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CPT Hhc Company Commander
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Any other time, perhaps. We phased out the greens less than 4-5 years ago, we phased out the IPFU less than a month ago, we are phasing out the ACU within the next 2-3 years.

At this point, I'm pissed beyond belief about this. As a commander, I was told we don't have enough money to send my Soldiers to school for promotion. We don't have enough money for fully qualifying Soldiers at the range. We don't have enough money to give people promised Annual Trainings. We don't have enough money to provide for QUALITY training using IVs and "real world simulations" on a routine basis.

I have an E-4 who is in line for the second highest valor award from the Australian Army...but I can't promote him to an E-4 because he hasn't been to WLC yet. Seriously? WLC is going to teach a combat-experienced veteran who has proven himself over and over again, and has consistently worked above his paygrade.

Why the hell is Big Army focused on how pretty Soldiers look and making different pay grades for "Battalion CSMs", "Brigade CSMs", and "Divisions CSMs", but we don't give a rats ass about the fact that discipline, training, readiness, and morale are going out the window.

The people that come up with this idea and think that how pretty our Soldiers look is more important than how well they are trained should be drummed out of the military. The ACU-to-OCP transition was necessary, as our Soldiers were getting killed. The greens to blues....whatever....I don't care. This constant shuffling of uniforms while failing to recognize that we are overlooking the key problems facing our military NOW is going to mean we are going to have a shit-ton of well dressed dead Soldiers because the senior enlisted are too busy trying to bump their pay grades, and the senior enlisted and officers are more worried about having 30 different freaking color uniforms than having a fighting force that is fully trained, operationally ready, and can engage and destroy the enemy with unprecedented efficiency.

That's my 2 cents worth....and a little bit extra.
v/r,
Jonathan Butler
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SSgt Geospatial Intelligence
SSgt (Join to see)
7 y
CPT (Join to see) you know, what you said reminds me of the coach of my high school football team while I was there. He sucked as a coach. He got the job because he was like J Edgar Hoover - knew everyone's skeletons & secrets. Plus his wife was/is the coach of the University of Missouri's cheer squad, so they thought he could bring some of the University stuff to the high school. His idea of making the team better was not better procedures in practice. No, he thought that buying new uniforms every year would make them better.

Hopefully Mattis' focus on making warfighters better at their jobs, instead of training and other useless things will trickle down to the reserves & guard?
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CPT Hhc Company Commander
CPT (Join to see)
7 y
SSgt (Join to see) - I hope so, but someone has to stand up and say "this is stupid", which few people seem willing to do anymore. Someone has to listen when a subordinate says "this is stupid", which few people seem willing to do anymore.

The problem is that the people who have the voice are so self-absorbed and inept, but they are breeding and mentoring self-absorbed and inept people. Shitbags that fail to take care of the troops have AMAZING OERs and NCOERs because they do nothing but work on it, while those that are so inundated with covering for the failures and shortcomings of their peers have generic evals. You can't advance unless you have certain schools, regardless of your competency. Don't worry about letters of exception to the board, where I could explain to you why this Soldier should not only be an E-5 but an E-6 in a position of responsibility.

Technology is crippling our ability to think simplistically. Even on the battlefield, our battlefield commanders are restricted from taking shots at people that are KNOWN to be reporting troop positions/movements to the enemy. Some are getting killed, because they are hesitating for fear that they'll get in trouble. We need to be drilling in the tactics of our potential enemy, which at this point involves extensive battle drills on near-peer conflict (per GEN Luckey's guidance), and remaining proficient in counterinsurgency operations. The Army is not a corporation, so we need to squash the discussion of whether combat deployment patches "are a thing". Not everyone has the same shit. I have two Soldiers that have purple hearts. You gonna try to say they should take it off? Go to hell. Someone wanna tell Dakota Meyer to take off his Medal of Honor because you don't have one? Pound sand. Same with CABs and EIBs.

The only reason this stupid shit continues to be so prevalent is because nobody is stopping it. Get rid of cell phones in basic training. Get rid of this "Kumbaya Soldiering". ISIS doesn't give a shit about how much sleep you've gotten, they don't care about whether it's chow time.

Probably the best thing that we can do to save the future is to put some weight into the MSAF 360, and you as a rated Soldier select 5 supervisors, peers, and subordinates. Find some way to have another 5 supervisors, peers, and subordinates assigned as well. ALL comments are combined and factored in. Give the teeth back to the commanders. As a USAR Company CO, neither I nor my BN CO had UCMJ authority. I actually had a SJA once tell me that I shouldn't try to prosecute someone for stealing $4000 that was fraudulently charged to the Gov't Travel Card because of the wait time. Put the common sense back in. The best units will not always hit a metric mark....especially not every metric mark. Rather than telling every unit that "you're my favorite child", put some words into them. Challenge each commander in your own unique way, while still actually encouraging their growth.

When my second Soldier died, the "command representative" that was sent to me was a Chaplain. A CHAPLAIN. The ONLY person in the ENTIRE Brigade with no command authority was representing my higher ups at a funeral for someone I lost. That to me was like having my throat cut in front of my own troops, and there were many other instances that I could give on how our leadership (sometimes with myself included) have failed troops.

Until you fix the problems like those, then it doesn't matter what people wear or what people train for. I've seen units resilient and competent in spite of fiscal constraints, but the fact is that I should not be relying on "laterally transferred" materials from individuals or the civilian sector, or private purchase to train my Soldiers while we are having this type of discussion.

I could see if we were talking about "plush" training like giving training flights in a Blackhawk when it isn't critical to our jobs, but beans, bullets, beds, and basic equipment are not intended to be negotiable items in a military unit.
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SSgt Geospatial Intelligence
SSgt (Join to see)
7 y
CPT (Join to see) - I agree. When the fit hits the shan, will the younger troops that have gone through a "softened" boot camp react in a military manner, or will they demand certain luxuries? I think that is why the newer generation of military is looked down upon by those of ages past - they learned that hardship is part of it. You figure out how to overcome it & use it to your damned advantage.

I believe that commanders should have some ability for promotion. If a troop is above their peers, I think, to an extent, that the commander should be able to spot promote. I know this does happen, RARELY, today, but I think it could happen more often.

The competition thing is what drove so many units to be excellent in all they do. Pit their reputations against one another. "Screw you, Alpha Co! We're the best!" "Prove it Charlie Co!" We come from a system that uses competition as a driver for improvement. Unleash that beast & watch us soar!
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SPC Robert Coventry
SPC Robert Coventry
7 y
I think that was about $ 2.00 worth, its hard to hear you are struggling to get the basics and the much needed training and we send Billions and Billions to countries that train and billet our enemies. What a shame, I wish the Veterans could help, I will call my congressman and let him know there is a specific need, i will try and help.
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LTC Owner
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Bring back the boots and sabers too.
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SSgt Geospatial Intelligence
SSgt (Join to see)
7 y
LTC (Join to see) can't you just take them from a cadet at A&M? ;)
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COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM
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What exact problem is being fixed by this uniform solution? The discussion should focus first upon the problem and then solutions to the problem. Not upon solutions without a clear understanding of the problem.
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SSgt Geospatial Intelligence
SSgt (Join to see)
7 y
COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM agreed, sir! A uniform may fix your appearance, but it does nothing to help morale or toxic leadership.
I like how CMSAF Wright (affectionately called 'Enlisted Jesus') is approaching these issues w/ the enlisted Air Force. While our uniforms are the most lackluster of the branches, we have much bigger issues to square away first!.
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