unit and from the Army because they were single, and within six months most of them were in marriages they wanted out of after admittedly getting married too soon, but they in every instance they still said, "but its better than living in the barracks". I think that if they Army could fix the discrepancies between the way that they treat single soldiers vs. married soldiers they could fix some of the problems they have with soldiers that get married to quickly/ too young. Things like domestic violence and the high divorce rate (I know there are a lot of other things, like the strains of deployments, kids, finances, army life etc. that also contribute to this).
My other large grievance is in regards to alcohol. I don't understand the mindset that a 21 year old E3 who is married and living either off-post or in married housing with his 19 year old wife is responsible enough to have all the alcohol he wants, but as a 31 year old college grad living in the barracks I can't be responsible enough to have more than a six pack in my room. Me personally I'm a whiskey connoisseur, particularly bourbon. Recently I won a raffle for the chance to buy a rare bottle of $130 bourbon, that's not something I'm going to drink often, its something that will be opened for a special occasion, and then nursed for a few months. I had to find somewhere off post to store it because I'm only allowed one bottle of alcohol in the barracks. I typically only drink whisky on the weekend, and prefer a glass of wine in the evening with dinner during the week. When our battalion changed our alcohol policy I had to find someone to take my wine chiller, and would have to empty a bottle of wine any time I wanted to have some, or find somewhere else to store my bourbon during the week so I wouldn't have over the allowed limit. It just doesn't make sense when I know that I have responsible drinking habits, but if I were to marry the first girl that was willing, then I'm more mature in my personal life, and with my drinking habits so I can now have a full bar when two months before when I wasn't married I couldn't even handle having a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine, or a bottle of good and a bottle of extra rare bourbon. Then heaven for bid if you're an aspiring mixologist that likes to have some gin and campari around to make the occasional negroni.
I will also bring up the DFAC issue. I know that $300 is not going to to feed the typical person in a month, so if you look at it that way all of your meals provided for $300 is a deal. The thing is that most soldiers aren't going to get all of their meals there. For that typically bought all of my lunches during the work week. On most days we didn't have time to get back from PT then get to the chow hall and then get to work on time, but our NCO's never cared because they would go straight from PT to the shop to shower, and then eat a breakfast they brought with them. The single soldiers would have to go back across post to the barracks, shower, and then rush to chow try to get something, then finish the drive to the shop. When it came to dinner you typically had to make sure you got whatever was left at the DFAC on your way home from the shop going back to the barracks. For me I have always liked to sit down, change and take a rest before grabbing dinner, by that time the DFAC was closed, so I would either make something in my room or grab something from a restaurant, but again that was my decision and I realize that, but it wasn't something that I could opt out of. Now while I was in I started having all sorts of issues with my GI tract, and nutrition services felt that with my condition and age that it would be better if I would be placed on separate rations. Before entering the Army I did spend time working as a professional cook, and while I taught in China any time we wanted American food I was the one that would do the cooking, and it was with nothing but a George Foreman, a toaster oven and a crock pot. I would take fresh grilled salmon, chicken, and the trout I caught myself done on my electric griddle along with grilled fresh veggies and rice out of my rice cooker, or I could use the rice cooker to steam my veggies as well. I would take that as a healthier and tastier option than anything that was in the DiFac for dinner, then do a salad for lunch, and could do it on budget for roughly $300 a month. I even did it on my own dime to validate to my command and my PCM what I was intending to do, everything I had already invested in the plan, and what my meal plan would be. My PCM said that if he granted a single E4 the money to cook his own food in the barracks I would do it for a month, and then I would be eating all of my food from McDonalds. I feel that if I were married with a couple of youngsters in my ear begging me for a happy meal that I would be more likely to be rushing out to McDonalds vs. me being 30 years old single, and a bit of a foodie that enjoys fresh wholesome food. I even went as far as to tell my PCM that I would prepare him a meal in my barracks and put my food rats up against anything he could prepare in his actual kitchen.
These are the things that I believe the Army needs to address if they want to fix the plummeting moral of their single soldiers. Shoot, we can get an EBT card to anyone that can pop out a kid, but we can't give our single soldiers the option of using the $300 we receive for the DFAC on a card to spend at the Commissary instead? Come on America.
I know that from personal discussion with over half of the lower enlisted soldiers that got married while I was in the unit with them that the Army's treatment of single soldiers was a primary factor in their decision to get married. Most of them got married because they were sick of all of the garbage they had to put up with from the unit and from the Army because they were single, and within six months most of them were in marriages they wanted out of after admittedly getting married too soon, but they in every instance they still said, "but its better than living in the barracks". I think that if they Army could fix the discrepancies between the way that they treat single soldiers vs. married soldiers they could fix some of the problems they have with soldiers that get married to quickly/ too young. Things like domestic violence and the high divorce rate (I know there are a lot of other things, like the strains of deployments, kids, finances, army life etc. that also contribute to this).
My other large grievance is in regards to alcohol. I don't understand the mindset that a 21 year old E3 who is married and living either off-post or in married housing with his 19 year old wife is responsible enough to have all the alcohol he wants, but as a 31 year old college grad living in the barracks I can't be responsible enough to have more than a six pack in my room. Me personally I'm a whiskey connoisseur, particularly bourbon. Recently I won a raffle for the chance to buy a rare bottle of $130 bourbon, that's not something I'm going to drink often, its something that will be opened for a special occasion, and then nursed for a few months. I had to find somewhere off post to store it because I'm only allowed one bottle of alcohol in the barracks. I typically only drink whisky on the weekend, and prefer a glass of wine in the evening with dinner during the week. When our battalion changed our alcohol policy I had to find someone to take my wine chiller, and would have to empty a bottle of wine any time I wanted to have some, or find somewhere else to store my bourbon during the week so I wouldn't have over the allowed limit. It just doesn't make sense when I know that I have responsible drinking habits, but if I were to marry the first girl that was willing, then I'm more mature in my personal life, and with my drinking habits so I can now have a full bar when two months before when I wasn't married I couldn't even handle having a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine, or a bottle of good and a bottle of extra rare bourbon. Then heaven for bid if you're an aspiring mixologist that likes to have some gin and campari around to make the occasional negroni.
I will also bring up the DFAC issue. I know that $300 is not going to to feed the typical person in a month, so if you look at it that way all of your meals provided for $300 is a deal. The thing is that most soldiers aren't going to get all of their meals there. For that typically bought all of my lunches during the work week. On most days we didn't have time to get back from PT then get to the chow hall and then get to work on time, but our NCO's never cared because they would go straight from PT to the shop to shower, and then eat a breakfast they brought with them. The single soldiers would have to go back across post to the barracks, shower, and then rush to chow try to get something, then finish the drive to the shop. When it came to dinner you typically had to make sure you got whatever was left at the DFAC on your way home from the shop going back to the barracks. For me I have always liked to sit down, change and take a rest before grabbing dinner, by that time the DFAC was closed, so I would either make something in my room or grab something from a restaurant, but again that was my decision and I realize that, but it wasn't something that I could opt out of. Now while I was in I started having all sorts of issues with my GI tract, and nutrition services felt that with my condition and age that it would be better if I would be placed on separate rations. Before entering the Army I did spend time working as a professional cook, and while I taught in China any time we wanted American food I was the one that would do the cooking, and it was with nothing but a George Foreman, a toaster oven and a crock pot. I would take fresh grilled salmon, chicken, and the trout I caught myself done on my electric griddle along with grilled fresh veggies and rice out of my rice cooker, or I could use the rice cooker to steam my veggies as well. I would take that as a healthier and tastier option than anything that was in the DiFac for dinner, then do a salad for lunch, and could do it on budget for roughly $300 a month. I even did it on my own dime to validate to my command and my PCM what I was intending to do, everything I had already invested in the plan, and what my meal plan would be. My PCM said that if he granted a single E4 the money to cook his own food in the barracks I would do it for a month, and then I would be eating all of my food from McDonalds. I feel that if I were married with a couple of youngsters in my ear begging me for a happy meal that I would be more likely to be rushing out to McDonalds vs. me being 30 years old single, and a bit of a foodie that enjoys fresh wholesome food. I even went as far as to tell my PCM that I would prepare him a meal in my barracks and put my food rats up against anything he could prepare in his actual kitchen.
These are the things that I believe the Army needs to address if they want to fix the plummeting moral of their single soldiers. Shoot, we can get an EBT card to anyone that can pop out a kid, but we can't give our single soldiers the option of using the $300 we receive for the DFAC on a card to spend at the Commissary instead? Come on America.
I don't disagree with this Soldier but I would attack it from a different direction. The "pay" issue is a joke. The only time in my career I felt I was ahead of the game was overseas, I was married before I joined.
I would rather attack it from the direction of creating responsible and effective adults for the rest of society. Face it, we can't do this forever, it ends for all of us. A vast majority leave the military before they ever get the chance to live like an "adult". With that said, I don't think the barracks should exist. Every soldier should have to learn the skills of paying bills, managing funds, cooking, cleaning and care of ones own environment. The DFACs should be payment only.
This would take our young troops and teach them life skills that their counterparts outside the military are vastly ahead of them at. Would there be problems, yes, but just like your 3 levels of policy to figure out what you can and can't do, policies can be written protecting the military from any wrong doing by the individual. We baby our young way to much in this country, we need to ensure the next generation of youth has the skills and the capacity to live on their own.
None of this will ever happen it is completely an opinion, but I think it should.
I would rather attack it from the direction of creating responsible and effective adults for the rest of society. Face it, we can't do this forever, it ends for all of us. A vast majority leave the military before they ever get the chance to live like an "adult". With that said, I don't think the barracks should exist. Every soldier should have to learn the skills of paying bills, managing funds, cooking, cleaning and care of ones own environment. The DFACs should be payment only.
This would take our young troops and teach them life skills that their counterparts outside the military are vastly ahead of them at. Would there be problems, yes, but just like your 3 levels of policy to figure out what you can and can't do, policies can be written protecting the military from any wrong doing by the individual. We baby our young way to much in this country, we need to ensure the next generation of youth has the skills and the capacity to live on their own.
None of this will ever happen it is completely an opinion, but I think it should.
SGT (Join to see)
Valid point on life skills. Its irony that some college level students can do more than most soldiers who are either out or make a fool of themselves in front of civilians their own age. In many cases soldiers to civilian look that of our stereotypes. Stupid, so we all just jumped into the service for one reason or another since we can still at least feed upon a spoon even if its not silver. Most of the experiences I've seen is people don't know how to handle themselves after an amount of time whether they get out and receive back their freedom or reach the rank that allows them to obtain this benefit. You learn to enjoy the upcoming drama when a soldier finally marries. How the the tables have turned. :D Most soldiers though do tend to find trouble. I don't blame them.
I say suck it up. Back when I was a single soldier we didn't get money for housing or rations. We lived in a barracks environment, where 30 to 40 soldiers share the same sleeping area and bathroom area. Now a days you get an apartment type room to share with one other, you get your own bathroom, you have the utilities paid for (water, heat, a/c, television, laundry facilities etc...) and the government is paying for it instead of giving you money. You complain that you have to pay for your meals out of the $300.00 that you get from the government. I get the same monetary amount for food but have to feed a husband and a child as well. I wish the military provided me with base housing, cable, laundry facilities, electricity, heat, a/c, etc.....for me and my family. The BAH that married couples receive is sometimes far from adequate to support a family in most base areas.
You single soldiers need to quit your bitching. Either find a woman to marry or make rank. Single E5 and below must live in the barracks period. The army can't afford E5 and below living off post missing formations, not paying their bills and being irresponsible. Most E1-E4 are those 17-20 year olds without any life skills and first time with a real paycheck and responsibilities. In all honesty, you joined the army at a late age and since you have a college degree then you should have become an officer. So the only advice is suck it up right now and put your OCS packet in.
SSG (Join to see)
There have been numerous days that I have worked in the motor pool for lay outs or inventory having to work through lunch or not even get a lunch just to hear "meal card holders go to lunch". Married soldiers no matter what their rank is don't eat lunch but meal card holders E1-E5 and some E6s who live in the barracks and still have a meal card get to eat. That's not fair, that's a privilege that the single soldiers get. Married soldiers get BAS so they can buy their meals whenever. They don't have to rush off to the DFAC to eat. But hey if you want to live off base and receive BAH and BAS then get with your orderly room to fill out the paperwork to be submitted to S1 and then up to the CSM and BC. Let me know how that turns out for you all.
PO2 Karl Lehn
Its comments and attitudes like yours that keeps the military in the dark ages. Tell me who stepped on your dick Sergeant? I am certainly glad your not my leader. In fact I don't see you as a leader as much as I see you holding a slot a real leader could be filling. A true leader has his troops backs which obviously your sorry self centered ignorant ass doesn't. Please tell me you're not a retention NCO!
Sergeant, attitudes like yours hurt retention severely. Keep in mind not all college graduates become officers for one reason or another. Many, many CHOOSE to become enlisted and train in a specific job and maybe become warrant officers later. Many for one reason or another are not selected for commissions but choose to serve anyway as an enlisted person anyway. Some aren't not connected enough politically to get commissions. Regardless your attitude needs work...................
Funny, I just talked about an E-8 I served with in 1976 that had an attitude like yours. Some shit never changes.
Sergeant, attitudes like yours hurt retention severely. Keep in mind not all college graduates become officers for one reason or another. Many, many CHOOSE to become enlisted and train in a specific job and maybe become warrant officers later. Many for one reason or another are not selected for commissions but choose to serve anyway as an enlisted person anyway. Some aren't not connected enough politically to get commissions. Regardless your attitude needs work...................
Funny, I just talked about an E-8 I served with in 1976 that had an attitude like yours. Some shit never changes.
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