What do you think is one of the issues that is facing the Army as we shape the force for the future?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:35:12 -0400

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made May 19 at 2014 9:51 AM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:51:37 -0400

to sum it all up - standards & discipline.

getting rid of some of the Soldiers we should keep and keeping some we should rid ourselves of based on standards & discipline.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2014 9:59 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:59:50 -0400

Hmm good question.

Some of the biggest issues we will have in the next few years is....what's next. We are currently at 12 years of constant deployments. Ether going, coming back or training for the next one. There is a whole generation of leader that will feel lost because there is nothing around the corner. Things will go back to how they were in the 90s. Rotations through field exercises, but it will be all scenario based, not in preparation of future deployments. A lot of leaders will get out because they don't want to "play army" when there is no deployments in sight.

These warriors will also exfill due to having to deal with "garrison" duties and standards. I've always seen that the army never seems to find a happy medium, it always swings hard ether way. The shift to "garrison army" will be more extreme then it was in the 90s. And that will push many leaders out because they don't want to deal with longer times between promotions etc and miss the old glory days of the easy uncomplicated life of deployments.

Another issue is the budget, we will get a thinner force (in more ways then one). But with a shrinking budget we will soon go back to yelling "bang bang" at each other during a field cycle cause we don't have enough blanks. Or half our vehicles will be dead lined due to backorder of parts.

Pay will suffer, due to budget cuts, and the pay gap will get larger again.

A lot can be learned from looking at our past history. In 1973 we exited another long unpopular war. And we faced similar though not as extreme issues. Shrinking army, shrinking budget, lower standards, older equipment. The term used was "hollow army" I fear that we might be headed in the same direction.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2014 10:07 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 19 May 2014 10:07:28 -0400

I think for all the services going through this force shaping, the biggest issue we will face is morale. People not knowing whats next or how they fall under certain constraints and categories. People are going to feel pressure building and not know how to expel it, and bring down the people around them. Making the morale of the work center/unit decrease and bringing down productivity.

Response by SPC Christopher Smith made May 19 at 2014 10:09 AM

SPC Christopher Smith — Mon, 19 May 2014 10:09:16 -0400

Based only on my limited view of the Army, and personal experience.

I believe that a good amount of mid level leadership is creating a very toxic environment. To be more exact, the areas of E-5 through E-7. I may not make many friends saying this, but there was a very rushed process of being promoted because of war, that has allowed some very toxic people to be in very influentual positions.

What I have seen since I have been in, is many leaders playing the "protect me" with your loyalty, stab each other in the back, I'll protect my favorites, and hurry up and make points (because with rank comes priviliage).

This toxic leading style is passed on to junior SM's who chase the promotions in hopes that they can become protected by their rank, many times not learning how to really lead on the way.

I do not have a way to fix this issue. I don't know if it is a time will fix all thing, or if this is something that has to be looked at organizationally. I just know that blaming each other is not going to fix the situation. I believe we are losing our best leaders daily because of the toxic few that push out competence and competition.

Before anyone flys off the handle, I am not saying all the blame is on this group of people, there are issues up and down the chain, and many issues with different departments within the Army. I have identified only this group to speak of because of how influential and seen they are on a daily basis.

I am also not saying that everyone in those ranks are toxic. 20% of people usually make 80% of your trouble. Once again, I can only speak about my limited scope of the Army that I have seen, and personal experiences.