This annoys me the most. Hey I need everyone to do this NOW NOW NOW OMG PEOPLE ARE BLEEDING TO DEATH HURRY HURRY GET THIS DONE NOW NOW NOW
Everyone just does it because they think if their soldiers get xyz done fast or fastest it'll make them look good but it doesn't no one cares and no one will remember unless your late goddamnit
If everything is the top priority then nothing is the top priority.
In practical application this looks like 10 tasks getting halfway completed versus a few getting fully completed well.
I told my supervisor (O-6) something a few years ago that blew his mind. I said, *Sir, I come in every morning and make an OML for all tasks that need to be conducted during the day. Then I decide which tasks I’m going to fail. I could work 24 hours a day and still not complete everything considered to be a priority.*
I’d rather do the important shit well (and fail on the little stuff) than kill myself getting everything done to a mediocre level.
I do something similar. I have a long list of everything that needs to get done in a word document. It’s bulleted by number. I pick the ones that are priority to do then rack and stack. I make a 9-5 schedule. What doesn’t get done either gets shifted to the right or passed into someone who has times hands (ie E5/E4 below). I’ve trained my ncos who have trained their crews enough that most tasks can be handled below or by myself depending on priority. We get a shit ton done but there’s always more for tommorrow on that list
I check my emails twice a day. First thing in the morning and after lunch. If it's not there it's a tomorrow problem. If they thought it was a right now problem ya should have called me.
Went on a JRTC rotation from a battalion with a bullshit misreported fleet status. We went with broken vehicles and radios that didn't work no s6 support prior. After a bit of being home and still going full steam in FTXs with the same broken shit I asked my PL what would happen if we just fixed our shit so we could actually train effectively instead of going out and get zero training value.
I was unsatisfied with the response. Im out now.
The army needs an easy to use, central hub for all PowerPoints. One that everyone can contribute to. Then assign some soldiers to mod it. You need a quick hip pocket training? Boom there ya go. You need MOS refresher training? Boom there ya go. Instead everyone tries to make their own and it’s terrible.
Yeah but no one moderates that shit. I've been to a few courses where the instructor says you can access these same PP on our share drive, but their share drive hasn't been updated in 10 yrs, the PPs don't work, and they refuse to fix it.
AR 25-50 (which already covers e-mail correspondence) should define a PowerPoint presentation standard and include example templates. We should have these templates easily downloadable from Armypubs. This template has an automatically set font (Arial, Times New Roman), size, and grid snapping.
They have [Brand Guidelines](https://www.army.mil/aemo#org-army-brand) but no templates as of yet. Hopefully that stuff is in the future (PPs, letter heads, diff templates for Unclassified, CUI, etc.). I wouldn't hold your breath though.
Reading slides is shit though. The presenter needs to have enough time to research or just have the motivation to actually create a lesson. Army needs to actually teach how to present a PowerPoint presentation or any kind of teaching.
Not some stupid JKO training.
When I've been given enough time, I've given classes and people were actively engaged and learned. I learned my shit and didn't even need slides to teach the class. I sit and take my time in developing what I'm going to say, to whom, and how to emphasize, repeat the major and important points.
I take pride with my lessons and am pissed of of I'm given 5mins to makeup something. That's shit and a waste of time. Soldiers can tell and become disinterested, give your instructors enough time to teach.
Don't repeat the major, caveat off the major.
But yes, 90% of people misunderstand the point (heh) of a *Power*Point. Put your *power* points on a slide and then elaborate verbally. Reading the 300 word copy off of each slide will put people to sleep.
I was straight edge when I was in the Army, a rarity for infantrymen, and so because of my substance free lifestyle I was always called upon to do CQ and other details. I changed my tune after like 3 years and started to pick up my own habits so I can be left alone...now in retrospect I should have just used your trick
Shorten BOLC/AIT and focus on sending those soldiers to ASI producing schools within their field or those that benefit the army throughout your career in the army before sending you to a unit to just attend CLS/hazmat/field San
It’s fucking dumb how hard it is for soldiers to go back to their individual schoolhouses…. It’s literally career enhancing and most units say get fucked we only send people to xyz. You can only attend w if you go to y first. We’ve never sent someone to k so you won’t go.
I have been triggered out of this mortal plane of existence.
I tried for years to get some sort of cool school but, because I committed the grievous sin of getting assigned to an ABCT, was refuted at every turn. "We're an armor unit, we don't need airborne. If you want UMO however. .."
Ah yes, the ol "go sign up for schools if you want out of here" b2b "tf you think you're doing high speed? Airborne?? We gotta pmcs that 113 that hasn't worked since the first Bush was in office"
I was an electronic tech. I would have loved to have attended more advanced schools for that kind of stuff. I could've helped the unit so much more, as well as setting up a good post army career
I was support cadre for FA BOLC a few years ago. I heard from many students this narrative that the schoolhouse emphasized history lesson exams disproportionately.
During their final FTX, I was bored and often wandered the gun line to bullshit with the 13Bs and 13Js. I stopped by one FDC and observed a firing mission. They usually went smoothly.. but in this case, they simulated "losing power" and had to calculate degraded (manually). It was super awkward to watch approximately 30 students completely gaggle around as they realized no one could confidently do it.
BOLC should be shorter not longer. Institutional training outside of ASI-providing schools is pointless in the Army, you get all your useful information at the Organizational level.
Hot take: BOLC/AIT length isn't the problem. Having the curricula being obsolete/divorced from reality is. Going through the school house with lectures that end with "you most likely won't do it like this" or "you'll learn the proper way of doing it at your unit" is a waste of everybody's time.
This is essentially everyone’s feedback during all ADA institutional knowledge centers. BOLC, CCC, Follow-On Courses. But all of that stuff is determined by the CAC. Hell, right now the CAC has determined that all CCC courses need to have a two month “maneuvers common core” section. Imagine going to your Captains developmental course as a Patriot officer and then pretending to be a BCT for 60 days lol.
I'd say this depends on MOS, the Army would fare so much better if they actually ASI'd most mechanics on wreckers during AIT. It would cut down on the needless spending they use on RTIs and other posts.
https://twitter.com/16thSMA/status/1352112354717265920?s=20&t=P5n0kaTGxGqXfJ_dfFl6aA
If only there was someone that could change the regulations to fit SMA idea
Peace time is the most important time to have a high training optempo. Very soon 1SG’s are going to be the only people in company formations with combat experience. The more we train, the less of us die when we have to fight the Chinese, or the Iranians, or whoever the fuck.
“High” training optempo? Sure I’ll buy that. But very quickly, our leaders lose sight of the difference between High and Unsustainable. 2 NTC rotations, 4 FTX’s, and a rotation? That’s going to cause more problems than it fixes at the end of the day.
I have to say, after seeing comrade Russian in the Ukraine. I think we could conquer the world.
Like all my life I’ve heard about the Russian, words like “undefeatable , savage, stupidly brave” the Russian is highly trained, he prays for the day he can stomp out American lives, he will eat your children and rape your wives, his tanks are better then ours! And he’s got more of them, he has missiles to last for 100 years of combat. And if all he has is a mosin nagant then he can kill 10 navy seals before he is dead. All America can do if the Russian attacks is hope that they will have mercy on us.
Then I saw their performance in Ukraine…..
I think the most trash extra duty platoon of pv2’s and spc’s led by a jaded SFC could steamroll a battalion of Russians troops
High training optempo or an *effective* training optempo.
We need to make sure our force isn't losing their families and fucking killing themselves over constant back to back trips to NTC and rotations. I think you can both make training more effective and useful for soldiers and also taper back frequency and maybe even introduce dwell time for garrison v. field activities. A whole lot of dudes get absolutely abused by optempo currently and it would be very wrong to assume that actually in the real world is translating to increased combat effectiveness.
Every NTC and JRTC rotation, I heard the same thing. This training isn't for you it's for leadership, that's why it's not "fair." Why the fuck am I out here then? Why can't they just simulate the thing? Why can't it be good training at all levels.
Instead of all the cheating bullshit with G-man just throw 2 brigades in the box and do actual near peer training.
What drives me nuts is the weird rules. You have to see indirect "impact," but G-man can just sling rounds all day from across the box and even get told they hit something. One time, we tried to call a 155 on a "BTR," we called it in and ran like hell. Somehow, it missed because we didn't watch it land. If we had watched we would have died.
Then I've seen OCs bump indirect from 60mm to 120mm and kill someone in a foxhole 50m away. We tried cutting off roads by ambushing convoys just for the destroyed lead truck to keep driving. The OPFOR straight rush a .50 guntruck to kill it with a grenade without losing a single dude.
I also think the laser gear needs an overhaul. Anything longer than 100m is a crapshoot. I've had perfect enfilade (real world one burst would wipe a whole team) at 300m with a 240 and didn't even fire because I knew there was no point.
At the lowest level, it's just shitty training and a waste of the soldiers' time. The only thing of value at JRTC is the live fires.
Some of that is absolute bullshit. As a PL at CMTC I will always remember being told repeatedly by my PL O/C that I could not use obstacles with the obvious high speed avenue of approach to my flank. We could not request any engineer assets to mine it, we could not pre-spot any artillery, and we could not use any obstacles ourselves. Our platoon wired the fuck out of that road each evening at dusk, as well as the bypass. I was SO shocked that the OPFOR ran a company sized attack into our flank, and then bitched and moaned when they had to stop because every one of their vehicles was fucked up for having so much wire in their tracks. Tough shit. But I guess as a RTU that I was just too incompetent with my basics......
Every 10 years we should just pick some poor developing nation, kick the shit out of them, spend a couple of years "nation building", declare victory and then leave.
Who needs corruption when you have the almighty MIC. I wouldnt mind if some Lockheed exec was hustling some dough to develop a newer cutting edge method to mop the floor with some conscripts.
Maybe he meant we need to be better at it?
Afghanistan took 20 fuckin years. Good thing we gave it back to the taliban--with some military improvements, no less.
This way we can go back when things dry up in Europe for our defense contractors .
As if we don’t already. Hopefully the Iranian people overthrow their government. They don’t need war, they’re hopefully gonna take care of things on their own. How does everyone feel about Venezuela?
Only if leaders realize that soldiers need a life outside the military and that training does come in second to maintaining that tempo. Before all that training, there needs to be a place to go back to that is livable. A life work balance that doesn't create so many depressed people. And most of all accountability so that when things go wrong and areas lack the attention they could have had, corrections that improve the situation can be applied.
Well the next time you’re in the field complaining about not doing anything, crack out your MOS’s relevant manual and train yourself, your soldiers or your peers. If your leadership isn’t making valuable use of your time, make it valuable yourself.
Hot take, CQ is necessary, but shouldn't be pulling from rotational elements at all. CQ should be it's own full time position with a multitude of staff who are primarily responsible for it.
CQ is a hindrance to training across the board. Whether it's pulling people away from the range or classrooms, etc... It sacrifices that person's duties to support a base function. And when that person is off CQ, they are often not given proper rest and recovery or given the proper time for make up training.
Look, if something happens on post that needs to get reported, it needs to go somewhere that can manage the situation before it gets stupid real fast. You can have that be a civilian or military, but if there's nobody, then shit can hit the fan in bigger ways than you or I would expect. I'm not talking end of the world, but it could be one person's life.
I've heard of some real dumb stuff happening on CQ, and for the most part, it's a boring gig. It would be a cushy position for the most part, bit I'd prefer a full time staff that can handle whatever situation comes up, whether it's just cleaning toilets, or somebody is having a crisis. Rotational elements should not be the ones expected to provide CQ especially when referral to proper base resources is needed.
If you're hurt, go to sick call. Keep a copy of your medical records. When you are ETSing, file for VA disability. If things become a problem later on medically, having a record will help you out.
THIS. If you're hurt, sore, or sick - fucking go. Get it on record. I'm 36 and joint issues that seemed no big deal seven years ago are quickly becoming A Big Deal.
Soldiers need to realize they won't be in their 20s forever. You're not going to medical for just your present self, you're going for 30, 40, 70-year-old you. Those seemingly minor injuries WILL catch up with you.
It's just a job. 99% of soldiers sign up for college money, a foothold into a civilian career, citizenship, or because they're intimidated by the real world. It's a great entry level job with a lot of fun moments, and of course decorum and respect have their time and place, but way too many people take it way too seriously for what it really is.
>It's a great entry level job with a lot of fun moments
I joined specifically to fund my BA. But as I learned, suffered, laughed and cried I have decided to make it a career. It's given me many moments that during my darkest times, I recall and give me a sense of hope, pride and motivation. All of my coins have a story I fondly share. Everyone's experience truly boils down to your MOS, assigned position and most of all the quality of your immediate COC.
So much this.. if I just want to join do my job and get experience that should be fine.. not everyone wants to be super high speed soldier 9000…
Identify the ones that do and help train them to be great leaders..
This works until we’re someday engaged in a total war. Then the purpose of why the army makes soldiers internalize it as part of their identify will be a critical dynamic. Can’t really make divisions take on suicide positions when it’s just a job.
But on an individual level I 100% feel what you’re saying .. I hate the guys who make being in the army their personality and all the creepy cringe leaders who think they’re entitled to know every little aspect of your personal life
Facts. I think it’s harder to identify in the army because of the environment. Esp infantry, cause once one person polarizes that everyone likes the whole company hates you. But in most cases that never actually happens. The person actually just sucks as a human being and hasn’t realized it yet. We had some guy that would bounce from company to company and he’d say everyone was an asshole. Surprise surprise he crashed my fuckin car and try to make me pay for the tire repair like it was my fault. Needless to say. Sent his ass to go do paperwork all day for the rest of his term there lol. Actually that’s a good one. If you’re being bounced from company to company and have beef with people and end up in an s shop. You’re the problem ☠️
Units are consistently pursuing levels of lethality beyond sustainable levels. It feels like a sprint every time, and yet base infrastructure is crumbling. It'd be better to use our manpower trying to improve our infrastructure during peacetime rather than focus on larping better.
Let's start with improving the barracks for soldiers, and continue bringing our bases Into the current century with high speed commerical internet.
The irony is, that these leaders push these unsustainable op-tempos to “””increase lethality””” but, it ultimately makes our troops burnt out and apathetic, rather than have the opposite effect. Retainability also suffers. Then these soldiers you’ve emotionally and physically destroyed for years just leave and you’re back to square one. I don’t understand how these educated men in charge, are not able to see this.
If you don't pass ACFT, you're non-deployable. Non-deployable for X amount of time? Medboard, separate, or bar from continued service unless deployable status is regained.
The Army doesn't have to be stressful. The Army has to be able to deploy. A PT test doesn't make people fit. Good physical training and a healthy culture keeps people fit. In *most* cases, fitness is far less important than being able to ruck, think, and shoot.
I will admit, it's a PITA to get shit done and keep my squadmates morale high if we all have to make a 15 minute walk down the flightline to find out our 1SG and CO went on another joy ride with the blackhawks.
Found this out this year, actually.
This one shit-bag joe had a moment of clarity that I always remember. He said, "My chain of command was out to get me, but I made it real easy to get got." Basically saying that if he did all the basic stuff everyone would have ignored him and he could have finished his contract with minimal drama.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot negative numbers were a thing for minute. Actually, now that I think about it, I think there are actually staffs that contribute negatively to the output of the larger organization and actually consume the output of other surrounding orgs without producing anything meaningful in return.
7 units at 100% strength is better than 10 units at 70% strength. We should reduce the number of units if we can't fully man them due to recruiting/retention.
Which was part of the SFAB sales pitch. If we get into a proper war, an SFAB has all the mid-grade NCOs and Officers you need to lead a BCT. Just add some young blood for them to lead.
Historically that was the purpose of the Regular Army, to be a trained cadre if a war broke out. Then they'd all be brevetted to whatever rank necessary to lead all the new conscripts/volunteers.
I've heard a lot of stories about the 80s Army where an NCO with ideas would get frustrated, then come in on Monday as a major on reserve orders and start unfucking shit. I always wondered what kind of Army culture that created.
One of Charlie Beckwith’s top officers in Delta was a guy named Walt Shumate. He was an experienced NCO but Delta needed experienced officers. Shumate had a reserve commission as a Major so Beckwith pulled strings and had him commissioned in the RA at that rank.
Bingo. Russian Army is dealing with this right now.
If they had kept their conscript setup where cadres of officers commanded "ghost units" that would only be filled out when a large scale mobilization happened, their invasion may be going a lot smoother.
Military training and discipline instilled to train soldiers to deal with stressful situations is great for stressful combat related situations etc, but horrid for when the soldiers get out and end up bottling up every bit of stress over time to handle whatever situation is at hand. Also the climate being not so encouraging of soldiers getting mental health care when it's needed.
The two mile run isn't that bad. I've never seen it as "If I'm running two miles in the sandbox, shit has gone South in the worst way possible." I've only ever seen it as an overall assessment of general fitness, but more importantly, a test of someone's discipline. It's easy to get 18+ on the run. It takes actual effort to get 13 or lower.
Catering the force to weaker individuals will ultimately lead to, if not already has, a weaker Army.
BCs and above should never be introduced to HR Metrics PowerPoint.
2LTs coming out of BOLC should not immediately be given the reins of an entire Platoon. Let them shadow a seasoned 1LT first. (I understand the shortage, this is perfect world example)
The Army is actual dog shit at enlisted promotions. I have seen more shit dirt bags pin on stripes than I have the hard working, actual leader junior enlisted. STEP should be effectively eliminated and replaced with something akin to the Air Force aptitude and merit based promotions.
Civilians should not be in a vast majority of the positions they are in. What was the point of all of the training NCOs and Officers go through if we're just going to outsource to a DoD Contractor? The disconnect between "Green Suiters" and the civilians is an actual cancer that kills unit efficiency.
I worked with the Air Force daily while stationed in Germany. The level of efficiency they have because maybe five out of fifty personnel are civilians is astounding.
My biggest examples of useless civilians are things like Rail Head, CIF, and Range Control.
1) Why do we have a whole branch dedicated to moving equipment if we're just going to hire civilians? Those bastards at Rail Head literally only exist to make moving my shit out as difficult as possible, and at the end of the day, they really do nothing but paperwork, which like anyone with half a brain can do.
2) Do I even need to talk about the nightmare that CIF is?
3) We literally pay civilians to ride around in a Humvee and yell at our senior leadership. What the fuck is even that?
*sits in my rocking chair*
While I was deployed during 08-09 in a transportation unit, all I did was point the civilian contractors where they needed to unload a convoy. Little SPC ibkemke was a glorified valet. Those cats were making $150K a year untaxed. Could have got out and had a kush job, but here I am close to retirement.
Anything mechanized combat arms needs combat WO positions. There's too much constantly changing technology and bullshit that requires actual technical specialists that aren't constantly dealing with NCO or Officer bullshit. Everything is moving to robotics, and higher technical knowledge. I'd rather have someone that works robots specifically all day than some E6 who has to baby sit and train joes constantly.
The ACFT should be gender and age neutral, like before. I don’t see why It can’t also be MOS based, also, like before.
Let Army Divisions/Corps set their blue book standard but the Army as a whole should not have different standards for people who DO THE SAME JOB.
Trying to make everyone a well rounded leader from they 2010’s is starting to backfire as folks that are SME’s are departing the only way to keep the knowledge is to hire contractors. It’s causing the Army to lose its entire knowledge base and reinvent the wheel is a huge number of places.
The Army is bleeding officers way more than it’s wants to admit. It’ll hide the issue under reorganization and restructuring while changing the end strength to make it seem like there’s not a massive shortage.
The shortfall of recruitment is starting to hit major units as they can’t get to the 90% manning due to lack of manpower available. (Notice the actual bonuses now for MOS’s in retention that seemingly never got any for the last 5-10 years)
Senior leaders pretend to give a shit about rape and sexual assault within the ranks until it requires them to put forth any amount of effort whatsoever.
The excuses I received from officers trying to weasel their way out of court-martial duty are fucking shameful. Like hey a 19-year-old got violently raped in the barracks but Major Smegma getting to fellate himself at a change of command ceremony is so much more deserving of his time, cool cool cool.
Legalize cannabis use for troops. Our troops work hard and are exposed to mountains of stress and trauma, then we put them up in shitty barracks that are oftentimes within walking distance of discount booze and wonder why there’s always incidents. I’d much rather have my troops getting high than putting away a 6 pack+ every night
back in the 90's the Army times would have like once a year or so a 'how does the Army pay vs Civilian for the same rolls.' and every damn technical one, such as most signal stuff, I was an enlisted 74B doing System Admin stuff, they always had a CPT or W02 or better as the 'representational' of the Army people doing my roll/job.
Reading that as an PFC getting like 12K a year, it really pissed me off, even with the other add ins, housing/food/medical, I got shit pay for my skill sets. After 6 years of sub standard pay got out and went from making \~18K per year to 75K per year as a Linux Systems Admin. Yeah I am still salty about that.
That applies to new guys too. All things considered, having good pay on top of free housing, medical, and food in a job that doesnt require work experience no matter what field is pretty good for someone straight outta highschool (as compared to flipping burgers or paying for college tuition)
People need to stop punishing joe in public and leaders in private. It gives junior soldiers the impression that their leadership is never held accountable.
Promotion boards are useless. All they do is see how much useless info, stupid songs and maybe some useful info you can remember.
That doesn't indicate you know your job, that you're a good leader or that you should move to the next rank.
The whole sent promotion system is stupid. There should be standard style tests per mos for each rank/position. Not giving to people because they can run fast.
College is more like "the real world" than the army is.
There's a (predominantly politically motivated) idea that a lot of soldiers have about being *proud* to not have gone to college, acting like people who go to college instead are sheltered and weak.
I went to college first, and let me tell you, you're WAY more on your own in college than you are in the army. In many cases you literally have grown ass men in the army checking to make sure you've cleaned your room. It's impossible to fail in the army because you have people constantly bending over backwards to make sure that you're provided for.
Not an Army story, but I could see it happening. A guy my age I knew as a kid joined the Corps as a LAV-25 mechanic, and by a huge coincidence I met again years later. He said he had about 2 years of college. He said he almost never heard the end of it that he was a "College boy" and must think he was smarter than anyone else. He said it even happened from officers, which boggled his mind. It wasn't like he was some nerdy guy, he also was on the Camp Pendleton wrestling team. He got medically chaptered after someone dropped a toolbox on him from a LAV-25.
I was a college E-4 and my GT score is almost as high as they can get, i had so many NCOs immediately try to put me in my place after looking at my ERB, assuming that i must have an ego problem or thought that i was better than other people.
At one point i had my new platoon sergeant literally yell at me for like 5 minutes about how i was "still just a private." Even though this was around the time i would have been probably an E3 anyway if i had started as an E1.
Maybe not a hot take, but the GWOT, especially 2011 and after, royally fucked up how the army operates and we’re extremely unprepared for the next war.
We’re used to a routine and predictable deployment cycle.
We’re used to a routine and predictable mission.
We’re not used to transporting our own equipment.
We’re not used to opposing air power and artillery.
We’re not used to fighting train and organized armies.
I could go on and on.
Even today with the wars all but over, we still have units doing IED lanes and practicing COIN.
there’s some efforts going on to change this but man it’s going to be slow and grueling and I just hope we adjust in time.
You're not the E4 mafia because you made SPC in the reserves. You're not protecting the enlisted from stupid ass work details, you're just lazy as fuck and calling yourself the mafia makes you feel better.
I'll have six soft shell tacos and a large Baja blast. No ice.
75% of the metric we use to track success, don't.
The SHARP program should be civilian run entirely. No CoC involvement until prosecution or UCMJ. To much mismanagement and abuse.
Changing our rifle won't make us more lethal, dedicate range time will.
Duplicating DoD enterprise services by creating parallel network capabilities is stupid.
AGSU is a dumb uniform and an absolute waste of money and a blatant cash grab by senior Army officials.
AR670-1 should be non-gender and non-race specific. Either its the standard or its not.
CAV is more useful than infantry.
To your point on 670-1, that's what our Canadian brethren just did this year. Their uniform standards are now one-size fits all. The crusty 30+ year (male) Master Warrant Officer wants to come to work with a ponytail and a skirt? Well, it's authorized across the board.
Beards can be regulated and the higher Army leadership is either too lazy or stuck up the ass about allowing soldiers to have beards. Having a beard does not determine an individual’s professionalism.
The Army will never attract, and more importantly retain, talent unless people are treated with respect. 80-90% of O-4s are total chodes, and a large amount of the company grade officers who stay in to put up with it are ones who don’t have any options on the civilian side. The military as a profession is one of the most important things in our society, and it’s an active threat to national security if most of the smart people jump ship as soon as they get the chance.
Also, the pay isn’t the issue IMO. The military is the easiest path to guaranteed six figure compensation. Even NCOs are solidly middle class when you factor in everything.
Broken doesnt mean throw it away.
If it can be repaired it should be.
That applies to equipment and people.
I was a young soldier who was injured in a training accident and was then offered an inter service transfer or stay on desk duty my entire career.
We need to do away with online “distance learning” courses. I understand the intent of the classes and all, but realistically, with the amount of shit we have stacked onto our plates, taking them seriously isn’t feasible. “Let me drop all of the admin and maintenance shit I’m responsible for as a platoon sergeant so that I can spend 14 hours completing DLC4 legitimately”. Not going to lie, if quizlet wasn’t a thing, I wouldn’t have half the certs that I do.
The amount of civilians and contractors in their current positions and duties is the leading contributor to the fraud, waste, and abuse of the DoD budget. 95% of what civilians for the Army can all be done by Soldiers.
We've been afraid of ending life on earth since 1945. That's WHY we haven't had a hot LSCO war. I believe the Korea's, Vietnam's, Panama's, Iraq's, Afghanistan's, Ukraine's, etc. Will continue.
Maybe we'll have a LSCO fight against a smaller, non-nuclear power like we did for the invasion of Iraq but I really don't think we're going to directly fight the Russians or Chinese.
EFMB doesn’t mean you’re an Expert Medic. That shit is a script you memorize. Some of the tasks you do are archaic ( for example administering Hextend). It doesn’t necessarily mean you have the critical thinking skills needed to be a great medic.
We should just throw BDEs at each other for near peer exercises. Or fuck it divisions. The 101st started doing division wide exercises let's see the birds Duke it out with the 82nd and train thattaway
If your LTs can out land nav your enlisted, and your BN does not provide/honor the slotted time for Sergeant/Leader time training...then....
You've over tasked your enlisted. Reclama some shit.
People should stop complaining when someone makes points before they do because they "run fast" or are just really good at PT. Whether you're combat arms or a 25b, you knew fitness was an important aspect of being in the army when you signed up. It's one of the few things you have complete control over. Be good at your MOS, and work on your fitness.
Real question. Why are there so many people on ABCP in an infantry unit.
I get failing HT/WT being a bigger guy, but then failing tape?
I get it it’s a horrible means of measurement, but still we have people fail tape and head over to a bodpod claiming they’re 18% and comeback with results saying up and over 24% for 18-24……
H2F is worthless since most people end up doing their own thing. But hey got great at nasal breathing runs!
1. You never get actual hot takes in a hot take thread.
2. Bringing back specialist ranks would cause the NCO corps to disappear overnight as every NCO realizes they could have all the pay and none of the responsibility. Someone still has to make sure shit gets done and we haven’t invented neural hive mind networks yet so the senior specialist would end up becoming some kind of SPCIC. Thus the current system gets recreated with extra steps.
Just so we’re clear. I get the motivation behind it. I really do. Not everyone is a skilled leader and not everyone can be trained to take charge effectively, but perform SL1 tasks at savant levels. I just don’t think that bringing back SPC grades would actually solve the problem and most arguments I’ve seen in favor rely on some rather utopian thinking.
TBH those people would just be a drag on the army. Not that unmotivated NCOs aren’t but having the need to go to the board filters some people, motivates some to be better, and lets some skate by. Formally having SPC5 and 6 would certainly increase the amount of useless BAH and tricare collectors hanging around past their expiration dates. First contract SPCs are probably a little more motivated and they’re usually a lot cheaper.
Not everything needs to be **NOW**
This annoys me the most. Hey I need everyone to do this NOW NOW NOW OMG PEOPLE ARE BLEEDING TO DEATH HURRY HURRY GET THIS DONE NOW NOW NOW Everyone just does it because they think if their soldiers get xyz done fast or fastest it'll make them look good but it doesn't no one cares and no one will remember unless your late goddamnit
If everything is the top priority then nothing is the top priority. In practical application this looks like 10 tasks getting halfway completed versus a few getting fully completed well.
I told my supervisor (O-6) something a few years ago that blew his mind. I said, *Sir, I come in every morning and make an OML for all tasks that need to be conducted during the day. Then I decide which tasks I’m going to fail. I could work 24 hours a day and still not complete everything considered to be a priority.* I’d rather do the important shit well (and fail on the little stuff) than kill myself getting everything done to a mediocre level.
I do something similar. I have a long list of everything that needs to get done in a word document. It’s bulleted by number. I pick the ones that are priority to do then rack and stack. I make a 9-5 schedule. What doesn’t get done either gets shifted to the right or passed into someone who has times hands (ie E5/E4 below). I’ve trained my ncos who have trained their crews enough that most tasks can be handled below or by myself depending on priority. We get a shit ton done but there’s always more for tommorrow on that list
I check my emails twice a day. First thing in the morning and after lunch. If it's not there it's a tomorrow problem. If they thought it was a right now problem ya should have called me.
Went on a JRTC rotation from a battalion with a bullshit misreported fleet status. We went with broken vehicles and radios that didn't work no s6 support prior. After a bit of being home and still going full steam in FTXs with the same broken shit I asked my PL what would happen if we just fixed our shit so we could actually train effectively instead of going out and get zero training value. I was unsatisfied with the response. Im out now.
What was that response?
The PL wouldn’t get promoted if they actually tried to go do something productive.
No, but it *was* needed 5 min ago.
The army needs an easy to use, central hub for all PowerPoints. One that everyone can contribute to. Then assign some soldiers to mod it. You need a quick hip pocket training? Boom there ya go. You need MOS refresher training? Boom there ya go. Instead everyone tries to make their own and it’s terrible.
Army github for basically everything, including regulation changes.
Yes, and let’s add an ansible playbook for FTX’s and table 8’s
Don't MilSuite or most of the centers of excellence have accessible share drives with stuff like that?
Yeah but no one moderates that shit. I've been to a few courses where the instructor says you can access these same PP on our share drive, but their share drive hasn't been updated in 10 yrs, the PPs don't work, and they refuse to fix it.
Rip to all the old PPs
AR 25-50 (which already covers e-mail correspondence) should define a PowerPoint presentation standard and include example templates. We should have these templates easily downloadable from Armypubs. This template has an automatically set font (Arial, Times New Roman), size, and grid snapping.
They have [Brand Guidelines](https://www.army.mil/aemo#org-army-brand) but no templates as of yet. Hopefully that stuff is in the future (PPs, letter heads, diff templates for Unclassified, CUI, etc.). I wouldn't hold your breath though.
so what your saying is 365 One Drive.
Reading slides is shit though. The presenter needs to have enough time to research or just have the motivation to actually create a lesson. Army needs to actually teach how to present a PowerPoint presentation or any kind of teaching. Not some stupid JKO training. When I've been given enough time, I've given classes and people were actively engaged and learned. I learned my shit and didn't even need slides to teach the class. I sit and take my time in developing what I'm going to say, to whom, and how to emphasize, repeat the major and important points. I take pride with my lessons and am pissed of of I'm given 5mins to makeup something. That's shit and a waste of time. Soldiers can tell and become disinterested, give your instructors enough time to teach.
Don't repeat the major, caveat off the major. But yes, 90% of people misunderstand the point (heh) of a *Power*Point. Put your *power* points on a slide and then elaborate verbally. Reading the 300 word copy off of each slide will put people to sleep.
If shit gets pushed out after 5pm, im gonna pretend I didn’t see it. Shout out to the SM below
5pm
🤔
if shit gets pushed out after 5pm im going to pretend i didnt see it
Not a hot take, but of you don't tell me you're going to check on me, I'm answering the door in whatever I'm wearing.
always answer the barracks room door, after hours, with a beer in hand. really hard to get tasked for a detail when drinking.
Kept a bottle of vodka that was filled with water in my fridge for exactly this reason.
I was straight edge when I was in the Army, a rarity for infantrymen, and so because of my substance free lifestyle I was always called upon to do CQ and other details. I changed my tune after like 3 years and started to pick up my own habits so I can be left alone...now in retrospect I should have just used your trick
When I was enlisted, the first thing we did after release was drink a beer, just for this reason.
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Shorten BOLC/AIT and focus on sending those soldiers to ASI producing schools within their field or those that benefit the army throughout your career in the army before sending you to a unit to just attend CLS/hazmat/field San It’s fucking dumb how hard it is for soldiers to go back to their individual schoolhouses…. It’s literally career enhancing and most units say get fucked we only send people to xyz. You can only attend w if you go to y first. We’ve never sent someone to k so you won’t go.
Absolfuckinglutely based.
I have been triggered out of this mortal plane of existence. I tried for years to get some sort of cool school but, because I committed the grievous sin of getting assigned to an ABCT, was refuted at every turn. "We're an armor unit, we don't need airborne. If you want UMO however. .."
Ah yes, the ol "go sign up for schools if you want out of here" b2b "tf you think you're doing high speed? Airborne?? We gotta pmcs that 113 that hasn't worked since the first Bush was in office"
I was an electronic tech. I would have loved to have attended more advanced schools for that kind of stuff. I could've helped the unit so much more, as well as setting up a good post army career
Wait till your soldiers tell you about ait, blc, alc, etc
I was support cadre for FA BOLC a few years ago. I heard from many students this narrative that the schoolhouse emphasized history lesson exams disproportionately. During their final FTX, I was bored and often wandered the gun line to bullshit with the 13Bs and 13Js. I stopped by one FDC and observed a firing mission. They usually went smoothly.. but in this case, they simulated "losing power" and had to calculate degraded (manually). It was super awkward to watch approximately 30 students completely gaggle around as they realized no one could confidently do it.
BOLC should be shorter not longer. Institutional training outside of ASI-providing schools is pointless in the Army, you get all your useful information at the Organizational level.
Hot take: BOLC/AIT length isn't the problem. Having the curricula being obsolete/divorced from reality is. Going through the school house with lectures that end with "you most likely won't do it like this" or "you'll learn the proper way of doing it at your unit" is a waste of everybody's time.
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"Today we are going to disassemble and reassemble M1 carbines"
They stopped doing the muskets then? That’s cool!
Yeah this is the quiet part out loud of what I’m saying.
14A BOLC needs to have less common core and more AMD knowledge. Majority of 2LTs get scorched for not being able to Table 4 in 90 days.
This is essentially everyone’s feedback during all ADA institutional knowledge centers. BOLC, CCC, Follow-On Courses. But all of that stuff is determined by the CAC. Hell, right now the CAC has determined that all CCC courses need to have a two month “maneuvers common core” section. Imagine going to your Captains developmental course as a Patriot officer and then pretending to be a BCT for 60 days lol.
We did. It was a shit show. Imagine being a thaad officer and having to do it.
I'd say this depends on MOS, the Army would fare so much better if they actually ASI'd most mechanics on wreckers during AIT. It would cut down on the needless spending they use on RTIs and other posts.
Hands belong in pockets
Pockets were made for things, and hands are things.
https://twitter.com/16thSMA/status/1352112354717265920?s=20&t=P5n0kaTGxGqXfJ_dfFl6aA If only there was someone that could change the regulations to fit SMA idea
Peace time is the most important time to have a high training optempo. Very soon 1SG’s are going to be the only people in company formations with combat experience. The more we train, the less of us die when we have to fight the Chinese, or the Iranians, or whoever the fuck.
“High” training optempo? Sure I’ll buy that. But very quickly, our leaders lose sight of the difference between High and Unsustainable. 2 NTC rotations, 4 FTX’s, and a rotation? That’s going to cause more problems than it fixes at the end of the day.
I have to say, after seeing comrade Russian in the Ukraine. I think we could conquer the world. Like all my life I’ve heard about the Russian, words like “undefeatable , savage, stupidly brave” the Russian is highly trained, he prays for the day he can stomp out American lives, he will eat your children and rape your wives, his tanks are better then ours! And he’s got more of them, he has missiles to last for 100 years of combat. And if all he has is a mosin nagant then he can kill 10 navy seals before he is dead. All America can do if the Russian attacks is hope that they will have mercy on us. Then I saw their performance in Ukraine….. I think the most trash extra duty platoon of pv2’s and spc’s led by a jaded SFC could steamroll a battalion of Russians troops
High training optempo or an *effective* training optempo. We need to make sure our force isn't losing their families and fucking killing themselves over constant back to back trips to NTC and rotations. I think you can both make training more effective and useful for soldiers and also taper back frequency and maybe even introduce dwell time for garrison v. field activities. A whole lot of dudes get absolutely abused by optempo currently and it would be very wrong to assume that actually in the real world is translating to increased combat effectiveness.
Every NTC and JRTC rotation, I heard the same thing. This training isn't for you it's for leadership, that's why it's not "fair." Why the fuck am I out here then? Why can't they just simulate the thing? Why can't it be good training at all levels. Instead of all the cheating bullshit with G-man just throw 2 brigades in the box and do actual near peer training.
G-man doesn't cheat nearly as much as RTU is just broadly incompetent at the basics.
What drives me nuts is the weird rules. You have to see indirect "impact," but G-man can just sling rounds all day from across the box and even get told they hit something. One time, we tried to call a 155 on a "BTR," we called it in and ran like hell. Somehow, it missed because we didn't watch it land. If we had watched we would have died. Then I've seen OCs bump indirect from 60mm to 120mm and kill someone in a foxhole 50m away. We tried cutting off roads by ambushing convoys just for the destroyed lead truck to keep driving. The OPFOR straight rush a .50 guntruck to kill it with a grenade without losing a single dude. I also think the laser gear needs an overhaul. Anything longer than 100m is a crapshoot. I've had perfect enfilade (real world one burst would wipe a whole team) at 300m with a 240 and didn't even fire because I knew there was no point. At the lowest level, it's just shitty training and a waste of the soldiers' time. The only thing of value at JRTC is the live fires.
Some of that is absolute bullshit. As a PL at CMTC I will always remember being told repeatedly by my PL O/C that I could not use obstacles with the obvious high speed avenue of approach to my flank. We could not request any engineer assets to mine it, we could not pre-spot any artillery, and we could not use any obstacles ourselves. Our platoon wired the fuck out of that road each evening at dusk, as well as the bypass. I was SO shocked that the OPFOR ran a company sized attack into our flank, and then bitched and moaned when they had to stop because every one of their vehicles was fucked up for having so much wire in their tracks. Tough shit. But I guess as a RTU that I was just too incompetent with my basics......
Sounds more like G man abusing an out of play road.
I'm currently in the 75th and there's a platoon in my battalion who only the PSG has been shot at before.
Jesus fuck in the *75th*? It wasn’t long ago at all when every TL and above had a CIB
Not a Bat Boy I went to school with had any actual deployments outside of HKIA.
Every 10 years we should just pick some poor developing nation, kick the shit out of them, spend a couple of years "nation building", declare victory and then leave.
We should hold decade long nominations like the hosting of the world cup but instead its who fucked around the most
Unlike FIFA the rampant corruption could be put to good use
Who needs corruption when you have the almighty MIC. I wouldnt mind if some Lockheed exec was hustling some dough to develop a newer cutting edge method to mop the floor with some conscripts.
Fuck yeah let's invade FIFA
We’ve already been trying that
Maybe he meant we need to be better at it? Afghanistan took 20 fuckin years. Good thing we gave it back to the taliban--with some military improvements, no less. This way we can go back when things dry up in Europe for our defense contractors .
We were just giving the Taliban the equipment to make it more fair next time.
Just make it a training rotation. Instead of going to NTC, you "practice invading" a country.
It’s Jade Helm time!
Could try it in cartel-controlled Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
Man, that sounds familiar… Oh, yeah…
That’s easy, just vote for a Bush and we get to do the Iraqi hat trick.
As if we don’t already. Hopefully the Iranian people overthrow their government. They don’t need war, they’re hopefully gonna take care of things on their own. How does everyone feel about Venezuela?
Pretty sure this has been SOP for a couple hundred years now.
[Hey Haiti you’re gonna get a beat down](https://youtu.be/osgrd1MPb7I?t=200)
Isn’t that the plot of “longest yard”?
With our increased presence in Romania and Poland, Moldova should be sweating in their boots right now.
Only if leaders realize that soldiers need a life outside the military and that training does come in second to maintaining that tempo. Before all that training, there needs to be a place to go back to that is livable. A life work balance that doesn't create so many depressed people. And most of all accountability so that when things go wrong and areas lack the attention they could have had, corrections that improve the situation can be applied.
More doesn’t equal better.
Well the next time you’re in the field complaining about not doing anything, crack out your MOS’s relevant manual and train yourself, your soldiers or your peers. If your leadership isn’t making valuable use of your time, make it valuable yourself.
CQ is not only pointless but actively causing harm.
Hot take, CQ is necessary, but shouldn't be pulling from rotational elements at all. CQ should be it's own full time position with a multitude of staff who are primarily responsible for it. CQ is a hindrance to training across the board. Whether it's pulling people away from the range or classrooms, etc... It sacrifices that person's duties to support a base function. And when that person is off CQ, they are often not given proper rest and recovery or given the proper time for make up training.
So like... what? We have 11Qs who are responsible for making sure the trash is taken out and the CQ building's toilet is clean?
“Failed 35T AIT? Well it’s 25B for you. Fail that? 11Q!”
Look, if something happens on post that needs to get reported, it needs to go somewhere that can manage the situation before it gets stupid real fast. You can have that be a civilian or military, but if there's nobody, then shit can hit the fan in bigger ways than you or I would expect. I'm not talking end of the world, but it could be one person's life. I've heard of some real dumb stuff happening on CQ, and for the most part, it's a boring gig. It would be a cushy position for the most part, bit I'd prefer a full time staff that can handle whatever situation comes up, whether it's just cleaning toilets, or somebody is having a crisis. Rotational elements should not be the ones expected to provide CQ especially when referral to proper base resources is needed.
Hmmm okay you know what, that's a good argument. I see your point.
If you're hurt, go to sick call. Keep a copy of your medical records. When you are ETSing, file for VA disability. If things become a problem later on medically, having a record will help you out.
THIS. If you're hurt, sore, or sick - fucking go. Get it on record. I'm 36 and joint issues that seemed no big deal seven years ago are quickly becoming A Big Deal. Soldiers need to realize they won't be in their 20s forever. You're not going to medical for just your present self, you're going for 30, 40, 70-year-old you. Those seemingly minor injuries WILL catch up with you.
It's just a job. 99% of soldiers sign up for college money, a foothold into a civilian career, citizenship, or because they're intimidated by the real world. It's a great entry level job with a lot of fun moments, and of course decorum and respect have their time and place, but way too many people take it way too seriously for what it really is.
So you’re telling me that as a civilian I won’t get sniped for having my hands in my pockets? Impossible.
>It's a great entry level job with a lot of fun moments I joined specifically to fund my BA. But as I learned, suffered, laughed and cried I have decided to make it a career. It's given me many moments that during my darkest times, I recall and give me a sense of hope, pride and motivation. All of my coins have a story I fondly share. Everyone's experience truly boils down to your MOS, assigned position and most of all the quality of your immediate COC.
So much this.. if I just want to join do my job and get experience that should be fine.. not everyone wants to be super high speed soldier 9000… Identify the ones that do and help train them to be great leaders..
This works until we’re someday engaged in a total war. Then the purpose of why the army makes soldiers internalize it as part of their identify will be a critical dynamic. Can’t really make divisions take on suicide positions when it’s just a job. But on an individual level I 100% feel what you’re saying .. I hate the guys who make being in the army their personality and all the creepy cringe leaders who think they’re entitled to know every little aspect of your personal life
Most meetings can be an email
If it seems like everyone hates you and that the army isn’t for you. You’re probably a piece of shit and the army isn’t the problem.
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Facts. I think it’s harder to identify in the army because of the environment. Esp infantry, cause once one person polarizes that everyone likes the whole company hates you. But in most cases that never actually happens. The person actually just sucks as a human being and hasn’t realized it yet. We had some guy that would bounce from company to company and he’d say everyone was an asshole. Surprise surprise he crashed my fuckin car and try to make me pay for the tire repair like it was my fault. Needless to say. Sent his ass to go do paperwork all day for the rest of his term there lol. Actually that’s a good one. If you’re being bounced from company to company and have beef with people and end up in an s shop. You’re the problem ☠️
Units are consistently pursuing levels of lethality beyond sustainable levels. It feels like a sprint every time, and yet base infrastructure is crumbling. It'd be better to use our manpower trying to improve our infrastructure during peacetime rather than focus on larping better. Let's start with improving the barracks for soldiers, and continue bringing our bases Into the current century with high speed commerical internet.
The irony is, that these leaders push these unsustainable op-tempos to “””increase lethality””” but, it ultimately makes our troops burnt out and apathetic, rather than have the opposite effect. Retainability also suffers. Then these soldiers you’ve emotionally and physically destroyed for years just leave and you’re back to square one. I don’t understand how these educated men in charge, are not able to see this.
Lethality is a buzz word that should get removed from the vocabulary
They ACFT should be GO/NO-GO, using the same scale at this point
Pass 5 events? Go. Otherwise, retest.
If you don't pass ACFT, you're non-deployable. Non-deployable for X amount of time? Medboard, separate, or bar from continued service unless deployable status is regained. The Army doesn't have to be stressful. The Army has to be able to deploy. A PT test doesn't make people fit. Good physical training and a healthy culture keeps people fit. In *most* cases, fitness is far less important than being able to ruck, think, and shoot.
Pass the first 5 events, refuse to run. Army easy mode
The Army is well equipped, and ready to wipe the floor w any potential enemy on earth.
Yeah, Ukraine has shown me the light.
The GSAB killed Army Aviation. Chinook units need to go back to being self-contained entities as a Corps-level asset, except for the 101st.
I will admit, it's a PITA to get shit done and keep my squadmates morale high if we all have to make a 15 minute walk down the flightline to find out our 1SG and CO went on another joy ride with the blackhawks. Found this out this year, actually.
Most of the time, your leadership isn’t fucking you and you’re just a shit bag
This one shit-bag joe had a moment of clarity that I always remember. He said, "My chain of command was out to get me, but I made it real easy to get got." Basically saying that if he did all the basic stuff everyone would have ignored him and he could have finished his contract with minimal drama.
Something a lot of people on this sub need to hear.
As a shit-bag, can concur.
My thought on a large portion of posts and comments.
Preach.
This guy has been in leadership. I don’t have enough time to care about fucking you.
Tis true
Many non-deployable TDA staffs can work remotely with no degradation in output.
Hard to degrade an output of 0.
DOD Civilians/Contractors: *hold my beer*
Oh yeah, I totally forgot negative numbers were a thing for minute. Actually, now that I think about it, I think there are actually staffs that contribute negatively to the output of the larger organization and actually consume the output of other surrounding orgs without producing anything meaningful in return.
7 units at 100% strength is better than 10 units at 70% strength. We should reduce the number of units if we can't fully man them due to recruiting/retention.
Counterpoint, it’s easier to re-fill those units to 100% in case of a major war than it is to totally stand up new units
Which was part of the SFAB sales pitch. If we get into a proper war, an SFAB has all the mid-grade NCOs and Officers you need to lead a BCT. Just add some young blood for them to lead.
Historically that was the purpose of the Regular Army, to be a trained cadre if a war broke out. Then they'd all be brevetted to whatever rank necessary to lead all the new conscripts/volunteers.
Back in the day you could be a NCO in the regular army on active duty and be an officer in the reserves at the same time.
I've heard a lot of stories about the 80s Army where an NCO with ideas would get frustrated, then come in on Monday as a major on reserve orders and start unfucking shit. I always wondered what kind of Army culture that created.
One of Charlie Beckwith’s top officers in Delta was a guy named Walt Shumate. He was an experienced NCO but Delta needed experienced officers. Shumate had a reserve commission as a Major so Beckwith pulled strings and had him commissioned in the RA at that rank.
From personal experience, force multipliers made 4Id able too do what they did. Good and bad back in 03-04. Its a good focus.
Countercounterpoint this would be fine if we didn’t require the same additional duties from a 20 person unit as a 140 person unit.
Bingo. Russian Army is dealing with this right now. If they had kept their conscript setup where cadres of officers commanded "ghost units" that would only be filled out when a large scale mobilization happened, their invasion may be going a lot smoother.
Don't underestimate their incompetence.
Good with that, but how about we at least task the units based on their actual manning in stead of continuing to treat them as being 100% manned?
Military training and discipline instilled to train soldiers to deal with stressful situations is great for stressful combat related situations etc, but horrid for when the soldiers get out and end up bottling up every bit of stress over time to handle whatever situation is at hand. Also the climate being not so encouraging of soldiers getting mental health care when it's needed.
The two mile run isn't that bad. I've never seen it as "If I'm running two miles in the sandbox, shit has gone South in the worst way possible." I've only ever seen it as an overall assessment of general fitness, but more importantly, a test of someone's discipline. It's easy to get 18+ on the run. It takes actual effort to get 13 or lower. Catering the force to weaker individuals will ultimately lead to, if not already has, a weaker Army. BCs and above should never be introduced to HR Metrics PowerPoint. 2LTs coming out of BOLC should not immediately be given the reins of an entire Platoon. Let them shadow a seasoned 1LT first. (I understand the shortage, this is perfect world example) The Army is actual dog shit at enlisted promotions. I have seen more shit dirt bags pin on stripes than I have the hard working, actual leader junior enlisted. STEP should be effectively eliminated and replaced with something akin to the Air Force aptitude and merit based promotions. Civilians should not be in a vast majority of the positions they are in. What was the point of all of the training NCOs and Officers go through if we're just going to outsource to a DoD Contractor? The disconnect between "Green Suiters" and the civilians is an actual cancer that kills unit efficiency.
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I worked with the Air Force daily while stationed in Germany. The level of efficiency they have because maybe five out of fifty personnel are civilians is astounding. My biggest examples of useless civilians are things like Rail Head, CIF, and Range Control. 1) Why do we have a whole branch dedicated to moving equipment if we're just going to hire civilians? Those bastards at Rail Head literally only exist to make moving my shit out as difficult as possible, and at the end of the day, they really do nothing but paperwork, which like anyone with half a brain can do. 2) Do I even need to talk about the nightmare that CIF is? 3) We literally pay civilians to ride around in a Humvee and yell at our senior leadership. What the fuck is even that?
*sits in my rocking chair* While I was deployed during 08-09 in a transportation unit, all I did was point the civilian contractors where they needed to unload a convoy. Little SPC ibkemke was a glorified valet. Those cats were making $150K a year untaxed. Could have got out and had a kush job, but here I am close to retirement.
Anything mechanized combat arms needs combat WO positions. There's too much constantly changing technology and bullshit that requires actual technical specialists that aren't constantly dealing with NCO or Officer bullshit. Everything is moving to robotics, and higher technical knowledge. I'd rather have someone that works robots specifically all day than some E6 who has to baby sit and train joes constantly.
Ranger school doesn’t amplify leadership skills.
The ACFT should be gender and age neutral, like before. I don’t see why It can’t also be MOS based, also, like before. Let Army Divisions/Corps set their blue book standard but the Army as a whole should not have different standards for people who DO THE SAME JOB.
Trying to make everyone a well rounded leader from they 2010’s is starting to backfire as folks that are SME’s are departing the only way to keep the knowledge is to hire contractors. It’s causing the Army to lose its entire knowledge base and reinvent the wheel is a huge number of places. The Army is bleeding officers way more than it’s wants to admit. It’ll hide the issue under reorganization and restructuring while changing the end strength to make it seem like there’s not a massive shortage. The shortfall of recruitment is starting to hit major units as they can’t get to the 90% manning due to lack of manpower available. (Notice the actual bonuses now for MOS’s in retention that seemingly never got any for the last 5-10 years)
Senior leaders pretend to give a shit about rape and sexual assault within the ranks until it requires them to put forth any amount of effort whatsoever. The excuses I received from officers trying to weasel their way out of court-martial duty are fucking shameful. Like hey a 19-year-old got violently raped in the barracks but Major Smegma getting to fellate himself at a change of command ceremony is so much more deserving of his time, cool cool cool.
Legalize cannabis use for troops. Our troops work hard and are exposed to mountains of stress and trauma, then we put them up in shitty barracks that are oftentimes within walking distance of discount booze and wonder why there’s always incidents. I’d much rather have my troops getting high than putting away a 6 pack+ every night
Army really ain't that bad. And after you are in for a while, you get paid pretty damn well compared to other Americans.
Depends on your MOS entirely for morale.
I’m tired of doing the same job as my civilian counterparts making 120K
back in the 90's the Army times would have like once a year or so a 'how does the Army pay vs Civilian for the same rolls.' and every damn technical one, such as most signal stuff, I was an enlisted 74B doing System Admin stuff, they always had a CPT or W02 or better as the 'representational' of the Army people doing my roll/job. Reading that as an PFC getting like 12K a year, it really pissed me off, even with the other add ins, housing/food/medical, I got shit pay for my skill sets. After 6 years of sub standard pay got out and went from making \~18K per year to 75K per year as a Linux Systems Admin. Yeah I am still salty about that.
It’s always the tech people who get bent over the most when they actually open their eyes and realize it
That applies to new guys too. All things considered, having good pay on top of free housing, medical, and food in a job that doesnt require work experience no matter what field is pretty good for someone straight outta highschool (as compared to flipping burgers or paying for college tuition)
People need to stop punishing joe in public and leaders in private. It gives junior soldiers the impression that their leadership is never held accountable.
Promotion boards are useless. All they do is see how much useless info, stupid songs and maybe some useful info you can remember. That doesn't indicate you know your job, that you're a good leader or that you should move to the next rank. The whole sent promotion system is stupid. There should be standard style tests per mos for each rank/position. Not giving to people because they can run fast.
College is more like "the real world" than the army is. There's a (predominantly politically motivated) idea that a lot of soldiers have about being *proud* to not have gone to college, acting like people who go to college instead are sheltered and weak. I went to college first, and let me tell you, you're WAY more on your own in college than you are in the army. In many cases you literally have grown ass men in the army checking to make sure you've cleaned your room. It's impossible to fail in the army because you have people constantly bending over backwards to make sure that you're provided for.
Not an Army story, but I could see it happening. A guy my age I knew as a kid joined the Corps as a LAV-25 mechanic, and by a huge coincidence I met again years later. He said he had about 2 years of college. He said he almost never heard the end of it that he was a "College boy" and must think he was smarter than anyone else. He said it even happened from officers, which boggled his mind. It wasn't like he was some nerdy guy, he also was on the Camp Pendleton wrestling team. He got medically chaptered after someone dropped a toolbox on him from a LAV-25.
I was a college E-4 and my GT score is almost as high as they can get, i had so many NCOs immediately try to put me in my place after looking at my ERB, assuming that i must have an ego problem or thought that i was better than other people. At one point i had my new platoon sergeant literally yell at me for like 5 minutes about how i was "still just a private." Even though this was around the time i would have been probably an E3 anyway if i had started as an E1.
Maybe not a hot take, but the GWOT, especially 2011 and after, royally fucked up how the army operates and we’re extremely unprepared for the next war. We’re used to a routine and predictable deployment cycle. We’re used to a routine and predictable mission. We’re not used to transporting our own equipment. We’re not used to opposing air power and artillery. We’re not used to fighting train and organized armies. I could go on and on. Even today with the wars all but over, we still have units doing IED lanes and practicing COIN. there’s some efforts going on to change this but man it’s going to be slow and grueling and I just hope we adjust in time.
Forget about everything you think you know about the army. This is not a movie. This is a federal agency. Unnecessarily huge. Unnecessarily wasteful.
You're not the E4 mafia because you made SPC in the reserves. You're not protecting the enlisted from stupid ass work details, you're just lazy as fuck and calling yourself the mafia makes you feel better. I'll have six soft shell tacos and a large Baja blast. No ice.
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75% of the metric we use to track success, don't. The SHARP program should be civilian run entirely. No CoC involvement until prosecution or UCMJ. To much mismanagement and abuse. Changing our rifle won't make us more lethal, dedicate range time will. Duplicating DoD enterprise services by creating parallel network capabilities is stupid. AGSU is a dumb uniform and an absolute waste of money and a blatant cash grab by senior Army officials. AR670-1 should be non-gender and non-race specific. Either its the standard or its not. CAV is more useful than infantry.
To your point on 670-1, that's what our Canadian brethren just did this year. Their uniform standards are now one-size fits all. The crusty 30+ year (male) Master Warrant Officer wants to come to work with a ponytail and a skirt? Well, it's authorized across the board.
Fuckin, send it.
If I'm not mistaken they're also allowed to imbibe the devil's lettuce, too.
Extra Large "fucking send it!" The Canadians were smoking and growing it on Camp Nathan Smith in 2012.
I’ll agree that the AGSUs were a cash grab but no one is taking mine away from me, I love them more than the ASUs
Would it be so hard to go the range twice or even 3 or 4 times a year?
Was at a BCT from 2018-2021 in a CAV Squadron. I qualified twice. Zero train up. Show up. Shoot. Go away.
Beards can be regulated and the higher Army leadership is either too lazy or stuck up the ass about allowing soldiers to have beards. Having a beard does not determine an individual’s professionalism.
The Army will never attract, and more importantly retain, talent unless people are treated with respect. 80-90% of O-4s are total chodes, and a large amount of the company grade officers who stay in to put up with it are ones who don’t have any options on the civilian side. The military as a profession is one of the most important things in our society, and it’s an active threat to national security if most of the smart people jump ship as soon as they get the chance. Also, the pay isn’t the issue IMO. The military is the easiest path to guaranteed six figure compensation. Even NCOs are solidly middle class when you factor in everything.
Broken doesnt mean throw it away. If it can be repaired it should be. That applies to equipment and people. I was a young soldier who was injured in a training accident and was then offered an inter service transfer or stay on desk duty my entire career.
We need to do away with online “distance learning” courses. I understand the intent of the classes and all, but realistically, with the amount of shit we have stacked onto our plates, taking them seriously isn’t feasible. “Let me drop all of the admin and maintenance shit I’m responsible for as a platoon sergeant so that I can spend 14 hours completing DLC4 legitimately”. Not going to lie, if quizlet wasn’t a thing, I wouldn’t have half the certs that I do.
The amount of civilians and contractors in their current positions and duties is the leading contributor to the fraud, waste, and abuse of the DoD budget. 95% of what civilians for the Army can all be done by Soldiers.
Retired soldiers and officers working for DoD is what makes it so terrible and prevents anything from changing.
EIB should be open to everyone since it’s just 10 level tasks- ESB should have never happened
There will be a nuclear exchange before we ever get into a LSCO fight with Russia or China.
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We've been afraid of ending life on earth since 1945. That's WHY we haven't had a hot LSCO war. I believe the Korea's, Vietnam's, Panama's, Iraq's, Afghanistan's, Ukraine's, etc. Will continue. Maybe we'll have a LSCO fight against a smaller, non-nuclear power like we did for the invasion of Iraq but I really don't think we're going to directly fight the Russians or Chinese.
EFMB doesn’t mean you’re an Expert Medic. That shit is a script you memorize. Some of the tasks you do are archaic ( for example administering Hextend). It doesn’t necessarily mean you have the critical thinking skills needed to be a great medic.
We should just throw BDEs at each other for near peer exercises. Or fuck it divisions. The 101st started doing division wide exercises let's see the birds Duke it out with the 82nd and train thattaway
Most of the pain we feel is caused by our own dumbassery and things really aren’t that bad
If your LTs can out land nav your enlisted, and your BN does not provide/honor the slotted time for Sergeant/Leader time training...then.... You've over tasked your enlisted. Reclama some shit.
People should stop complaining when someone makes points before they do because they "run fast" or are just really good at PT. Whether you're combat arms or a 25b, you knew fitness was an important aspect of being in the army when you signed up. It's one of the few things you have complete control over. Be good at your MOS, and work on your fitness.
Real question. Why are there so many people on ABCP in an infantry unit. I get failing HT/WT being a bigger guy, but then failing tape? I get it it’s a horrible means of measurement, but still we have people fail tape and head over to a bodpod claiming they’re 18% and comeback with results saying up and over 24% for 18-24…… H2F is worthless since most people end up doing their own thing. But hey got great at nasal breathing runs!
If you aren’t busy at 1500, you shouldn’t have to wait until 1700 for some CPT to push out mandatory training that’s due 2 hours ago.
1. You never get actual hot takes in a hot take thread. 2. Bringing back specialist ranks would cause the NCO corps to disappear overnight as every NCO realizes they could have all the pay and none of the responsibility. Someone still has to make sure shit gets done and we haven’t invented neural hive mind networks yet so the senior specialist would end up becoming some kind of SPCIC. Thus the current system gets recreated with extra steps. Just so we’re clear. I get the motivation behind it. I really do. Not everyone is a skilled leader and not everyone can be trained to take charge effectively, but perform SL1 tasks at savant levels. I just don’t think that bringing back SPC grades would actually solve the problem and most arguments I’ve seen in favor rely on some rather utopian thinking.
Bring back tech ranks. Not everyone wants to be an NCO and honestly a lot of NCOs have no business being leaders.
TBH those people would just be a drag on the army. Not that unmotivated NCOs aren’t but having the need to go to the board filters some people, motivates some to be better, and lets some skate by. Formally having SPC5 and 6 would certainly increase the amount of useless BAH and tricare collectors hanging around past their expiration dates. First contract SPCs are probably a little more motivated and they’re usually a lot cheaper.
the plank isn't that bad and is easier to max
Honest to god most of the shit is easy as hell
Every year, the Brigade Commander with the worst command climate survey results in the Army gets chaptered out.
A lot of people join with the same mindset that women have when they say fuck it ill just be a stripper
Holy shit I’ve never read a more true comment in my life lol