Indoctrinated and Disenfranchised (An Army Story)
When I first started this job, it was a calling. Something I felt I needed to do for myself. I was lacking direction and unsure of what I wanted to do. Perhaps that is the reason I turned it into a calling, I don’t know. Now, almost 12 years later, it has become nothing more than a job. A big, contracted, corporate job. We used to be a family (in my eyes), now we are just a bunch of disgruntled people showing up every morning. I’m not going to lie; the Army has a lot of good points to it. I am in better shape than 90% of the civilians I know. I do a job that has the respect and admiration of millions. I have traveled to places I would never get to see any other way in my life. It got me out of the house, got me my first suit, and allowed me to find my own place in life.
I believe, however, that I have outgrown the things the Army has to offer. This is not to say that I am better than anyone currently serving, or those that have chosen to make this a career, simply that I have stopped buying in to this. The Army is full of rhetoric. You hear certain phrases repeated all the time, there are creeds that we are supposed to follow and a cute little acronym about our values that conveniently spells out “LDRSHIP” (Leadership) as though it was a reminder to our leaders that they weren’t living up to the Army values. It is my personal opinion that if you need an acronym or a creed to tell you what your values are, then your parents and Drill Sergeants failed you from the start. If you cannot stand up and be loyal to your fellow Soldier then you have no need to be here and a card in your wallet with the Army values on it is not going to make a bit of difference.
Every Morning, I wake up and go to something we call “PT” (or, Physical Training). We get accountability of our Soldiers, yell profusely at those who are late, go find those that didn’t show up, then we begin exercising. We start with some light stretching then we move into a routine. We run on the first, third and fifth days of the week, and work our upper bodies on the second day and our abdomens on the fourth. This sounds pretty reasonable from a distance. The problem here is that those of us that are in reasonably decent shape get nothing out of this because we are constantly trying to get others to our level. This has become a case of the Army catering to the lowest common denominator so that they can get exercise too. If they were getting anything out of it, I wouldn’t complain about it, but they are not even trying. So, we consistently slow down the runs and skip the organized sports because our overweight Soldiers cannot keep up. But when they start to fall out, they want to just walk instead of pushing themselves. Consequently, I spend my morning yelling, I get nothing out of PT, and the fat kids get counseling statements. Yet it’s my fault that they cannot pass their PT test with a set of standards that my friend’s 5 year old son could adhere to.
When a Soldier is ill or injured, they must go to “sick call”. This is where someone who knows about as much physiology as me begins to take your vitals then makes you a doctor’s appointment. You cannot get a doctor’s appointment WITHOUT going to sick call, and the doors to sick call are only open from between the hours of 5:30 am to 5:45 am. Additionally, you need a sick call SLIP to go there (much like a hall pass), that you must obtain the day prior. Yes, you read that right, I have to know about diarrhea, vomiting and the like in advance so I can get my hall pass 15 hours out and go make that 15 minute window to get an appointment with the doctors two days out. Typically, by the time one of us actually gets to the doctor, the illness has run its course and the visit is unnecessary. Only in the case of an injury does this help at all, and they usually schedule you follow up appointments that our unit cancels so we can go to the field. After all, “mission accomplishment over Troop welfare”. Remember, I used to buy into all of this, and for some reason, it all made sense.
On Mondays, I take a group of Soldiers down to the “motor pool”, which is in essence nothing more than a big, fenced in parking lot with a repair shop. When we go down there, we perform preventive maintenance on our trucks, and write down what is wrong with them. We turn in that list to the mechanics, and they are supposed to have it annotated on the next week’s sheets, or repaired. This doesn’t happen. I understand not repairing, some of these things are minor and inconsequential. But there is no excuse for not annotating it on the record. So every week, we get blank records, and it appears as though we haven’t been doing our jobs. So because the faults aren’t annotated, it looks as though the vehicles are perfect and when they break down, it is our fault. We have to have the trucks repaired so that we can “dispatch” them. By dispatch, I mean checking over the faults, having a mechanic check over the faults, having a second mechanic look over the faults, then getting permission to drive it out of the gate, because apparently they believe anyone would want to use these smelly pieces of crap for anything other than going to the field. After all, it’s not like they’re inconspicuous. I’m not going to fit one in my garage.
I spoke briefly about rhetoric, and here is a fine example: The Soldier’s Creed. It reads as follows:
• I am an American Soldier
• I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
• I will always place the mission first
• I will never accept defeat
• I will never quit
• I will never leave a fallen comrade
• I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself.
• I am an expert and a professional.
• I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
• I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
• I am an American Soldier
Now, there is mention in there about the Army Values, which we discussed earlier, and the rest is things that you should not have to be told. “I am an American Soldier” is repeated twice, almost to make a mantra or to remind people who can’t believe that they signed up for this that they are stuck here. Should I have to remind people we are warriors and members of a team? No, we are trained to kill and we work in groups called squads. Then nestled within all of this is something called the “Warrior Ethos”. This is a new concept, and consists of bullets two through six above. The line beginning with “I am disciplined…” is merely a way for us NCO’s to tell the Soldiers that they are not living up to their part of the bargain. After all, if we make you repeat it enough, it becomes true, right? The next line should be automatic, anyway. In what job that is above fast food would you NOT want both an expert and a professional? The follow on line really irritates me. “I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.” We seem to decide who our enemies are, so what it really says is “I will attack and destroy anyone who doesn’t hold with our national ideology”. “I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life”. Maybe only when acting in defense of the nation, and within our own borders, but other than that it is an excuse for the line above. Then we close it with the mantra again.
We come out of the field on a regular basis and go on a much deserved 4-day weekend. I say much deserved, not because of how hard we worked, but because I see it as restitution for the loss of a weekend while we were in the field. Before each of these weekends, we must have our vehicles inspected. Ostensibly, this is to prevent accidents and deaths due to shoddy maintenance on vehicles, and because having Soldiers arrested for not keeping their insurance current looks bad on the chain of command. The truth of the matter, however, is that this is an intrusion on one of the last personal things that we have. Our cars. I read all the time about Soldiers dying in car accidents, however the cause is rarely (if ever) shoddy maintenance. Typically, it is inattentive driving or an alcohol-related incident. POV inspections seem to be there simply to make the chain of command feel better and let them go to sleep at night knowing that their careers are safe if someone gets hurt. After all, they’ve covered their asses.
On a separate note, I am provided money for rent through a program called “Basic Allowance for Housing” or BAH. This sounds a lot like welfare, and in a way it is. It used to be that I was given money by the government to live in government housing. This money showed up on my leave and earnings statement, then just came right back out before it hit my account. Imaginary funds for imaginary rent, kind of a way for them to claim we were above the poverty line while giving us subsidized housing. Now, however, the housing has been bought by private companies and many Soldiers are finding better housing for cheaper rent off-post. When we were playing the imaginary rent game, the chain of command had the right to come inspect the cleanliness of our quarters. Now, though housing is privatized, they feel as though they can still do the same. It’s as though they don’t understand that they don’t have the right. I used to live off post, and moved on because of the remoteness specific to Fort Irwin. When I was off post, it was implicitly understood that my chain of command did not have the right to come and inspect my house. That’s just the way it worked. My house was not in the confines of Fort Irwin, therefore, they had no authority over it. Then housing became privatized, on-post Soldiers began paying rent to a private organization and the chain of command doesn’t understand the difference between then and now.
Every year, we have two leave periods, where the Army, in their infinite wisdom, decides that all training will stop, and everyone will have a two week period to go visit their families. So for literally 30 days every year, all across America, every army base shuts down at approximately the same time and we leave a couple unfortunate Soldiers behind to get the shaft and answer the phones. Every month, I accrue 2.5 leave days that I can use to get away during our scheduled off time. The accrual of these leave days is a right, afforded to us by the department of the Army, passed down through the Defense Finance and Accounting System (DFAS), and shows up as a grand total on my leave and earnings statement. Apparently, my first sergeant, and all first sergeants army wide seem to think that they outrank the Department of the Army, as they get to choose when we spend our leave. I have to get permission to go home and use the lave days that accrue in the same manner as my pay. Yearly, I get a clothing allowance, and monthly, I get paid, but mysteriously, my chain of command has nothing to say about my money. Just my time.
While we are talking about First Sergeants and who has authority over whom, I would like to take a moment to discuss the illusion of authority. There’s a concept in the Army called “Rank”, which is represented in a very visual manner by pictograph on people’s chests. These symbols determine a specific pecking order and define who orders who around, and who has the ability to shit on whom. This is all determined by competing in a series of Army tasks and waiting for certain arbitrary, predetermined times. All military rank, regardless of service, is represented by a pay grade (or, an E grade) that is a representation of where you stand on the pay chart. Officers have O grades, and there are W grades, but for the sake of simplicity, we will just stick with E grades. Because of the nature of man, and the “whose dick is bigger” contest that is older than man, your pay grade is a direct representation of your authority in your specific field. The higher up you go, the bigger the ideogram on your chest, and, subsequently, the more authority you have. According to the Army, at least. I realized something, though. All of it is an illusion. The symbols on the chest are just symbols, and nobody can MAKE you do anything. There is not a real bit of authority, anywhere in the military, unless you let someone else have it over you. The rank is a symbol of the authority that you choose to relinquish to another person. We do, or allow things to be done to us, because we believe in the illusion of their authority, and allow these people with idiomatic symbols to make the consequences seem worse than the alternative. There is nothing more to the Army than that simple smoke and mirrors game.
I, as a Noncommissioned Officer, have something called an “Evaluation Report” This is an annual report detailing my accomplishments (and presumably my shortfalls). No one ever gets below a satisfactory, unless there has been a serious incident. This is not to say that my performance was great. It actually signifies the fact that the chain of command refuses to give itself a black eye by discussing in writing any events that may have been “undesirable”. Additionally, I am supposed to receive a quarterly counseling about my performance. For years, I have never received one of those. Ever. The reporting system is so overinflated that I have been told to go to the board (when I cannot be promoted) to earn another excellence block and help the chain of command look better. My platoon Sergeant said that it was to help my career, but he is under pressure by the 1SG to send someone and is confident that I can win. I am ineligible for promotion, and have already won every board available to me except for Post NCO of the Year, which I do not want. All of this to get a supposed “excellence” block on my NCOER.
I wonder daily why I bought into this. I tried explaining this to my chain of command, and my Platoon Sergeant looked at me like I was out of my mind. I told my Lieutenant, and he, too, looked at me like I was a lunatic. I have figured out why. Just as I have based my life on this for the last decade, so, too, have they. These people in my chain of command cannot look outside their own microcosm to see the problems that I am talking about, nor do they understand why I cannot “just accept it”. Their belief system is structured around the fact that the Army is right because these things have worked for hundreds of years. Any attempt by me to tell them different is a psychological attempt to pull the tablecloth out from under their lives. And they categorically reject this. For a while, I thought I was the one who was wrong, and I hesitated to talk to someone about it. Then, I spoke to a psychologist about my problems, and was rewarded with the affirmation that I was absolutely correct. These things we do here in the Army have no real meaning, and no place outside of the Military itself. There is nothing here that prepares us for a better life past the rhetoric and the basic values. 75% of military jobs do not translate into a career in the outside. People espouse frequently about how they hire veterans because of the discipline that they learn and the leadership skills they acquire. But there is nothing besides that. No one hires a field artilleryman to go out to lower Manhattan and launch 155 rounds at the dreaded Long Island. No one hires short range air defenders to guard airports. When they hire ex military police, they have to be completely retrained because the rules of force and the laws we follow are incompatible with the civilian world. This entire existence is a house of cards that exists only for the sake of itself.
Currently, I am serving as the Equal Opportunity NCO, the Unit Victim Advocate, the Urinalysis NCO, and the Senior Motorcycle Mentor. While I have these additional duties, I am alternate Retention NCO and taking three college classes. I have explained all of this to my chain of command, and what do they want to do? Send me to the board for a positive bullet on my NCOER. The NCOER that I do not care about.
Who knows, maybe someday, there will be a reworking of the military culture and its inhabitants. Until then, all I can do is look forward to my ETS and pray that my situation improves on the outside. I will prepare myself for the future as a civilian and look forward to my exit.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
Ummmm… Good luck with that?_?
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January 22nd, 2009 at 5:49 am
I was never in the military but I do work for the government and have been both on top and on bottom of several chains of command, including many years as a boy scout. The meaningless ritual and pointless dickbeating is everywhere. Having been a BS leader and bossed several different types of work crews I have spent alot of time studying command styles and methods. Unfortunetly, unless a leader is very charismatic or has the authority to make life worse if disobeyed, it can be very difficult to get people to do what he wants. I’ve been on both sides of that.
As to the whole creed/wallet card thing, when did that all start? I’m a history buff with a WWII speciality and that kind of BS doesn’t seem to have been a part of the military until recently. I had to deal with creeds and acronyms in Scouts and now at work, and I understand the frustration. I think it baasically comes down to the chain treating everyone as children instead of firing the one dumbass that caused all the problems.
So in some form there are many others that feel your pain. Good luck when you get back to the world.
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Active_Army reply on January 23rd, 2009 4:23 am:
While I appreciate your response to this posting, I think you miss the point entirely. The military is a whole different animal. Yes, meaningless rituals and pointless dickbeating are everywhere (as you said), but the Army takes it to a whole new extreme. I, unlike you, have been both a civilian and a Soldier. I know the difference between what happens on the outside, and what happens on the “inside.” How can you possibly compare your experience in Boy Scouts (which I was also a part of at one point) to the Army? It is two totally different things. In the Army, I LIVE these meaningless rituals EVERY day. I am 100% controlled in everything that I do.
While that whole paragraph has been bouncing around, I guess the point that I’m getting at is…please don’t say you understand, when I know (and everyone else in the military knows) that you don’t. I hate blind sympathy…
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Stonewolf reply on January 23rd, 2009 5:26 am:
Well I guess I’ll start by apologizing. I did not mean to imply that my experiance was the same as military, and I am well aware the Scouts does not have the same level and intensity as the military. I realize there is a world of difference in understanding between people like me and those who have “been there”. My experiance with military stuff comes from study, reading and listening to buddies and workmates who have been in. I guess what I failed to convey is that I understand in the sense of the outsider looking in. I can see what’s going on, I can guess what it probably feels like, but I know I won’t totally “get it” without living it myself.
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Andy reply on January 23rd, 2009 9:59 am:
” How can you possibly compare your experience in Boy Scouts (which I was also a part of at one point) to the Army? It is two totally different things”
im sorry but if they were the same, there wouldnt be a lot of point to doing a comparison
“had to deal with creeds and acronyms in Scouts”
and
“The meaningless ritual and pointless dickbeating is everywhere”
thats the comparisons hes made and youve just agreed with them, he then wishes u luck for the future and you have a go at him, nice…
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January 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 am
I was inside (USAF SSGT) for 8 years and have been outside for much longer. The rituals are different, but the BS is the same. Idiots in charge are idiots in charge. It doesn’t matter of they are in uniform or not.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 8:21 am
I was only in for one year, and most of that time was spent at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. I’m a big/tall guy, so the pushups were difficult for me. I kept failing my APFT, getting like 57 or 58 on pushups, while getting well past 90 on both situps and the run. However, unlike the soldiers you’ve had to deal with, I was a MOTIVATED solider. So motivated, I developed tendonosis in both wrists and forearms, which caused me to be put on a PT profile and therefore not lose weight as fast as the Army would like. I finally did pass my pushups (just barely), and they decided to can me anyways because I was at 206 pounds and they wanted me under 201.
The soldiers that are motivated sometimes get screwed by the system.
Random subject change. About the Soldier’s Creed. I WAS in the Army when that was first introduced, and we were all required to learn it, and recite it en masse in unison. I could not, for the life of me, remember the words until I overheard my roommate saying it in a very thick Sean Connery accent. I remember it vividly, even now (this was 5 years ago).
The Army should be taken with a bit of humor, and then maybe people would care more.
Capcha: io openly
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January 22nd, 2009 at 10:48 am
Found in a port-a-john in Iraq:
We the willing
Led by the incompetent
Accomplish the impossible
For the ungrateful.
Half of the admittedly stupid BS we do in the Army (I’m in the National Guard, and there is no surfeit of it with us, either, just 2 days a month instead of 24/7/365) is nothing more than appeasing the idiots above us. Look at the berets we all have to wear. Yeah, this is a great idea – let’s change over to a head gear that looks utterly and totally different on every soldier in any given formation and call it part of a “uniform”. What does it signify? If it was any color other than black, it would mean a lot of hard work was performed by the wearer (which they should be rightfully proud of), but all the black ones mean nothing. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. It doesn’t block the sun from your eyes, makes you sweat profusely in the summer (’cause it’s wool), yet doesn’t cover enough of your head to do jack squat in the winter time. It merely carries your battalion’s crest of arms, and the way they’re made, it barely does that. So why do we still keep it around? To appease General Shinseki (sp?). Who’s he? Some idiot near the top who thought it’d a good idea.
So for your example of vehicle inspections (if we send a troop to Ft McCoy for WLC, BNCOC, ANCOC, or Battle Staff, they have to have their POV inspected before they leave, so I know the feeling), it’s your company/battalion/brigade/division commander appeasing someone further up the chain. Some genius up near the top sees we have X number of losses in the Army due to POV accidents, and hands out a directive that commanders need to decrease the number of POV-related deaths. Your whatever commander realizes (or not, quite a few are self-delusional about what goes on in the military) that these inspections are pointless, but does them so his/her higher commanders don’t come down on them for doing nothing. Bloody stupid, but what can you do? Get a Staff officer to change their mind? Oh hell no; they’re right because the system is set up to stroke their “genius” and egos, and you’re obviously the one who is wrong if you contradict them.
Captcha:
Who stole the candy?
“Two-year-olds, Madam”.
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Tzanti reply on January 23rd, 2009 1:11 am:
There’s a coda to your opening statement that reads something like:
We have spent so long going after the unreachable,
While waiting for the unobtainable,
That we can now do anything with nothing.
I first saw this at school, pinned to the Bursar’s office wall.
Then again, it was the Thatcher era.
captcha: purse GOV. – Sam Tyler, on seeing Gene Hunt heading out to a stake-out in drag.
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MstrBlue reply on January 24th, 2009 9:49 am:
For the final two years of my 20 in the USAF, I had the following “Credo” framed above my desk:
We the unwilling,
Led by the unknowing,
Have done so much, for so long, with so little,
That we are now capable of doing anything with Nothing!
The Section CC did not like it, but she laughed at it, and allowed me to keep it up, so long as I removed it during high-level inspections.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Meaningless crap truly *is* everywhere, both in government and corporate jobs. I hate to sound defeatist but unless you start your own business or freelance, you’re probably always going to be answering to idiot bureaucrats and following idiot procedures.
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Minty reply on January 22nd, 2009 11:27 am:
Exactly. Same shit, different day. The only real difference is if you call the civilian higher-ups on their BS, they can’t scream at you. In fact, if you do it the right way, you get to watch them squirm as they try not to piss themselves out of fear of you suing. Doesn’t matter, though. If you try to sue, their lawyers find something to make it your fault, anyway.
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Jim A reply on January 22nd, 2009 1:13 pm:
But there IS a real difference between 8 hours of BS a day and 24.
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Dave in NC reply on January 22nd, 2009 10:23 pm:
And if you start your own business, you still have to deal with clients and customers who have their own special brand of stupid.
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SGT Mack reply on January 27th, 2009 2:44 pm:
Dave.. you’re absloutely right.. I drive cabs as my civilian job and to be honest.. some nights… I’m ready to strangle somebody.. especially customers!
By the way.. Working on a list for cab driving! comming to a post near you.. LOL
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Tzanti reply on January 23rd, 2009 1:17 am:
Here, here.
I’m going to keep a copy of this list and show it to the next idiot who bangs on at me about military precision, a well-oiled machine or the corporate family.
captcha: Selleck Caracas – Magnum goes to Venezuela
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Sequoia reply on January 25th, 2009 11:27 am:
And don’t forget the assorted meaningless crap of school, coming from not only the staff, but also the students.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
SGT Skippy you have provided me and my buddies hours of entertainment. Your laughter is our laughter, your beef is our beef. We understand how you feel, and we too look forward to our ETS date….Ya know once we get past our stoploss date that is. Anyways i just wanted to say that it is people like you that make this army berable. And that you are apperciated by your fellow service members, not just for being funny, but telling the truth, and being an all around good soldier.
SPC Sombody
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January 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Been there done that. Comparing the military to the civilian world I’d rather be in the military. Civilian BS is even worse in so many ways be in private sector work or the hell of the federal goverbnment. With the One in charge I think everything is going to Community organizer hell.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I note that while you have properly capatalized the word “Soldier,”you have failed to capitalize the word “Family,” as is required since April 2007. You MUST complete three hours of capitalization and grammar training NLT March 20, 2009.
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January 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Wow, I was passed your blog from a friend. This blog entry in particular hits very close to home. I spent 9 years on active duty (Air Force), then the next 11 with the reserves. I retired because I was becoming one of those crusty old farts (even as a woman) who just was tired of the same BS every drill weekend. It was worse as the unit was in the south and had (and still has) a good ol’ boy network a mile deep. Thankfully, while I was in the reserves, I found a fantastic, “real world” job that got me through to retirement age.
You’ve made me laugh at all of this. Thank you!
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January 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
You talk about how your LT and your Plt Sgt look at you like you’re nuts, but you have to understand, they have to beleive the hype, that’s how they survive. It’s the same way with private corporations, they have their mission statements and their values and they “care about their employees”, but they only care if you get your job done.
We make the rhetoric and we beleive the rhetoric so that we can survive. During your Iraq tours (I am assuming here that if you’ve been in for 10 you’ve done at least one) did you tell yourself that you were there doing the right thing? Did you beleive yourself? Yes, because you had to to survive.
I agree with you that the only way for a person to be a leader is for those he leads to let him be a leader, but did you ever think to wonder, why do we follow?
Just 2 cents from a 10-yr Army Grrl
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pwiklund reply on January 27th, 2009 9:45 pm:
You bring up some interesting points. First, no Iraq for me, but three Afghanistans and a Bosnia. I mentioned about pulling hte proverbial tablecloth out from under their beliefs, and I understand why we have the rhetoric, but someting in me has snapped, and when it broke, I think I heard my belief hit the floor. I wrote this and submitted it as a kind of personal therapy, a way to reach others, and figured that this was probably the best forum to do so (not the case with AKO). In Afghanistan, I believed I was doing the right thing at first, but then felt I was subject (along with the rest of us) to mission migration. I feel that the humanitarian aspect (our new mission) is best left to companies like “Doctors without Borders” and other civilian organizaitions like the red cross. As Soldiers, our first mission is to support and defend the constitution of the United States. We did this by attacking the Taliban where they lived in response to heinous attacks. Now, however, I thikn that we are over there to provide contractors with jobs and to keep the egg on our faces. I think that it is too politically risky (or at least it was under Bush) to pull out and admit failure. Especially during a two-pronged war.
to answer your final question, I know why I followed (and only my reasons). I followed for the same reason that people have religion. To believe in something larger than myself and trust that someone else had the answers to my questions. Knowing now that we do these things today because we did them this way YESTERDAY has eternally shaken my belief in the system, especially when we foster a culture that punishes people for questioning it, and resists change as diligently as the Armed Forces.
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Des reply on January 30th, 2009 11:36 am:
That was part of the reason that I left when I hit my ten. I know I couldn’t play the game anymore. It hit me hard when I did my Iraq stint becuase I really didn’t beleive in why we were there, but I had to make myself believe to make it though those 2 years of hell.
Watching your beliefs fall is, I agree, very similar to losing your religion (I would think). They resist the changes because changing requires the re-thinking of standards, and the re-thinking of standards. The re-thinking of standards leads to the re-thinking of the power structure, and that makes the guys on top a little nervous. They got to where they are by the old regime, and they are afraid that if it changes they will no loger have that power. I wish I could give you some hope, but it’s like that out here in the cubicle jungle too. All we can do is hold our heads up, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and do the job that is in front of us (ok, I think I’ve used up my cliche allotment for the day). But at the same time, you have to remember this: No matter where you go or what you do, as soon as you meet someone who is in or has been in the military, you have a common thread and a conversation and a new friend.
You’re not going to get any disagreement from me on the fact that the military need to make changes based on this one simple fact: I’m sorry, where precicely will we need to stand in 4 lines and walk somewhere? (besides the DFAC?)
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FlippyDooDah reply on January 28th, 2009 11:55 pm:
They have to make something for people to believe so they can die willingly for their country. Then the people who are stupid enough to believe completely have a cushy job filled with rituals they understand because they like to piss on the little guy. Just remember its a superiority complex. There has to be order for the idiots and something to believe in for the weak minded.
You’ve provided me with immense entertainment and always keep me laughing with each new number.
Thanks Skippy.
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January 24th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I was in the army for approximately a year. The army is a very long, very bad joke. My only good times in the army where laughing at the incredible idiocy of many of the peope in the army, especially amongst the higher ranks. I got out simply by telling them all to shove off that I wasn’t in the least bit in interested in continueing with this incredibly ediotic charade. The whole thing is somewhat pointless. It’ 2009, why don’t we just stop fighting and blowing people up?
The most hilarious part of the army is the whole thing on ‘fraternization’. There is more fraternization going on in the army then you’d believe. Especially NCOS fin privates. The army is an organization of idiots with a lot of gas. It’s also some kind of weird musical where everyboyds singing the same terrible song everyday and turning and pivoting like some kind of idiot instead of just walking to a place. You can’t just walk somewhere, you have to pivot and turn a bad dancer.
Also, while in training, even ‘advanced training’, do not attempt to talk in line. You will find that there are countless sergeants in the army who really want to hear themself scream at the top of their lungs and they cant stand to hear a ‘bunch of privates’ talk quietly amongst themselves.
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pwiklund reply on January 27th, 2009 9:37 pm:
You know, I wrote this, and I thought that I was disgruntled. While I understand where your frustrations with the Army came from (and trust me, I do), I don’t think that it requires that level of venom. I think that if you are going to disparage something, you should do it with a little more eloquence, quite possibly some verbal finesse (spell check doesn’t hurt, either). Remember, these comments will be on here a long time. You will notice that most of my rant is about the rules of the military, programs, and the illusion of authority. You seem to be angry at a specific person (or people) and since you were in the Army for only a year, I see that there must have been some reason why you were unfit for further service. Possibly medical, possibly chapter, not my business. I do think, however, you believe you were personally wronged by the Army. You were not. The Army is too big and anonymous to be after you. You were wronged by an individual early on in your career, and I suggest you take that into account before you comment on a culture you were barely a part of. I at least understand the basic reasons that started these rules. Be careful where you tread, especially on a military-centric website.
captcha:
clapping absurd
(i’ve got nothing on this)
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January 25th, 2009 at 12:14 am
“We the Few, led by the Unknowing, have done so much with so little for so long, that We are now qualified to do anything with almost nothing.”
To hell with the 0-4’s and above and their Iraqi-green-card seeking whores!!
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January 26th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Jonathan Browne your a dick….thier is a reason for everthing in the army….ever heard of land mines?…thir used to be paths to walk on that were land mine free…thats why you walk in formation and not just run across the grass…most poeple diddnt want to die
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January 27th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
What are they going to start tapping my phones because I have an opinion on the army? I don’t feel personally wronged. I’m simply glad I managed to get out of that charade. Obviously there is a reason for a formation. But unless your ASVAB score is about a 13 you can understand that reason without having to turn and pivot to go to chow. At my training the sergeant major had everyone walking in formation including singing cadences even in groups of 3 people. Why treat adults like that? Does that really instill anything but contempt? I’m not being venomous, i’m simply being honest. As for why I got out early it’s because I INSISTED they let me out because I absolutely could not tolerate anymore. I learned enough about the army culture during that time period to know that nothing would change like they promised. The army is basically adept at making a series of promises that never get kept. “Thank your recruiter”, right? Screw that, they should not be allowed to represent the army as a cool place where you can get a “regular job”. It’s a bait and switch. They then attempt to use brainwashing tactics to make you feel you can’t leave because of peerpressure and psychological conditioning. I didn’t sign up for infantry. I signed up as a human resources specialist.
Look, I understand that their are those who want to fight and die for their government/country. Thats cool. I respect that sacrifice, but I regret the tragedy that people need lose their lives in pursuit of the military objectives of an empire. We haven’t had a track record of very morally or logically defendable wars in the past couple decades.
Personally I feel the 21st century should be where america becomes known for how great we are at peace rather than war. Instead of spending over 1/3 of federal funds on the department of defense, why don’t we spend some of that money on a department of peace? That’s just what I feel, no offense to those in the military my friend is in the military police and I of course wish him the best of luck along with the rest of you serving.
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January 28th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Having spent 14 years in the military and a lot longer in the real world, my advice is for you to stay in the military until the economy gets better. At least you will have food and housing and a paycheck. Oh, take advantage of as much education you can get while you are on active duty.
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January 31st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I have to agree with much of what ya’ll say, the Army has considerable amounts of needless silly tasks, programs, and edicts. It brings to mind a saying I recently read: Tradition, just because you’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s not stupid.
I believe one way to eliminate the Stupid would be overtime. Money talks, if the Army had to pay overtime for soldiers to spend time doing foolish tasks…they mite not go away all together but they would be reduced. It’ll never happen I know, but we can dream.
And why is it that if I lose something it is a lack of accountability on my part, if the Army looses something of mine I should have had an extra copy. WTF?
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February 4th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I’ve been out of the military (Marines) for many years now. Although I was proud to serve, I still remember having strong opinions about how the system could be improved and it drove me bonkers that no one seemed to see it my way. Having some distance from my time in service I’ve seen two things occur:
1.) Many of the problems I saw at the time have since been corrected. The military moves slowly but it does improve over time.
2.) Any disenchantment that I may have felt has completely left me, replaced by the fond memories of the special people I served with. Although a career wasn’t the right path for me, I don’t regret serving a bit. I hope this feeling occurs for you as well.
I’d like to make a comment about your following quote:
“People espouse frequently about how they hire veterans because of the discipline that they learn and the leadership skills they acquire. But there is nothing besides that.”
You are mostly correct on this count. Most people will not be able to find good employment based on the jobs they were trained to do in the military. On the other hand, the benefits, particularly the GI Bill, can help veterans retrain. The earlier a serviceman starts preparing the better. Too many veterans don’t use any portion of their GI Bill benefits, which both baffles and saddens me. In my opinion, transition planning should start at the recruiting level because it’s a long-term issue that cannot be adequately tackled 12 months from a serviceman’s end of active service. The transition to civilian life can be tough, but it’s one last sacrifice those who serve must face. I’m happy to say that since Facebook has become popular, I’ve gotten in touch with many of my buddies from my Marine years and they are all doing very well in civilian life. Coincidentally (or not) the ones who stayed in are doing well, too.
It is precisely because military life is so difficult that it is rightfully admired by most Americans. On that note, thank you for your service.
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February 28th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Good luck, I hope you can find something new to believe in, something that won’t let you down this time.
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July 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
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