I love it when we teach by punishing everyone. Sorry, kids, Dad’s not going to be able to go anywhere this Thanksgiving, he’s gotta sit in his room and think about not drinking alcohol.
I’m not a fan of this policy; it implies guilt on everyone in uniform.
Like that nerd general at the Air Force Academy?
I agree with you.
Absolute laziness from command. Typical of public schools as well.
Had a commander tell me once it’s a team. They are responsible for their buddy.
Did you serve? My view is this can be a continual extension of Basic Training. The one most important thing that was fed to us is that we all live by the sword or die by the sword. There are no cliques or clubs outside of officers and enlisted. When one falls short, so does the entire group. Take a clue from Seal training as a prime example.
On the third day of basic at the morning formation, the Senior DS gave us the rules of our engagement. When he rhetorically asked if there were any questions, one fool piped up questioning what we were just told about company cohesion by exclaiming this is a free country.
Senior DS came back instantly with; “Sure this is free country, but your in the army now”. I will never forget that and I still hear it in his Filipino accent. Naturally, as a lifelong Army Brat, I already knew that.
Total BS in my opinion.
I guess a bit of punitive liberalism has permeated the Army high command.
Absolutely this is how it should be dealt with! I was stationed at Camp Schwab during the first rape incident that occurred in 95. We were one month out from rotation back to the mainland when this horrific incident occurred. Our final month on the island we were locked down to base. We were visited by the Commandant and Sgt Maj. Of The Marine Corps.
Bottom line is when your brothers in arms screw up it costs everyone. In wartime that screw up results in the death of many. Most will never understand this paradigm and I wouldn’t expect civilians to. A Marine unit is only as strong as its weakest link and we all pay the price of a single mishap. This is the way its been since it’s founding in 1775 and shall be for centuries to come. It worked then and it still works today
Once again the few knotheads ruin it for the many because we can’t insist on personal responsibility and accountability.
The policy is necessary.
When one person/service member messes up, all pay. This is taught in boot camp, and rightfully so.
One person not paying attention, sleeping on watch, not on assigned watchpost can sink a ship or sub, allow a base to be attacked, etc.
All pay for one.
Rules are a type of tax we pay for the irresponsible among us.
When I was a young nuc officer who had just reported to my first submarine, I was shocked when I found that we would all have to submit to drug testing. I felt I was an officer and I would NEVER do illegal drugs.
After I got out, I read a post by one of the enlisted members who was on the submarine when I was there. He described a dog search that was conducted and when they came to his locker that had to be opened, he said his life passed before him because the electrical officer was looking at drug paraphenalia but he did NOT recognize what it was used for! I remember a dog search but I was on watch back aft. I remember sitting in maneuvering looking at a dog who was busy searching.
Right before patrol, the Engineering Officer was DUI and replaced. During that patrol, we had a young Lt. who had just passed his Engineer Exam but the Engineer Lt. Cdr was never seen again at the ship.
My brother in law who served on one of the tenders we visited over seas told me recently his "guys" were so drug infested that at mast, the CO asked him why he didn't say anything in defense of the guys who were brought up on charges. His reply was "Why? He's guilty."
Drugs and alcohol abuse in the military were and probably still are a huge problem. It was the same at a civilian nuclear utility I worked at after the navy, people had to be reminded frequently that if you use, you are gone. And they occasionally caught even supervisors.