Why does the army keep people at work when there is nonthing to do?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 18:35:54 -0400

I am asking this question because I have read a lot and spoke to a lot of other soliders from different units. Where there is no work being conducted and sweeping the COF 34 times and it's only Tuesday why dont they release soliders to go home and stop stairing at the walls and cleaning the same spot 4 Tim's in 1 hour.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2019 6:55 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 18:55:52 -0400

You are asking a question that has been asked by many countless Soldiers for many years long before either us joined the Army. It's a question that does not have a good solid answer.

Response by SGT Javier Silva made Jun 7 at 2019 7:11 PM

SGT Javier Silva — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 19:11:45 -0400

Cause it is part of the job you signed up for. If the military, as a whole, wanted to, they could wake you up at 0300 and keep you until 0300 the next day. As long as they allow at total of four (4) hours of sleep, and it does not have to be concurrent.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2019 10:26 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 22:26:49 -0400

When I was being kept late I worked on my college courses or went to the gym. It may be your leaderships decision to stay late, it's your decision to be unproductive.
Get promoted and be the leader who sends people home when the work is done.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2019 10:53 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 22:53:03 -0400

There are worse things than getting paid for doing nothing.
Additionally, you could choose to use that time wisely. Conduct PT, read/learn FMs, regulations, or other Army doctrine...heck, go outside and rig up a simple glasshouse.

There’s always something to do. Also, if you haven’t mastered the art of looking busy by the time you’re an E4, you’ve earned the privilege of sweeping the COF 34 times.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jun 7 at 2019 11:59 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 23:59:19 -0400

I'd really like to see what your 026, weapons gauging, TMDE, service compliance, and repair parts management looks like. Counseling, TA50 inventories, 10% inventories, shortage annexes complete, class A inspections, board preparation? When was the last time your first line, Section Sergeant, or Platoon Sergeant trained you on a basic soldier skill or had a no notice roll out?

I hear soldiers constantly looking for time to do SSD....

Candidly, there is no way in God's green earth a 91series soldier should ever be bored. Especially with the joy of two level maintenance.

We had some maintenance teams that damn near slept in the motorpool just to stay two weeks behind (meaning they never got caught up). You need to go to a Heavy BCT or a Stryker BCT. You'll get your money's worth.

Response by SPC Manny Managuit made Jun 8 at 2019 10:47 AM

SPC Manny Managuit — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 10:47:12 -0400

This is the difference between a leader and a follower. Usually the followers is the first one to complain. Followers have subliminally and mentally prepared him/herself not to be in a better position. Being a prior active and a reservist myself, I've witness an E4 became a leader. When other E4 and below itching bellies and glued on the phone, this E4 was taking initiative. He was never bored. 2 1/2yrs time in service in the reserves got promoted to E5. You should be that E4 then maybe, just maybe you would find your purpose of why you joined the ARMY.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Jun 9 at 2019 5:55 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 17:55:27 -0400

WTF- so you are telling us that every weapon, vehicle are at 100%, every CBR mask and kit is also 100% Your billets are now ready to pass an IG inspection All unit counselings are up to date and current. And every damn troop is the expert in their field as well as field survival, combat training, etc. I Call BS

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2019 9:48 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 21:48:43 -0400

It's just bad leadership and possibly a toxic one. There is absolutely no reason why Soldiers should be sitting on their butts when there was nothing to do for the past XX hours when there was nothing to do. That there can be an IG complaint if you have Soldiers miss meals. This is the type of stuff the reason why re-enlistments are down and morale is low. I let my guys go to the gym (place of duty) or handle personal stuff but I tell them to stand by there phones until 1700 and stay in uniform. That's IF everything is complete. Most of the time, I'll let them off early. Sometimes, there are tasks that can wait until the next day if the calendar is all white space. Although, you are a Solider 24/7.

Response by 1SG Bill Farmerie made Jun 10 at 2019 4:28 PM

1SG Bill Farmerie — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 16:28:20 -0400

Apparently, your leadership does not know how to do a training schedule. If it is done correctly, there should always be something to do. If you complete the tasks, what ever happened to hip pocket training. I had a PSG come to me after we returned from deployment. We had already done the 1/2 day schedule and then the block leave. He wanted to release his soldiers as there was nothing to do until the conexes returned (his words). I asked about first aid training, NBC training, MOS training, things that we could do without the stuff in the Conex. It was time to start training the soldiers on things they did not use on deployment. Taking care of soldiers is not just giving them time off, but training them up for the next deployment.

Response by SGT Robert Wager made Jun 11 at 2019 3:13 AM

SGT Robert Wager — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 03:13:43 -0400

This question is situational. If it is 0930 on a Monday and you want to be let go because you have "nothing" to do then you have had leadership fail you. If it is 1600 on a Thursday afternoon and you are sitting around waiting on PSG meeting and there is nothing really to do other than busy work then your complaint is sorta valid.

Your command should have faith that their subordinate leaders can make a call to release soldiers based on certain conditions being met. There were too many times that soldiers would be sitting around waiting for a meeting to be over simply to have a formation to be released for the day. You cannot really conduct quality training because you do not know how long you have to conduct that training. You cannot draw weapons to clean them when the arms room NCO is waiting to go home and will not issue them to you....

I know a lot of leadership seems to think that there is "always" something to do but that is simply not always practical. The true answer is that sometimes Big Army wastes soldiers' time. That is not to say that good NCO's cannot improvise and make use of hip pocket training in most cases.

Response by SPC John Decker made Jun 11 at 2019 6:19 AM

SPC John Decker — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 06:19:45 -0400

If you're not training in something to do with your MOS and you're not training in something to do with unit responsibility, your chain of command is letting you down.