You can't "smoke" soldiers anymore. So... More article 15s?
I haven't any clue.. is the Army that bad or leadership lacking? To a old timer it looks to be both. Anything bad on your records back in the 60's and 70's would kill you for a promotion to a SNCO. They went back 10 years on records. Are maybe the military has changed that much.
I put this soldier on time out and made him stand in the corner. Yes, it is incredibly embarrassing, but this soldier learned his lesson and never showed up late or disrespected me again.
After reading all the comments on here, i find myself compelled to write something too. As an instructor in AIT, i deal with new soldiers on a daily basis and most of them are fresh out of high school. majority of them have no clue what discipline is. unlike FORSCOM, here in TRADOC we are bound by TR 350-6. that being said, as long as the punishment (corrective training) fits the infraction, we are able to come up with a variety of things for them to do. i believe that physical activities do leave a lasting impression on the soldiers alot better than writting a paper. majority of the crime i use mass punishment to make a point. by holding an entire class responsible for one person's actions, it ensures that everyone will be watching out for eachother. if the action is so severe that i must deal with a soldier one on one, i will sit the soldier down and explain the severity of the situation and put it on paper. i will counsel the soldier and ensure he or she understands why they are receiving their punishment. one example i have is soldiers are not allowed to smoke from 0500-1800. 3 soldiers were caught smoking at the DFAC. i wrote each individual up involved and then recommended UCMJ due to 0 tolorence. that is the most extreme case so far. soldiers here are not allowed to walk around by themselves. they must have a battle buddy at all times. in that instance i will drop the entire class, put them in the front leaning rest and make them go half way down and hold it while i explain what the cause was. for that instance i will hold the entire clas responsible for not looking out for their battle buddies. you have to address the issues on a case by case basis. if you have someone who is constantly screwing up you need to see if there is an underlying problem. dont just fix the surface. this is where most of the leaders have gone wrong these days. most leaders now a days dont care about their soldiers, you must mold these young individuals into the great soldiers you know they can be. dont expect perfection right off the bat. you need to teach, train, coach, and mentor them in order to get the respect, hardwork, and dedication out of them.
this is just my opinion. im sure i will catch some back lash from this but i dont care. these are my thoughts on the situation.
the reason i use mass punishment is to explain accountability. if this same individual is still screwing up then i will deal with that individual.
PT in response to a non-PT infraction is simply punishment. It works in the same way that Skinner's electric shocks worked on rats, but it is not an ideal way to correct anything but the most minor of infractions.
There are training options other than PT and counseling. I have no objection to training being strenuous so long as it addresses the actual deficiency.
I think too many people are missing the point. Training is training, and punishment is punishment. When the soldier gets out of line, the punishment is needed, not "training". Training teaches the soldier what they need to know to do their job. Punishment teaches the soldier "hey, you screwed up....don't ever do that again". Yes, you are right, electric shocks and whippings would also work. There was a time, when Drills would beat you down, and that worked as well. The point is, if my soldier is late to formation, it should be fine for him to do push-ups/flutter-kicks/etc. behind the formation. It will leave a lasting impression the following day when he will do whatever he needs to do in order to be on time.
I also remember being told numerous times that an Article 15 is not a disciplinary tool, which is basically what it has become.
The only benefit of an exercise is conditioning, but if the Soldier already does strenuous PT 5 times of week. He will over train his body and may get injured and who will be accountable for that the NCO.
NCOs train, mentor and coach not punish.
I have Sir, a few times and
nothing got accomplish. Why? The Army has some Soldiers that really do not give
a care (to put it in better words) about an NCO authority. That is why an NCO
must assess the Soldier and the situation.
I have a story, I knew a Soldier that was getting smoked by one of my peers the
Soldier was going to faint and pass out due to dehydration, another Soldier saw
this and advised the NCO that the Soldier was about to pass out. The NCO
ignored the Soldier and kept smoking the Soldier. The other Soldier got a
bottle with water to give it to the smoked Soldier. The NCO didn't like that,
and got mad. Now the situation escalated, the NCO got in the face of the
Soldier that brought the water and the Soldier pushed the NCO. This made the
matter worse. Both the Soldier and the NCO loss their bearing, but the Soldier ends
up in confinement for pushing the NCO.
That might be the extreme, but that can happen to others because we as
Leader let our emotions get flustered. The end result was an untrained Soldier, one in jail, and a NCO the loss his composure.