Curious as to what is the Most Ridiculous Order given to you from a Higher Up?

SrA Jeff Campbell — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:41:04 -0400

So here you are trying to earn the respect of all your fellow soldiers, and a butter bar Lt. walks in and gives you an order.....because he can.....what was said to you? What was your reaction? I had a scenario when I was stationed in England that was just like this, and this USAF Lt. (maybe the other branches give the officers some field experience) this guy was way too book smart about the military.....to actually lead anybody anywhere....ha ha ha ha Anyway, I am curious about your situations!

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 2:40 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:40:59 -0400

Well this one I thought about was when I was in Japan in 2008. We had a 3-week lockdown from the top due to too many out of town mishap occurrences by ours truly. Basically you could not go out, hang out at any casual installation. If you lived off base and you were walking down the street, it better be for nothing more than walking your fido and home. It SUCKED!

Well the locals started hooting and hollering because their businesses started suffering BAAAAD! The ban got lifted eventually, but I thought it was dumb punishing 10s of thousands for mistakes of not even 10 :-(

Response by SPC Stephen Bobchin made Aug 25 at 2014 2:55 PM

SPC Stephen Bobchin — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:55:36 -0400

Early in my career, I had a non-medical major try and dictate medical care to me, incorrectly. Thankfully I had maintained enough of my tact to tell him politely to go away and stop interfering with medical care.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Aug 25 at 2014 2:56 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:56:16 -0400

Being assigned as the investigating officer for an Article 15 investigation to prove that a soldier who was witnessed drowning was actually dead because the body wasn't recovered. True story.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 3:58 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 15:58:29 -0400

Gen Westmoreland ordered Army Nurse Corps personnel to wear spotless starched white uniform dresses stockings high heels makeup lipstick and perfume while on duty in the rather hot humid red dust and red mud ridden environment of South Vietnam.

We very politely tacitly and demurely ignored his orders.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 4:12 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 16:12:00 -0400

My all time favorite was an Annex Q in Iraq that said (and only said): "reduce corruption to an acceptable level". I asked what an acceptable level was and got back "zero". I said, "better start with the fat cats in Nebraska then". 2d SCR didn't appreciate my dry sense of wit.

First Runner Up - Report from lead vehicle: "Small arms fire, 300m, 4 o'clock"
TC: "Kill, them".
I say, "kill who?"
TC: "Them! Kill them 'til they're dead!"
Still makes me laugh...

Response by MCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2014 3:09 PM

MCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 15:09:06 -0400

Picture this:
Army field maneuvers. Map shows roads ONLY going N-S, or E-W. It is 0600 in the morning and my 1LT and I are in our vehicle. The sun is BLASTING us in the eyes.

He ordered me to get out of the vehicle and use my compass to see which way we were facing. The 1LT EXPLODED when I tried to explain... and I dutifully got out, shot the azimuth, and announced, "We are heading on an azimuth of 090 degrees."

"Good," the 1LT says. "We need to head left to go South."

I scribbled on my notebook and asked him to sign a quick note that we were heading to 090, which he did. When we ended up MILES from our rally point, he reversed course and physically DRAGGED me to the CO and demanded that I be charged with mutiny. The CO got upset, and the 1SG asked what was up - and I showed him the signature. The 1LT was NOT approved for integration and was forced out.

Or, Picture this:
A vessel has sunk, claiming the life of the only person on board, I was the lead incident investigator. The LT (USCG O-3) orders me to go to the dead man's family to inform them that the deceased is being investigated for causing a pollution incident. I refused the order. The CO called me a half-hour later to tell me to NEVER refuse an order - but to lie and say that I had done it and then call him directly. That LT was passed over for O-4 and was forced out.

Damn, I could continue like this all danged day!!!

Response by SGT Richard H. made Aug 26 at 2014 3:24 PM

SGT Richard H. — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 15:24:41 -0400

This is repeated (and possibly paraphrased) from a guy that I was once stationed with, so I can't really testify to the veracity of it:

Apparently, while stationed at Ft. Bragg (like 85-86 time frame) there was an upcoming CAPEX with members of the Senate & House to be in attendance. As part of the show they were to put on, someone came up with the idea of covering both sides of the popup targets with a fine copper mesh, which, when shot through would make contact with one another, serving as the firing mechanism for a small explosive charge, giving an "OOH AHH" effect.

The problem with this was that as the rounds passed through, rather than pushing the front mest to contact the rear mesh, it blew them both back, resulting in "sometimes" contact.

The solution that they supposedly arrived at was do dig a hole behind each target and place a soldier in the hole with a detonator, with his assignment being to trigger the detonator as soon as the round passed through.

Again, I make no testament to the veracity of this story, but if true, this would qualify as the most ridiculous order I've ever heard of....and it really does sound too ridiculous to be made up.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Aug 26 at 2014 4:00 PM

MSG Wade Huffman — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:00:53 -0400

OK.. here goes, No @h!t, there I was, TDY as part of a 2 man mobile training team in Tong Du Chon Korea, staying at the 'lovely and luxurious' Tong Du Chon Tourist Hotel downtown. The date: 9/11/2001 (actually arrived the evening of 9/10/2001).
Long story short, as a result of all the chaos, I couldn't get a call through back to home station (Ft. Jackson, SC) until 9/13 at which time I received the 'order' to "Return to Home Station, IMMEDIATELY!"
Not exactly sure how they expected us to get back to Ft. Jackson with all aircraft grounded.
I did do the stupid thing and ask "How?, Swim?"... the response "I don't care HOW you do it, just get back here".
We did get back, 2 weeks later.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 26 at 2014 4:41 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:41:38 -0400

Being told to get back in my vehicle and continue the attack after stopping to render aide to a crew that just had a rollover in the desert. It was NTC, not actual combat. The tank commander was crushed because we had the mandatory name tape visable at all times.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Aug 26 at 2014 4:43 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:43:26 -0400

"Sand is not for sandbags" -
Got yelled at for pointing out what a compound word was.

Response by SSG John Bacon made Aug 26 at 2014 5:16 PM

SSG John Bacon — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:16:36 -0400

One of the many that sticks out in my mind was... Have to set this up a bit so bear with me. We just had "haji" up armor put onto our LMTV HQ-10, prior to that we had pedestal mounts installed. During live fire training in camp Virginia we were issued makeshift mounts for our M249's. I told my Squad Leader and my Platoon Sergeant that my Mount didn't have a stop screw on it to keep me from dipping below the armor on the truck. They said “use it anyway”, Being a newly promoted SPC I did what my NCO’s told me to do. While driving on extremely bumpy terrain we came to the firing point and were told to open up on the targets while still moving. Keeping my bursts down to 5 rounds, my driver hits a rather large hole in the road. Two rounds from my M249 strike the inner plate of the armor and pepper my AG and myself with shrapnel. One trip to the Aid station a CSIR and a Meeting with the CSM later I explained what I was told to do and showed the CSM my mount he took one look at the mount and blessed off on the incident because I was right. (Never the less I was still ribbed about “shooting myself” in the leg accident or not.) Always go with your gut instincts gentlemen it can save you a lot of pain.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 1 at 2015 5:34 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 May 2015 17:34:53 -0400

When I brought up to leadership how co-workers are scared to come to work and that some have verbalized they are "walking on eggshells", I was told to "STAY ON MY LANE, do not be a leave; be careful with what I say, DO NOT TRUST co workers." "They will take care of it".

I was very shock that the enemy is within...

Response by SGT Richard H. made Jun 19 at 2015 5:11 PM

SGT Richard H. — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 17:11:05 -0400

Just thought of another one. We had just come back from 45 days in the field (Graf & Hohenfels) and while turning in sensitive items, a PVS-7 came up missing. After a quick Battalion-wide search, The BN CDR ordered the entire Battalion locked down until it was found....which lasted about 96 hours. When they were finally found, they were in the BN CDR's Bradley, tucked into a cubby hole, right where he always kept them when in the field.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 3:56 PM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 15:56:00 -0400

The most ridiculous order given to me from a higher up was when I was an active duty PFC (E-3) in Germany, and a 2LT (O-1) knocked on my barracks door on a Saturday night, and because I was upright and coherent, refused to believe me when I told him I was too drunk to drive. He ordered me to get a uniform on and drive him from Wuerzburg to Grafenwoehr.

The most ridiculous order given to someone in a position over me was when I was at 255A WOAC at Fort Gordon July-October 2014. One of my classmates tore a ligament bad enough to need crutches. Our class leader told him to stay in his room for PT formation, and just meet us at class. When she asked cadre how to report him, they said "Just report him out of ranks". Whisky Tango Foxtrot??

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 5 at 2015 7:53 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 19:53:07 -0400

I was tasked to write a SOP for disaster preparedness and relief for all of DFAS in one week.

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Aug 5 at 2015 7:55 PM

PO2 Peter Klein — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 19:55:05 -0400

"Get a haircut" by the XO of a new duty station (ship) after I had just gotten one. We never did see eye-to-eye.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 5 at 2015 8:08 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 20:08:59 -0400

Everybody wants a CIB and some adjutants succumbed to pleas from those who were not qualified. Once while I was Chief of Awards and Decorations of the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam, I was told to honor such requests, then ordered when I refused. I refused again and he slammed his hat into the dirt as he cursed me. Quoting the AR didn't help. Telling him about another division that had to rescind every order and award only those that qualified didn't help. So, I saluted, spun on my heel and walked away. No, I didn't comply. I simply waited to be charged with refusing to obey an order (and looked forward to defending myself). And, no, I wasn't charged. I guess he reconsidered the situation after he calmed down. (I was a "butter bar" at the time)

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Aug 5 at 2015 8:16 PM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 20:16:36 -0400

At Homestead AFB, before a flag officer conference we were tasked with painting the grass green.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 5 at 2015 8:19 PM

LTC Bink Romanick — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 20:19:06 -0400

I was assigned as a corps level Skylab Duty Officer.