What happened to standards and good order and discipline?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:10:09 -0400

So rumor on the street is that USARC will NOT be processing any discharges and flooding units with IRR Soldiers and AC Soldiers in order to finally hit the 205,000 mark for the first time ever. In order to hit this mark retention will be able to flood the units with Soldiers that are flagged without commander's approval.

What happened to standards and good order and discipline? There is a reason that Soldier is flagged. Heck I get Soldiers who should have been flagged or discharged and then it is my problem to deal with as they come up hot on urine analysis then do not show up. It is then my issue because someone took the lazy way out. Let alone now I cannot send them to MOS schools as they are flagged and they are worthless to us because they cannot go to AT or deploy with the unit. So what sense does it make to open the flood gates in order to ensure we keep our funding if we cannot fill our current ranks with the right people?

I would rather be in a smaller army...say 300 Spartans...and be able to train them and whoop ass doing our jobs than get 205,000 "Soldiers" as we all know we have people who do not even show up now and we are no where near that number.

What are your thoughts?

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2014 7:29 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:29:20 -0400

There are no such things as standards. Everyone likes to say and think that everyone is being held to the same standards, but the true thing is it's who you know not what you know. I don't care if you are the hardest worker and show up first and leave last if you are not in the (IN) group others will get the recognition you deserve. If I could teach everyone a life lesson it would be life is not fair. I have received some of this undeserved praise but I have also worked my butt off and people don't care. Good luck

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 29 at 2014 8:15 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:15:36 -0400

Well Brian,you know all ready that you are in one of the most rewarding yet thankless jobs in the USAR/NG. No matter how much you want to, you are not allowed to sacrifice your numbers for quality, because the system is designed to fail if you do. You lose troops, you fold flags, you fold flags you lose AGR slots, you lose AGR slots, the state loses federal funding.

Numbers unfortunately take priority over standards, been there, done it, lost many an argument over it. There are a lot of good NCOs and soldiers out there so you have to base your command around them and their abilities. Keep your hair cut short because the pogs & sh!thouse lawyers, are going to make you pull what's left of it out. Try not to let the 10% that you spend 90% of your time on get to you. If you've got a good command climate established and you are doing some good training, you'll hopefully turn some of those soldiers into productive, participating members.

Hopefully your Bn is giving you the backing you need to run your company to the best of your ability and they are working with you to get a lot of the flags, unflagged. I'm probably asking questions that you already have solutions for but I'm going to ask any way. I'm guessing the majority are weight & APFT? Do you have a master fitness qualified LT or NCO to run that program and get that off your direct plate? How is your retention? if you're doing better than 1 loss for 1 gain that's better than most. Do you have a sponsorship program to get your new soldiers into the fold and acclimated ASAP when they arrive. seems like a lot, I was overwhelmed by this as an M-Day myself. I think you're in a similar boat because didn't you say your AGR job is at Bn and not as the Co CDR?

Do what you can to drive the core of competent leaders and soldiers to success. That should get you through to a successful command. Hope this helps.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2014 8:50 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:50:17 -0400

Here go our metrics!

Sir, we are currently seeing the problem children taking up more time than they are worth. Some are worth the time, because they will become productive, long-term members. There are many who are just working their way out, or who have stopped showing up all together. To say that we can not process them out means we are only making the 205,000 on paper only. Further, any more headaches or problem children coming from IRR or AC, just add to the inflation of the number.

If the Army wants 205,000 USAR Soldiers, then they need to be 205,000 ready to go to combat or otherwise honorably serving Soldiers. 180,000 Soldiers with 25,000 S-bags, equates a force that is going to be understrength and under-performing despite the strength numbers showing full-strength.

We can use our Company as an example. We are authorized 158. How many of those slots are occupied by joes who are:
-medically unavailable
-Non-DMOSQ because they can't meet the standards
-fail APFT consisitently over a long period of time
-are awaiting administrative processing for illicit drug usage
-are undergoing civilian legal issues that could result in administrative issues
-otherwise don't need to be there due to any number of circumstances
We know what our ECT number will be because of this. If we get an influx of other Soldiers who may fall in these categories AND we can not process out those who need to be gone, we are doing nothing but bringing the ratio down and decreasing our capabilities.

Frankly, this is a diservice to the Soldiers, the Command group, the Army, the American public, and those who may rely on the USAR for mission completion.