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It has been said that if a soldier is not complaining to you, then your soldiers do not trust you. So many people think that “everything sucks” for them. Today’s soldiers focus on everything they don’t have instead of everything they are privileged to have. I am currently deployed on my fifth combat tour as the Provost Sergeant in Bagram, Afghanistan. The biggest complaints that I have heard in recent weeks are how sub-standard the living conditions are, how slow the internet is, and how junky the non-tactical vehicles are.
During my last tour, I slept in a tent with seven other soldiers. Some of them snored so loud that they drowned out the noise of the air conditioner; other soldiers were labeled as the stinky kids, and others needed company so desperately that they would knock on the door constantly to see what people were doing. And, without fail, the wind would pound against the tent, night or day, for 100 days at a time.
Currently, I live in quarters that are makeshift storage containers (connex boxes); these buildings compete for quality with low-income, stateside apartments. My bed is a standard-size, twin bed with the same frame that my son sleeps on; I get to use linens just like he does. Now I have a hard structure to sleep in, with only one roommate; my junior soldiers only have three people to a room, max. There are indoor restrooms within three doors of all rooms, regardless of where you are on base - that sure beats walking in flip flops through sand or rocks in the middle of the night.
Even with all the improvements to living conditions, “everything sucks” for soldiers.
In 2007 or 2008, I was forced to stand in line outside a trailer for 30 minutes in order to use the phone or check my email. I remember phone conversations with my family; after I spoke, my wife would hear the words two minutes later. There were often nineteen other soldiers in the same trailer trying to talk on the phone at the same time. Often, we found ourselves shoulder to shoulder or back to back, jockeying for position. I remember soldiers would complain back then because of the lines being so long; however, in today’s operational environment, soldiers are walking around with cell phones in the middle of a war. They get the opportunity to FaceTime, Skype, or instant message anyone and everyone back home. Yet, there are still the complaints of how slow the internet speed is. Looking back at how conditions were only a decade ago, these complaints are truly mind boggling.
Having junky Non Tactical Vehicles (NTVs) is another complaint heard through the base. A NTV is a basic car - basically anything other than a military vehicle. There are thousands of NTVs located on post for general transportation. Yes, it is far to walk if you travel to the opposite side of the base; however, most people are placed within 400 meters from where they work to where their barracks are. There are dining facilities located within walking distance from any point, yet still people insist on the need to drive everywhere. They drive the 400 meters to work, and then they drive down the street to go eat. It’s insanity.
There has been a weight problem in the military for a few years now - perhaps people will start putting two and two together and realize that all the driving is an issue. During my initial four tours, I walked everywhere I went; NTVs were not even an option. Now, military police are responding to minor traffic accidents and pedestrians being struck by vehicles. All of these vehicles are just serving to convenience laziness.
We’ve been at war for over a decade, nine months at a time. There have been great leaps and bounds in technology that have improved the quality of life while forward deployed. Consider for a second that you can fly across the United States in six hours! How many weeks did it take our ancestors? Or even our parents? And still, the plane seats are uncomfortable and the Wi-Fi doesn’t work. Complain, complain, complain. In order to combat the “everything sucks” mentality, leaders need to lead from their position with an attitude of gratitude. Soldiers don’t know what they don’t know.
During my last tour, I slept in a tent with seven other soldiers. Some of them snored so loud that they drowned out the noise of the air conditioner; other soldiers were labeled as the stinky kids, and others needed company so desperately that they would knock on the door constantly to see what people were doing. And, without fail, the wind would pound against the tent, night or day, for 100 days at a time.
Currently, I live in quarters that are makeshift storage containers (connex boxes); these buildings compete for quality with low-income, stateside apartments. My bed is a standard-size, twin bed with the same frame that my son sleeps on; I get to use linens just like he does. Now I have a hard structure to sleep in, with only one roommate; my junior soldiers only have three people to a room, max. There are indoor restrooms within three doors of all rooms, regardless of where you are on base - that sure beats walking in flip flops through sand or rocks in the middle of the night.
Even with all the improvements to living conditions, “everything sucks” for soldiers.
In 2007 or 2008, I was forced to stand in line outside a trailer for 30 minutes in order to use the phone or check my email. I remember phone conversations with my family; after I spoke, my wife would hear the words two minutes later. There were often nineteen other soldiers in the same trailer trying to talk on the phone at the same time. Often, we found ourselves shoulder to shoulder or back to back, jockeying for position. I remember soldiers would complain back then because of the lines being so long; however, in today’s operational environment, soldiers are walking around with cell phones in the middle of a war. They get the opportunity to FaceTime, Skype, or instant message anyone and everyone back home. Yet, there are still the complaints of how slow the internet speed is. Looking back at how conditions were only a decade ago, these complaints are truly mind boggling.
Having junky Non Tactical Vehicles (NTVs) is another complaint heard through the base. A NTV is a basic car - basically anything other than a military vehicle. There are thousands of NTVs located on post for general transportation. Yes, it is far to walk if you travel to the opposite side of the base; however, most people are placed within 400 meters from where they work to where their barracks are. There are dining facilities located within walking distance from any point, yet still people insist on the need to drive everywhere. They drive the 400 meters to work, and then they drive down the street to go eat. It’s insanity.
There has been a weight problem in the military for a few years now - perhaps people will start putting two and two together and realize that all the driving is an issue. During my initial four tours, I walked everywhere I went; NTVs were not even an option. Now, military police are responding to minor traffic accidents and pedestrians being struck by vehicles. All of these vehicles are just serving to convenience laziness.
We’ve been at war for over a decade, nine months at a time. There have been great leaps and bounds in technology that have improved the quality of life while forward deployed. Consider for a second that you can fly across the United States in six hours! How many weeks did it take our ancestors? Or even our parents? And still, the plane seats are uncomfortable and the Wi-Fi doesn’t work. Complain, complain, complain. In order to combat the “everything sucks” mentality, leaders need to lead from their position with an attitude of gratitude. Soldiers don’t know what they don’t know.
Soldiers
Bagram Airfield
Command Post
Leadership Development
Culture
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 29
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Over the last few years it has become very clear to me: Soldiers hate change. And the only thing they hate more than change is the way things are right now.
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Boy and I thought we had it bad when we could not get jungle fatigues or socks,ours were rotting off,not having a good internet connection that's bad,I'm kind of feeling these are rear area gripes.Soldiers are not happy unless they can bitch about something I know we did
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SGT Philip Roncari
SGT Theodore M. Hallock - as I remember only the REMFs wore underwear,and that's where our socks usually wound up along with the much prized air mattresses and poncho liners!
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Sgt (Join to see)
SGT Philip Roncari - I did not have an air mattress. On one operation, we were on top of a mountain and I was freezing at night because I did not have a poncho liner.
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SGT Philip Roncari
SGT Theodore M. Hallock -sorry about the air mattress comment I guess we were better supplied than you guys,but believe me we spent many a cold wet nights in the Central Highlands poncho liners did not help much anyway especially in the monsoon season,ah the memories we all carry with us.
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SSG (Join to see)
Air mattress (a.k.a. rubber bitch) was a hole with a little rubber around it. Blow it up at night and wake up on the ground, boards or springs in the morning.
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You haven't embraced the suck until you've got so tired of your own Body odor that you've stripped down, broke ice during blowing snow and plunged into a mountain stream. Jumped out soaped up and jumped back in to rinse off then jumped back out dried off as best you could and got dressed again. All in less than 10 minutes. BTDT! As the man said; "You make do with what you got."
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I always remember Gunny Blake saying a bitching Marine, is a happy Marine.. OORAH!!
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A SgtMaj once told me that if you took all the Marines on active duty, promoted them two pay grades, sent them home, and mailed them checks for the rest of their lives, 90% would be mad as hell because you didn't put them on direct deposit. The other 10% would want to know why they only got promoted two pay grades.
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MSG(P) Rafael Aguilera As I was told as a young Paratrooper, "If a Soldier ain't complaining, he ain't happy." It's been my experience that the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines I served with complain as a way to cope with not being home. For many it was an icebreaker, a way for strangers to related when they had next to nothing in common or were the FNG.
In all honesty, no one can stop Joe from complaining about anything. It's not about being entitled because we all, and I suspect you have as well MSG(P) Rafael Aguilera, have complained about something and ended up laughing about it or coming together because of it. Now, if you KEEP complaining about something, then you need to get snatched up and checked.
In all honesty, no one can stop Joe from complaining about anything. It's not about being entitled because we all, and I suspect you have as well MSG(P) Rafael Aguilera, have complained about something and ended up laughing about it or coming together because of it. Now, if you KEEP complaining about something, then you need to get snatched up and checked.
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Capt Tom Brown
SSG Michael Hartsfield Yes there is a fine line of distinction there as you describe. Thanks for bringing that up as a reminder we all griped about something at one time or another.
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Actually, I think it's a good thing. No matter what year you use as your start point, it always seems that things were tougher then than they are today. For you, you started with 30 minute lines to call home or email, compared to cell phones today. To someone starting 20 years before you, the idea of being able to call or email from a warzone is unbelievable, and you would look spoiled.
Or take field rations, from C-rats, to LRRPS, to early MREs to today's food. If troops weren't constantly bitching about the chow, would as much effort ever have been put in to make it better? If troops didn't bitch about sleeping in tents, would you have ever received the better accomodations you have now? I don't think a troop bitching and complaining means they aren't tough or can't hang when they need to. I'd heard the saying "if the troops ain't bitchin, the troops ain't happy" since I came in in the late 70s. And I remember how the old timers in the unit would talk about how easy the troops had it then and how soft everybody was. Now I read this forum and people refer to the 90s as the "old school, tough days" and I chuckle inside. It's sort of like how everyone thinks they went to the last hard Ranger School Class.
Or take field rations, from C-rats, to LRRPS, to early MREs to today's food. If troops weren't constantly bitching about the chow, would as much effort ever have been put in to make it better? If troops didn't bitch about sleeping in tents, would you have ever received the better accomodations you have now? I don't think a troop bitching and complaining means they aren't tough or can't hang when they need to. I'd heard the saying "if the troops ain't bitchin, the troops ain't happy" since I came in in the late 70s. And I remember how the old timers in the unit would talk about how easy the troops had it then and how soft everybody was. Now I read this forum and people refer to the 90s as the "old school, tough days" and I chuckle inside. It's sort of like how everyone thinks they went to the last hard Ranger School Class.
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Capt Tom Brown
LTC (Join to see) What you say is true we all griped about something at one time or another and most agree things in the 'Old Corps' were much harder than they are now, boot camp was a lot harder, the 1stSgt was a lot meaner, a forced march was a forced march and not a walk in the park, etc. Perhaps griping about a broken soft ice cream machine now days is not such a bad thing. I still remember when there was no ice cream in the mess hall.
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