Can you IG your chain of command for making you skip two meals in a row in garrison than threatning to smoke you for complaing your hungry?

2018-10-26T14:13:46-04:00

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2018 2:17 PM

2018-10-26T14:17:12-04:00

Good luck with that. IG isn't a hammer, or even a punishment tool. They review policy and then make recommendations to the commander and investigate whether that policy was followed. If your leadership followed the policy in place concerning feeding, then your complaint is unsubstantiated. Also, you're an Infantryman. There will be times you'll be hungry and have to work through meal times.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Oct 26 at 2018 10:13 PM

2018-10-26T22:13:20-04:00

Yeah, I don't see that working at all... Did you starve? Did it result in actual injury? If the answer to these questions is no - which I believe I can safely assume it is - you would seriously just be crying to IG like a child. Talk to your leadership, your first line NCO(s), and explain the situation and ask that it be avoided. I assure you that approaching NCOs like adults always works better than crying to higher levels like a child trying to get one over on a parent.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2018 1:06 AM

2018-10-27T01:06:21-04:00

You can go to IG for whatever you want - but they're only going to review policy. They're not going to punish anyone in your command.

Did this result in anything detrimental to you? Why did you miss two meals in a row?

I've had to miss meals in my 14 years so far. I had to miss a few here and there even when I was pregnant working through lunch. Two units ago, though, if we had to work through lunch we had to let the meal card holders have time to at least get a to go plate and come back.

Talk to your chain.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Oct 27 at 2018 2:30 AM

2018-10-27T02:30:47-04:00

Are you overweight? Did everyone else miss the meal? Was it part of training?
What led up to the smoke session? Did you miss the meals or did they just not feed you?
Too few facts.
Your Chain of Command will have to 'fix' your supervisor.
However IG probably will not be come down on the unit unless it is a general complaint from many soldiers and is a continuing issue. A once and a while thing will usually not be addressed.
Good luck.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2018 4:54 AM

2018-10-27T04:54:21-04:00

Can you? Sure, you can call IG for anything. Should you? I wouldn’t, as IG generally has actual issues to handle for soldiers. I’m not trying to downplay your situation, but bear with me for a moment.

If you missed two meals in a day, you probably had one meal that day? One meal will get you through the week, if necessary. And if you were complaining about being hungry....I’d simply recommend toughening up. Two missed meals is an inconvenience, not a gripe-worthy mistreatment. And they only threatened to smoke you? They didn’t dust you off? Sounds like you got off easy.

Rather, I’d look at this as a trainable moment. Always have some beef jerky packed away, readily available. Maybe a Cliff bar, or something. And it’s a ‘train as you fight’ moment. If you deploy, there’s a good chance that you’ll be hungry, stressed out, and under constant threat of punishment (far more severe than a smoke sesh). And no one is going to want hear PVT Empty tummy complain about the MRE he didn’t get to eat for lunch.

Tomorrow is a new day. Eat a good breakfast. Have a protein bar tucked into me of the fancy pockets on your uniform, and drive on. IG is a scalpel, not a sledge hammer. It should be used as such, in particular situations; not simply when a soldier feels as though he’s been slighted or wronged.

Best of luck.