Someone asked what's the hardest part in the Army. I told him it's dealing with @*#$ on a daily basis. Who agrees?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 17:56:02 -0400

Response by SGT Laura Delgadillo made May 20 at 2016 5:58 PM

SGT Laura Delgadillo — Fri, 20 May 2016 17:58:01 -0400

That's any job. Inconsistency is the hardest part of the army. Constant changes. Poor planning

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made May 20 at 2016 5:58 PM

SGT Jerrold Pesz — Fri, 20 May 2016 17:58:39 -0400

Thankfully I didn't have to deal with very many assholes.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 20 at 2016 6:00 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:00:17 -0400

Way up there on the Navy Chart Too.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 6:04 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:04:49 -0400

I disagree. Any job that you have, civilian or military, you will have to deal with people you might not like. Accept what you can't change, and move on.

Response by MSG Pat Colby made May 20 at 2016 6:19 PM

MSG Pat Colby — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:19:33 -0400

Pretty bogus move there. You changed the wording of the question, causing me to change the wording of my responses. Actions like this are the reason we all cannot have nice things in the Army.

Depends on your definition of "@*#$ ". Leadership is not a popularity contest. LOTS of jerks out there no doubt. The S-1 weenies think you are an idiot for not knowing about Personnel paperwork. The S-4 boneheads wont give you the time of day without you signing for it. The S-3 Studs wonder why people cannot figure out how to pass an APFT & CTT. 2LT's are routinely lost. 1LT's think they run shit. CPT's have only been promoted twice and think they are in "Command". Privates play dumb and find all the cool hiding spaces. SPC's play Mafia games to sham. SGT's play their Hard Stripe Fuck, Fuck Games with the Privates. SFC's & SSG's that are Section Leaders think they are a 1SG and drink too much coffee to be functional. 1SG's are run ragged by the Officers that think they are in charge. And CSM's just want their yards mowed and rocks painted.

WAIT! You're correct Everyone is a "@*#$ " in their own "@*#$" way...

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made May 20 at 2016 6:54 PM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:54:59 -0400

Can't speak to the Army, but in general dealing with individuals who put their advancement above all else probably ranks as your AH. You quickly learn who they are and avoid as much as possible. If a superior you need to learn how to not push buttons.

Response by SFC Roberto Garza Jr. made May 20 at 2016 7:07 PM

SFC Roberto Garza Jr. — Fri, 20 May 2016 19:07:49 -0400

People think that what they face in the military is only in the military, wrong. You will always have someone you don't like or agree with any where you work civilian or military. People think is central to the army but it's not. I always here this but once one gets on the other side they see its the same.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 8:48 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 20:48:52 -0400

I definitely agree. I have no idea how junior-enlisted Soldiers deal with all of the power trips from so many different ranks. "Servant leadership" may be a great buzzword, but is definitely not a part of actual Army culture.

Response by SFC John Hill made May 20 at 2016 8:54 PM

SFC John Hill — Fri, 20 May 2016 20:54:07 -0400

What I used to tell my Private's was "you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick who you have to work with. So you Damn Well better develop a professional rapport to deal with it!"

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 9:16 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 21:16:54 -0400

At least in the military there was always a chance of your of they being transferred tomorrow. In the civilian world not so great a chance.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 9:16 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 21:16:59 -0400

Anyone who thinks that is unique to the military hasn't worked in the civilian sector much. In the Army you still get paid if you don't show up, you can't easily be fired, there's an appeal process for everything. Soldiers are protected in the Army and leadership is actively developed.
In contrast, in the civilian sector your boss can fire you for anything or require you to work any time, demand access to your social media accounts, and then even blackball you from the industry you work in by providing negative references. You can have an incompetent manager who got the job because he is the boss's brother.

Response by SGT Ronnie Warford made May 20 at 2016 9:51 PM

SGT Ronnie Warford — Fri, 20 May 2016 21:51:11 -0400

I like dealing with Assholes. In fact I'd rather work with an asshole because 9/10 of the assholes actually knows his/her shit. I mean which asshole wouldn't know his shit? LOL

Response by SPC Missy Lee made May 20 at 2016 10:56 PM

SPC Missy Lee — Fri, 20 May 2016 22:56:57 -0400

We deal with Aholes no matter where we work, both military or private sector. :) The hardest part for me is losing friends. Saying good bye to deploying friends knowing that they might not come back makes me feel helpless....

Response by 1LT Christopher Sorge made May 20 at 2016 11:10 PM

1LT Christopher Sorge — Fri, 20 May 2016 23:10:12 -0400

I agree it's difficult to deal with all those that suffer from the malady that is liberalism.

Response by CPT Mark Gonzalez made May 20 at 2016 11:16 PM

CPT Mark Gonzalez — Fri, 20 May 2016 23:16:38 -0400

Sounds like immaturity on their part and yours. Work and get yourself promoted. The higher up you go the quality of your bosses will rise, but still vary.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 11:36 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 23:36:52 -0400

Well.... Isn't that basically life in general?

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2016 1:01 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 May 2016 01:01:47 -0400

I disagree. I would rather work with someone that is an a$$#^&* and has integrity than a very nice person that has none. I feel the hardest part in the Army is dealing with sociopaths. Just having one in your organization reeks so much havoc. Each sociopath you add makes it worse on a logarithmic scale.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2016 1:48 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 May 2016 01:48:12 -0400

I would never openly call other soldiers assholes; I would publicly refer to them as "individuals with a unique perspective". Don't get in the habit of tearing each other down or getting wrapped up in the drama. While these uniquely special individuals may be quite problematic, find a constructive way to deal with them. And stay classy... people will respect you for it.

Response by Capt Michael Greene made May 21 at 2016 1:57 AM

Capt Michael Greene — Sat, 21 May 2016 01:57:34 -0400

If many of your relationships contain an asshole, it's time to see who is in common among those relationships.
I found very few real assholes during my 20. Instead, I found a lot of people who were weak at communicating and were stressed out, probably because they were caught in between their boss and me (constantly questioning everything).

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2016 7:44 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 May 2016 07:44:02 -0400

There is a time/place to be an asshole. Unfortunately, too many people think that the model of leadership shown in basic training is the only way to lead people.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2016 8:17 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 May 2016 08:17:14 -0400

Simple, I think most will agree that instability is the hardest part. Most adults have a five year plan. I don't know which continent I will be on in the next 2 years. My wife can't make career plans. My children don't know which state they should go to college in. Everything is always up in the air. I can't even plan to attend a family reunion.

Response by CPT Mark Gonzalez made May 21 at 2016 8:43 AM

CPT Mark Gonzalez — Sat, 21 May 2016 08:43:31 -0400

I had a solid CSM who would tell this story.
Look within your organization and find out what isn't great. Now fix it and do what you can at your level to make it great. If for whatever reason, you are seeing or know things within your organization that are not great, and you are not fixing it. Well look in the mirror, because you are what is not great about your organization. You have the power to fix a lot of things. Every individual has an incredible ability to make their environment better. They may not be able to fix everything, but they can at least make life better for those around them. Just consider it as you will always have assholes in every job.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 22 at 2016 11:55 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 May 2016 11:55:34 -0400

hardest part about the army, is dealing with disrespectful specialist who think just because I keep telling him to take his hands out of his pockets, says I'm an asshole. Just listen to these 3 letters, ETS.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 23 at 2016 12:34 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 May 2016 12:34:53 -0400

Civilian jobs aside, I can see where your coming from. I'm currently in the Reserves and I've never had to put up with the crap I did while on active duty, especially during deployments. I could elaborate but I'm not going to type up a paragraph or more. I think your referring to the F@*! F@*! games the Army likes to play. At the end of the day though, it is what it is. It will NEVER change. It's part of being a soldier and it gives you thick skin, which is a good thing.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made May 23 at 2016 10:14 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 May 2016 22:14:00 -0400

You think the military is bad? Try working on an excavation crew, concrete outfit or a drilling platform. Unlike the military, there are no stress cards, no SHARP, EO or the most minute concern for your feelings. A construction foreman isn't bound by regulations on hazing. The military is civil compared to much of the civilian world. Additionally, they don't have to go through a whole lot of red tape to fire you. Not saying that toxic leadership and power tripping micro managers don't suck but they're most definently not exclusive to the uniformed services.

Response by SSG John Jensen made May 24 at 2016 2:47 AM

SSG John Jensen — Tue, 24 May 2016 02:47:31 -0400

from "Mary Poppins" "just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.......in every job there is to be done there is an element of fun, it's up to you to find the way"
and that's what helped me get through 29 years of it

Response by SPC Marcus DeMatos made May 24 at 2016 5:41 PM

SPC Marcus DeMatos — Tue, 24 May 2016 17:41:21 -0400

As a former "Full Bird Private", I'm confounded by why everyone is worried about what direct the crap is flowing. Physics might say downhill, but leadership schools tell you talking crap only goes upwards, and practical experience tells you everyone gets hit when the fan is running... Just sayin'