How would you motivate and discipline a soldier who fails PT, believes it's optional to attend drill, and is habitually late?

MAJ John Brayshaw,

Yes, I have alignment with your perspective on toughness and "hazing is amazing". This national guard member from my critical side needs to be unfucked. However, the command and conquer approach doesn't fully work with more experienced or knowledgable personnel. Also, I'm not a current, practicing PO2. My success is measured in my ability to be more modest. I'm a VMI grad and senior project manager at my current position. That was earned through three job traits. 1. Intention 2. Results 3. Ability . (Task completion and genuine influence) Not, strictly do as I'm told, no questions asked, and collect tenure ship. That's your generations result of a booming, predictable economy. Thanks for the comments.

With respect SGM, but "millennials" have been serving since 2000. The term is not being correctly used as I have come to learn. It is my understanding that millennials are people who entered adulthood or were beginning to enter adulthood, at the turn of the millennium. The issue is with post-millennials, i.e. people entering service now.

+1 regarding "post millennials" i.e., they just joined a year or two back...? As an instructor in a flying specialty, I've been part of the proceedings to disqualify a few trainees in the Loadmaster career field AFTER the government spent $100K and a year of training on them. These were usually smart kids who simply would not accept their obligation to STUDY and work hard to learn. They wanted to make it through while playing XBox all night. Their lack of dedication to anything was frankly nauseating and I was delighted to see them go. Self-entitled little jackasses. I don't get how that happened.

SPC Patrick Chandler - Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years.

Smoke – To punish a service member with excessive physical work due to a minor infraction. Without knowing how tight the policy is, I can think of many ways that a troop could be smoked that I would happily have broadcast on network news.

SFC (Join to see) -In the counseling, make sure he understands that this is his opportunity to let you know what is causing him to be an unsatisfactory performer. If you can't get that out of him, make sure he understands the consequences of his actions, and that you'll help him, but will bring the hammer down if he doesn't get with the program (as others have said, "You can't save them all). Some things you can do in addition to the counseling you've already done:
1. Make sure he's flagged for PT failure. I've seen guys promoted in the guard and reserve because flags weren't in place.
2. Make sure the UA is processing the U's correctly. You should know this already because counseling statements are part of the packet. We always sent the U letters registered so we could prove they were sent out. Unfortunately, if he comes to drill, periodically, then the U's get harder to track because the timeline gets reset. It takes 13 U's to put someone out. Three consecutive months of standard drill plus one period and he's done.
3. Make sure he understands that if he is U'd out, he isn't going to get an honorable discharge, and that could effect future employability. We never gave a I'd out soldier an honorable discharge. Why should they get the same level of treatment as someone that did all that was asked of them?
4. This takes a little in your part, but when everyone else is released on Saturday, keep them working. This is a job, and each point equates to four hours of labor. For that matter, when he doesn't show up on time, don't allow him to sign in, and make sure he's given a U instead...just make sure that's the standard across the board.
5. Make sure you have the support of your chain of command. No matter what you do on the adverse action side, it will eventually require the Battalion Commander's signature, and he/she needs to be on board or all of your efforts won't get the results you desire. I've had commanders that only cared about having slots filled and not caring about having those slots filled with guys that pulled the other numbers down.

Maj John Bell - the new army requires the punishment to be directly related to the offense, so it's difficult to punish soldiers the way you used to be able to

SGT (Join to see) - Understood, I'll go back to my cave and use a hot rock to crease my sabre-tooth tiger hide tunic now. My respects to the NCO's and junior officers that have to deal with the same problems with a smaller tool bag.

This whole "New Army" is for the birds. My great Grandfather was is the Army and My Grand Father was as well. My grand father told me that his Dad would say the same thing. "Back in my day the Army had balls... Well that was over a hundred years ago. So Please stop saying back in my day because that's only maybe 20 years. I've been in the army now going on 16 years and it's the same old Army.

SFC Lamont Mann - I've been in the army for 7 and it has completely changed. As a private we were smoked all the time. Plt pt avg, bout a 290. Now maybe a 250. Plus if you "pt" them now out of the pt hours, you will get art 15 for hazing

I am AGR in the Reserves. This does work. We have a APFT every month. Twice a year for everybody, but every month for those that don't pass. Sooner or later Joe gets tired of taking the PT test. I'm guessing the NG is the same, but about 2 out of 3 of my Soldiers are students. If Joe decides to stop showing up rather than pass then he owes Uncle Sam every dollar that went to his school.

Apparently, that's no longer an option. It's a whole different world and now, you have to worry about their feelings. I remember I once saluted our Division Officer indoors because I was distracted and not thinking. Our CMC walked past with her and cracked me in the head, sending me down the next hallway like a champ. Totally my fault and I learned to be more attentive.