Did you ever have a new Soldier who was so ate up that you said "how did Snuffy even get through Basic Training?" What are your best stories?

2016-08-25T10:25:52-04:00

Mine was a brand new E1, 18 years old, and on about his third day at the Company, we did a 5k roadmarch, you know, kevlar, LCE, 45 lbs in the ruck, nothing hard. So this kid starts falling behind almost immediatly, all red in the face like he's gonna die (no not drunk, hung over or anything like that), and after my Squad Leader has me motivate him to the front enough times, TOP tells me to carry his ruck plus my own.
So I take Pvt Snuffy's ruck, and it feels pretty light. So we get back to the Company, and my Squad Leader weighs it, and its not even clearing 35 lbs. Now this kid had just graduated from Basic Training a few weeks before, and I clearly remember lots of road marches when I was at Leonard Wood, so what's going on here?

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2016 10:35 AM

2016-08-25T10:35:58-04:00

Sounds like his Drill Sergeants failed him and pushed him through the system in the interest of training efficiency numbers.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2016 10:43 AM

2016-08-25T10:43:01-04:00

Had the same thing happen when I was reclassing to 68S back in '09. We would do ruck marches for PT. Nothing serious, just a 1 hour 4 miler with a 10 pound ruck no weapon nor ACH. Bear in mind that the last ruck I did was back in 98.....but I was passing up these kids FRESH out of boot and these kids are huffin and puffin and damn near crying. I'm with you CPL Anthony Slaughter , I just don't fully understand. But one of the best moments during these Rucking PT sessions.......We weren't even 15 minutes departed from Company AO when one of the IETs was already hurting and falling back. We had these Marines training with the Company (my company was shared between Preventive Medicine and Behavioral Specialists), and the Marines were MPs that dealt with prisoners so they were going thru the Behavioral program....but one of the Marines was this short 5 foot 1 female Gunny (hard as nails since she made Gunny in 12 yrs) firecracker. As we are walking, I'm coming up to the kid (who stood about 6 foot even) that's hurting at about the same time she was and she looked at him while passing him and said "You want me to carry you and your ruck?" and just kept moving. We had a great laugh over some beers later that night.

Response by MAJ Rene De La Rosa made Aug 25 at 2016 11:03 AM

2016-08-25T11:03:42-04:00

Ahhhh, memories. I did BT back in 1995, so this may be dated. Integration was the watchword, and the DS did not know how to deal with females crying in the ranks. First PT test came around, and there were, of course, requirements to even make it to basic. Suffice it to say, one female did 0 pushups, 2 situps, and ran longer than 27 minutes for the 2 mile run, that she exceeded the time requirements. Her total score=4. She was out of the Army in several weeks after this. Not sure if she lost heart, but she certainly proved herself to be a slug.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2016 11:47 AM

2016-08-25T11:47:32-04:00

Years ago, I had a Soldier who had some slight problems but didn't appear to be a problem child. Prior to a weekend drill, I made contact with said Soldier and just followed up with him what we were doing and just checking in. Soldier said he was good and squared away, ready for the weekend. I informed him we had 0600 formation before SPing to the range/training area.

Drill begins, 0600, no Soldier. All means of contact fail. Retention NCO makes a trip to his house, he is not there. He is coded AWOL after we SP (late) to the range. While running an M240B range, I get a call on my cellphone from Soldier, saying he was getting his haircut and didn't get my phone calls. I told him we were already at f**ing range and asked what was going on. He said he thought it was an evening formation, to which I replied "Since when does 0600 occur at night?"

He met us at the range, and that evening during Platoon Sergeant's time, I had him teach a class on the 24hour time format. I still shake my head at this, years after the fact.

Response by SSG Jeremy Sharp made Aug 25 at 2016 1:05 PM

2016-08-25T13:05:33-04:00

When I was an acting platoon sergeant, I had given a newly assigned soldier specific instructions in mopping the basement floor where the platoon offices were located. They were point by point beginning with go to supply and draw a new mop head and a bottle of pine oil...when I got back from an errand, the entire floor smelled like vomit. I immediately knew the soldier had used a soured mop head that had been used to spread wax. When I summoned the new soldier and his team leader for some on point counselling, the soldier told me he had done the bet he could and if it wasn't up to my standards, perhaps i should mop it myself. As I initiated my verbal onslaught, the SGT handed me my hat and the vehicle status book while suggesting I go to the motor pool as he got into a more "in depth discussion" with his soldier.

Response by CSM Thomas McGarry made Aug 25 at 2016 2:19 PM

2016-08-25T14:19:51-04:00

'll admit I was always more amazed when I would get a new soldier in my Unit who was in their late teens or early 20s and couldn't pass the APFT! Of course more reps are expected from these age groups but even so they must have passed it in Basic and probably AIT. Many of these soldiers were smokers and yes they would be put on a program to assist them in improving! I might ad that this occurred in the Army Reserves but I also saw it in the active component when deployed!

Response by SPC Kari Grove Wright made Aug 25 at 2016 2:22 PM

2016-08-25T14:22:45-04:00

In basic I was (30, college educated and put together) however, there was a 26 year old, college educated. This guy could not, dress himself. No joke, his PT shorts would be on backwards, his LBV would be on all twisted so it didn't sit right, he couldn't run right (drill Sgt made fun of him), he couldn't figure out how to do a situp. He could fix your computer though (drill Sgt brought his in for him to fix after he found this out). Dsgt would give him an extra weapon to carry on marches to make him stronger, if he had to do push ups we'do all get down with him. Our platoon Sgt kept him for an extra cycle just to help get him stronger. It was horribly sad, but Dsgt Williams never gave up on him.

Response by SPC Gene Delgado made Aug 25 at 2016 3:26 PM

2016-08-25T15:26:06-04:00

I had a new medic come in before our 2010-2011 Afghan deployment. kid was a weirdo. Didn't think he was line medic material at all. Skinny and a little weak. Great learner but no common sense. This kid couldn't possibly have passed basic in my opinion. Well, his name was Spc. Jameson Lindskog and on that deployment, on our last mission, he stood up and became a hero. receiving a purple heart and silver star. RIP Lindskog you beast of a medic.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Aug 26 at 2016 2:54 AM

2016-08-26T02:54:37-04:00

Harry Lane would appear for Saturday morning inspection in an OD uniform with Argyle socks before hitch hiking to Knoxville.CPL Anthony Slaughter

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2016 11:20 PM

2016-08-26T23:20:53-04:00

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Aug 27 at 2016 11:51 AM

2016-08-27T11:51:22-04:00

Yes, we had a PVT in my 101st Unit that was a diasaster in everything. Not sure how he graduated Infantry OSUT but on his first field FTX he lost all his TA-50 and I don't mean lost as in lost on the ground somewhere, he had such a bad reputation for securing his stuff that most of what he lost was stolen by other Soldiers because he did not secure it with a lock in his duffle bag or keep an eye on it. We got back to garrison, then he lent his car out to some guy getting Chaptered (bad decision) with no restrictions on it's use it's distance, car broke down in Kansas somewhere and the Chapter case left it on the side of the road in Kansas. 1SG could do nothing about it because he gave his permission. So after about 6 months of dealing with this guy and filling out or signing MP reports the 1SG had his fill and sent him back home with a "failure to adapt" discharge. By that time the guy was down to two uniform sets and everything else was gone on the military issue side. He ended up having most of his pay garnished while he chaptered to repay for the lost TA-50 and then the Army presented him with a bill for the rest on his last duty day. It was like $1200 or something which they were going to garnish via IRS tax refunds over time I think unless he agreed to a payment plan. Happy to see the guy go and still wonder what happened to him or even what his total financial loss was including the car.

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 27 at 2016 7:21 PM

2016-08-27T19:21:37-04:00

There was a "new" Sailor going through A school. This person was one of the strangest people I've ever met. One of two. Anyway, after a couple months observing this person I could tell there was definitely something wrong with her. She was very awkward..

Several incidents happened with this person that got me assigned as her "supervisor".

1. 84 Unauthorized absences over the course of 120 days. Always late to muster and always had the most absurd excuses. "Fell out of my chair and hit my head - I got knocked out." or "I saw someone fall in the stairwell and passed out because I saw blood." That kind of stuff..

2. Was caught masturbating IN CLASS. -Rather, sorry, she was caught "itching" herself with her pants unbuttoned, hand in pants, and eyes closed.. Like I said, weird...

3. We had to pass one PT test in school. I was assigned as her partner - me, a BUD/S drop. I maxed out my PT scores. I failed her. I reported 0 push ups, something like 15 sit ups. Her run was a DNF... Somehow she received "passing" scores.. yeah. -_-

Eventually her and I were called into a room where we had to talk to Chief. This girl came clean. She was severely autistic. Her recruiter knew and said "don't tell anyone they won't know". MEPS somehow passed her through. Bootcamp must have said, "Fuck this" - and put her through to school assuming they'd drop her. And finally the Chief let her graduate. She said, "She's a reservist, it's too much paperwork. It's not like she will be in the fleet to do any harm.."

4. Upon graduating as an IT, she shows up with the WRONG rating badge and wrong pay grade on her sleeve.. Unbelievable.

I can't make this stuff up..

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 28 at 2016 11:36 AM

2016-08-28T11:36:30-04:00

I went to Ft Benning for 19K OSUT. The last ruck march we did was a 20K with 68LB of gears. No one was allow to carry other trainee's ruck. Those that fell behind were motivated by Drill Sergreants. There were constant reminders from DS that the "New Army" is getting weaker and softer.

Response by MAJ Raúl Rovira made Aug 29 at 2016 12:39 AM

2016-08-29T00:39:55-04:00

When I was a cadet one of our cadre members had a line for ate up cadets that deserve special recognition. He would say "You are dumber than Rain Man and Forest Gump put together!"
I don't have a story, but I will never forget hearing that line.

Response by CPT Tom Monahan made Aug 29 at 2016 3:50 AM

2016-08-29T03:50:20-04:00

As a S&S Company Commander in a Mech ID Div, I'd get soldiers from various career paths. Hand one Senior NCO who was PLT SGT for my Claas 1 and Water Platton. The man had virtually been assigned to commissaries and other TDA slots his entire career. He was not combat ready because the Army failed to ensure he had the experience in MTOE units. Was he ate up, yes. Was it his fault? My 1SG, CSM and BN CDR said no. Saw the same thing when TAMMS Clerks became Supply SGTs. The motor pool clerks were so far behind there supply clerk peers. Did the Army have the right career path for the motor pool clerks?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 29 at 2016 3:42 PM

2016-08-29T15:42:55-04:00

Back in 2009, we got a PFC from DENTAC. There's no two ways around it: he was fat. Like, "how did you even make it through MEPS?" fat. The recruiter should have taken one look at him and just said "no."
We deployed to Afghanistan in March 2010, and I bullshit you not: he was the first soldier I've ever seen be administratively reduced. I'd never even heard of such a thing; I talked to our section NCOIC about it, and he put it in a nutshell for me when he said it's what happens to soldiers who aren't performing at their pay grade. Now, I remember being a PFC way-back-when, and I made *plenty* of mistakes. That's the time we expect soldiers to make those mistakes, but also learn from them. Apparently, he wasn't too good at the "learn from them" part. I was like, how bad must someone suck at PFC-ing for someone to say, "you can't even PFC right, the Army's paying you too much to not be able to PFC, so you're going back to private." Part of me actually felt bad for him, until I got assigned to the camp my parent section was at after Thanksgiving (prior to that, I had been stationed with the Level II and Charlie Med). He had the absolute worst attitude, and some *say* part of that was due to being demoted earlier, which I call bullshit on. Grown-ass men take their lumps, move on and learn from their mistakes, a character flaw this individual had in abundance. His last straw was getting into a shouting match with me (a SPC at the time), his squad leader who was a SGT, and our NCOIC who was a SSG. He got UCMJ'd and busted down to E-1 as a result.
The real kick in the dick was after all that, he ended up getting an honorable discharge on a HT/WT chapter because the unit didn't want to do the paperwork to make sure he got what he deserved.

Response by MAJ Bill Darling made Aug 30 at 2016 8:06 AM

2016-08-30T08:06:18-04:00

PVT Wilson was a skinny, shy, nerdy soldier, maybe 120 lbs and prematurely bald who wore John Lennon glasses so he looked to be in his fifties although he was just twenty-two. His most distinctive feature was his voice. It was one of those squeaky prepubescent voices, something central casting would use as the nerd voice in a cartoon (think of the Star Wars geek on Robot Chicken".
So it's my first assignment, up by the DMZ in ROK and I take my platoon out night driving with NODs. It's a beautiful, clear night with a full moon, so you see very well with the naked eye, so this should be a breeze.
We pull out of the assembly area and Wilson nearly puts it in a ditch within 30 seconds. I correct him and we avoid dumping it. We wind down the road and we nearly go off road again. I ask him if he can see the road ok and he assures me he can. As we progress through the evening, I realize he's over correcting, avoiding going off the road every 25 meters or so only to wander to the other side of the road and nearly do it again. I was not a yeller by any means but he brought it out in me that night and I'm shouting "Did you not see that tree?" or "Keep on the road!" and even the occasionally exasperated "What's wrong with you?". The whole time he is responding respectfully but not confidently, "Uh, yes, sir." It was exhausting but we made it for an hour without any major mishap.
Two days later we're refitting and one of my section leader's hands me a pair of NODs only saying "Sir, Wilson's NVGs. Check it out." I look them over and turn them on. Nothing but black. Batteries were fine but they were obviously malfunctioning. I instantly realized that Wilson had managed to drive a Humvee, negotiating narrow Korean roads and rice paddies dikes, all while driving completely blind and going solely off of my verbal commands.

Response by FN Charlie Spivey made Aug 30 at 2016 10:51 AM

2016-08-30T10:51:27-04:00

Never had any issues in the "field" as I recall. Had one in basic, that keep us running at High Port with the M1 Garand we had then. For the life of him he could not keep that thing above his head and when the DI saw saw that thing drop, it was extra laps around the grinder. He was between me on the Left and another guy on the right. I put my weapon in my left hand and reached over with my right and helped him support his weapon. The guy on the right noticed it and trnasferred the M! to his Right hand and used his left to help support that side. He was a Reserve and I guess they let him skate as he graduated with us. He did aquire the name Jellyfish though, for obvious reasons. There were some that had problems with the PT, but managed. In the field, for the most part things went well, but I was just reminded of a CPO I had. I was standing Duty BT on the ship I was on. We were running the Evap making fresh water and had both boilers on line to run that thing. I got woke up around 0230 and was told a boiler went down. Well we needed both to make water and off I went. Got down there and found the problem. There is a Piece that runs from the Moter to the Fuel pump and has a centrifical clutch. That thing was gone and wouldn't kick in to get the fuel pump going. I went down in the stores to get another clutch. Found plenty, but in typical Governemnt fashion, they were the wrong ones. There was a flexible hose in the middle between the Connection to the Motor and the Clutch, like a piece of hose and was flexible. I went up and woke the Chief to tell him about it. He said Okay and went back to sleep and never showed up. I ended up taking both of them appart and using the shorter old hose with the new parts. I found out later that the Chief had gone through through the ranks working in the Post Office. I don't know how. He met his Course requirements and had the Sea time, plus time in Pay grade to advance, but what he didn't have were any profficiency scores. How could he if he was working in the Post Office all this time?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 30 at 2016 11:27 AM

2016-08-30T11:27:18-04:00

Can't throw stones on this one as when I was a young troop I must have seemed pretty ate up to those above me. I barely kept a brush shine on my boots, a wrinkled uniform was the norm, my hair was barely within regulations, my physical abilities left much to be desired, I was a functional alcoholic, and as one CO remarked to me "I tended to exercise a maximum amount of candor with the least benefit of tact". The only saving grace was that I was a fantastic field and motor pool Soldier that knew what needed to be done and did it above the standard when in those areas.
So, there is always hope out there for the soup sandwiches.

Response by SPC Kari Grove Wright made Aug 30 at 2016 11:32 AM

2016-08-30T11:32:52-04:00

The Army has a bunch of lazy kids in it now. The military is not what it use to be. My unit was full of soldiers like this. My unit didn't care and let it go on. If you said we need to mop, they'd say "fuck you", we'd be at work and they'd sleep. That was fine and dandy until an msg came and saw it. Then our e7 was embarrassed when I told her. If we did PT, they'd say no, I'm going to my room to eat breakfast. We did a TA50 layout, as soldiers lost their gear downrange. (Lol, they actually threw it away downrange.) They said I'm not fucking doing this, this shit is stupid, and walked away. AIT, we had a girl that refused to make her bed and help clean. She was watching porn in the laterine in the middle of the night. Another was reading while lights were suppose to be out. I was on fire guard and the e7 said turn that flashlight off. That girl chewed the sfc out. The sfc flipped the light on and asked her whom she was talking to. She said I don't give a fucking who you are, I'm reading.
The drill Sgt should have sent many kids home, but didn't. They pushed then through and they became the units problems. I say give them the boot. Get them out, they don't want to be there.

Response by CAPT Hiram Patterson made Aug 30 at 2016 12:42 PM

2016-08-30T12:42:09-04:00

Not a brand new sailor, but I had a PO3 who got pregnant and had her baby prior to reporting. She claimed that she didn't know how she got pregnant.

Response by SFC Thomas Holcomb made Aug 30 at 2016 12:51 PM

2016-08-30T12:51:05-04:00

I had a sm that was so ate up everything we did was a waste so on deployment TOP just gave him simple tasks. I came in from a presence patrol went to get a shower he was moving towel hooks from over head high to sheen high, kid you not! He told me they were a safety hazard someone could hook there eye. I was speechless then went off. Told him he was pulling my chain because God could not make someone that stupid! Never saw him again.

Response by 1SG Harold Piet made Aug 30 at 2016 1:33 PM

2016-08-30T13:33:54-04:00

I had a soldier tell his squad leader after being behind in every task. " You can work me long but you cannot work me hard" I gave him a week of Super High Intesity Training and one night after the S.H.I.T. , I reminded him the guard at the gate kept people from coming on post not from leaving post. Never seen pvt Snuffy again.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 30 at 2016 1:59 PM

2016-08-30T13:59:17-04:00

PVT FakeName in BCT, Fort Sill 2007. He was that classic kid who would ask the DS stupid questions, get everybody smoked for his stupidity, and be confused by what happened. Not real popular. Had more and more restrictions put on him as BCT progressed, like "Recruit must ask a Battle Buddy first before asking a DS" before finally arriving at "Recruit is not permitted to speak to DS directly. Recruit must ask two Battle Buddies the question who must approve the question and will relay it to the DS on Recruit's behalf."

Yeah. Wanna go to the latrine? Two buddies have to approve the question and ask the DS FOR HIM. You can imagine how frustrated a DS team has to be to set those kind of "sweet Jesus I don't want this kid to talk to me" rules. He almost never listened to the restrictions, thought his questions were always worth asking, and got us punished each time.

Somewhere near the end of the cycle, we were marching to some random outside class when PVT FakeName called out and asked, "Drill Sergeant, will there be a cake at chow later?"

DS don't answer, but I saw his head redden and his shoulders shake in rage. He says nothing, and we keep marching. (Think we were behind schedule or something.)

PVT FakeName asks again. Silence from the DS. For 5 seconds. And then...

"Column, HALT!"

"Left, FACE!"

"PRIVATE FAKENAME! I want you to write a letter home to your WHORE MOTHER, and get her to start writing me CHILD SUPPORT CHECKS! Because I am TIRED of watching your stupid ass FOR FREE!"

"Right, FACE!

"Forward, MARCH!"

10 seconds pass.

"AND STOP THAT FUCKING CRYING!!!!"

He wasn't a bad kid, but he was kind of an awful Soldier. :-D

Response by TSgt James Carson made Aug 30 at 2016 3:09 PM

2016-08-30T15:09:38-04:00

Mine was in the field maintenance shop at McClellan AFB CA. I was in the welding shop when the Maintenance officer arrived with some cadets form the local collage ROTC. The captain grabbed the welding torch from the Airman's hand and proceeded to tell the cadets about his knowledge of tools and such. The Captain then proceeded to attempt to blow out the torch, where upon the Airman calmly took back the torch and turned off the gas to put out the flame.

Response by TSgt James Carson made Aug 30 at 2016 4:57 PM

2016-08-30T16:57:07-04:00

Mine was a E-2 that had a work problem. She was ate up at first if someone else had the duty. She wouldn't show up for standby duty or help clean the shop at the end of the duty day. My shop chief seemed fearful of her and eventually handed her off to me to train. I counselled her once a week or as needed without success. I had after six months enough paperwork on her to fill a file cabinate. My supervisor said I warned me I could loose big time and to ditch the paperwork on her. Politics and all that. A month later the DCM missed hie flying time because no one repaired his plane. It was she who failed to show up for duty once again. The DCM and commander stormed into the shop and demanded answers. The shop chief callled me out and after the dust settled the shop chief put in retirement paperwork, the female airman was transferred to security police office duty. The paperwork I had done was used to discharge the Airman and I went on with life.

Response by SSG Stephan Pendarvis made Aug 30 at 2016 5:24 PM

2016-08-30T17:24:32-04:00

generation Y....that's what. The Drills have no power anymore...and the training is easy now. Hell they get patches in Basic for showing up I hear now.

Response by SGT Eric Knutson made Aug 30 at 2016 10:41 PM

2016-08-30T22:41:48-04:00

We had a guy in Basic, cant remember his name. back in 88 at FTLWMO, very ate up, would place the claymore backwards even,uniform never fit, helmet all over the place. We had taken pity on him and helped him through to graduate, we did it because he was going MI in the coding areas, member of MENSA anything with numbers only took him a second to answer. What the heck, for the likelyhood he was ever going to be in a position on the battlefield being so low, and we need smart people for some things, why not. Heard latter from someone who served with him that he was the best person ever seen for the job he did. So in this case I think we did the right thing, even though I would not want him anywhere near me on a firing line.

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Aug 31 at 2016 12:37 AM

2016-08-31T00:37:51-04:00

No, but there was one girl in basic who drove many crazy. I was the only one who tried to console her, but after 3 and a half weeks of listening to her sob and sob and sob every night to where NO one could get any sleep, as a squad leader I decided it was best to go to the TI and express our concerns...she was soon sent home....she had no business being in the military if she could not hack basic...and it's not that she couldn't hack basic, its because she was home sick...she had never been out of the state of West Virginia...never crossed over the state line...never been away from her family or friends....this was her first time away, on her own...far far away....I felt bad/sorry for her at first, but it got to the point where even I could not stand her sobbing any longer. OH MY GOD...I sound so cold blooded.

Response by PO2 Ford Beckwith made Aug 31 at 2016 1:25 AM

2016-08-31T01:25:05-04:00

No idea what's wrong with him. The farthest we had to run in the Navy was from one end of the ship to the other. Then you better know how to swim!

Response by CSM Jim Hardin made Aug 31 at 2016 7:12 AM

2016-08-31T07:12:25-04:00

The question, amd the answers have been givern by soldier's from the 1990- present, What about the ole soldiers from the 50's and 60's what about our DUD'S.

Response by PO1 Robert Johnson made Aug 31 at 2016 10:46 AM

2016-08-31T10:46:44-04:00

CPL Slaughter there are many reasons for someone to be a poor performer, and having read your story I offer that if he did well enough to complete basic training and suddenly cannot perform to standards then there may be a previously unknown health problem. Changing duty assignments to different geographic locations can expose a soldier to environmental factors such as pollens, that he/she has not been around before. This happened to me when I PCSd from San Diego, California ti Jacksonville, Fl. I had never had a problem with any type of allergies until then but within a week of my arrival there, I was diagnosed with acute adult onset asthma. After a year of trying to get me straightened out, (I had been hospitalized 3 times, once in the ICU and made numerous trips to the ER)I was given a Medical Board, declared unfit for duty and given a medical discharge ending my 27 year Navy career. The lesson hear is not to assume that the underperformer is a slacker, let the Medical Officers check him out.

Response by SCPO Randy Breidel made Aug 31 at 2016 12:19 PM

2016-08-31T12:19:17-04:00

What I dont hear, is that anyone sat down with the new Pvt and asked him if anything was going on, has he had this problem before, what is the change in enviromental factors, where is he from and where is he know abrupt changes can cause allergies or are the barracks old where mildew and mold exist causing him allergies, just saying, not everything is as it seems, sometimes there are medical reasons people dont see. What is missing in today's military is sponsor's who give a damn, someone in the command who helps the new guy through his first month or two without being told how to, once assigned you do what you would have wanted done for you, instead, we assume they are weak worthless and isolate these kids from the begining, they dont fail, WE FAIL THEM.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 31 at 2016 12:35 PM

2016-08-31T12:35:23-04:00

All I have is PVT, PV2 and PFC's that can't pass an APFT to save their lives; I have never understood that, being from AZ and receiving troops in Sept/OCT from FLW, MO. Hot and sticky to just hot should increase your performance(If you kept up your physical fitness plans)

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 31 at 2016 6:30 PM

2016-08-31T18:30:39-04:00

Wow, when did you go to basic? I guess I'm old school. We just didn't have Marines dropping out on any run, unless you've never run before. What I mean is if you are talking about basic training, I can see this happening. After basics, give this Gunner a break
Semper Fidelis,
J.K.Kaupe

Response by LCpl William Perry made Sep 1 at 2016 9:44 AM

2016-09-01T09:44:40-04:00

As A Marine Vet I would check to see if there were any underlined medical conditions that could be coming to light. Things like this could be the start of something showing itself. And if somebody of higher rank wanted to push the issue they could have a review of the DI's records that graduated his platoon. It is clear that this soldier does not have the ability to be in an infantry platoon as he could become a liability rather then an asset. But the question now is "Does he have the ability to be in the Army at all? Can he pass your PFT? Does he qualify the physical standards for the Army?

Response by SSG Marciano Gonzalez made Sep 1 at 2016 12:53 PM

2016-09-01T12:53:57-04:00

Some times you as a drill sgt. have no choice but graduate some of this dirt bags.My battalion cdr told me once that my job was to train this guys not to kick them out as fast as the recruiter can put them in.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 2 at 2016 8:36 AM

2016-09-02T08:36:01-04:00

We had a guy who was bad. He never took a shower and generally was not your best overall soldier. One day our platoon sergeant\acting platoon leader came out of supply livid. He wanted to know who signed for a GP medium, map table and cots. Apparently Snuffy had signed for the equipment. When asked why the soldier said he had just gotten married and he and his wife were living in the woods at Ft Stewart. Need I say more?