It is not "my lack of leadership" etc that others lay claim onto me, I put forth that effort. I'm the one who once got to our COB, immediately after offloading our gear post-mission, spent an extra hour every other day covering one area of tactics. I'm the one who sought out the EOD to get us regularly trained on the IED Lane. I'm the one who went out with other units on my "refit day" to see how other units, grunt & scout units run their patrols. I'm the one who shielded my 'special' specialist from the wrath of the 1st Sgt and his numerious "counciling statements" he ordered me to write up, which was never pushed up beyong myself and the SPC.
I'm the one who taught the newest drivers how to drive the Hummvee in reverse at a high rate of speed without a gunner, training the gunners to traverse the gun onto specified targets so they know how to and get used to doing that..etc etc etc...you know, those little things... Now, does that sound like someone who is a POS??? I'm the one who stood up to the POS 1stSGT who would "commandeer" my troops on their downtime to do what HQ Plt soldiers should be doing besides playing their XBox games.
I stand my ground, that alot of soldiers are scum. There are alot of soldiers that are GREAT! Those scum I mention are the ones who make it very very difficult for us good NCOs to do our job and beyond.
Squantos, there comes a time you do need to call out your troops for what and who they really are. Mostly in private, but at times after futile attempts, do so in front of others. Oh, I don't follow regulations for the most part in being a leader.
Ask any NCO whats the most important thing to have as a Leader, they don't know. The answer is INTEGRITY. How can you lead without being trustworthy and honorable. Todays Army has become a popularity contest. Compare the military of the 80s to today, completley differant breed of military personnel.
Regarding that Marine Reservist, in your profile you don't even state your time with the 5thMarines. Your jargon does not jive either, which smells of something. Could be a non-hacker since you went and ran off and tattle-taled to the Mods.
Now, when you are undermined by the Sr Leadership due to them wanting to have their own time off, how frustrated would you become when you can only do so much? And yes, that group of Arkansas National Guard Inf unit was really an embarresment to the ARNG. I believe this was the same brigade that refused to go out the wire due to the RedZone being quite active, they were relieved of their AO and replaced with another unit, I believe it was a Marine unit which replaced them. That Arkansas unit became openly mocked by the Marine unit once they saw the piss poor FOB security they set up too.
I understand yer angst yet......Your crime with me is you did this here in an open forum versus venting to peers and other career NCO’s that know what you speak of, experienced it and can help each other through it with tricks of the trade over time. You can NOT expect Mom and Dad and those who have lost loved ones to understand what your venting about valid or not. You brought out issues that should not see the light of day in a place like this.
I can respect that your frustrated, I was at times during my career with a bunch of the same things you are going through. But you don’t post such in a open forum of civilians and a few veterans and active duty folks.
The losers you had the bad luck to work for can be circumvented and worked around. Dismissed as mere paper punching backstabbers they are. No need to take each and every reprimand to the OIC of your unit until you have at least 4 repeat offenses of the same issue documented with witnesses. Unity of command, span of control. YOU well know YOU are the NCOIC of your unit. You have a Senior Enlisted Advisor who loves to eat and destroy officers and other NCO’s that pander to pussies or at least make sure their performance reports are done in crayon. Use him or her if you have senior NCO’s and or officers junior or not disrupting your ability to lead and control those you have been charged to train and keep alive in a combat zone. Get medevil on their sorry asses . Don;t get mad, get even !......:o)
My opinion, get yer ducks in a row , make a plan , stick with it , do not compromise yourself. Your friends are other NCO’s you vent to and your troops at casual functions. Or known folks that will listen and let ya vent in private. FReepmail me when ya want unless I have offended or insulted. I will help and listen as I have been there and am willing to share what I have learned from others and my own experiences. Gotta share the skills and fubar events as lessons learned. You can’t fix it all but you can set the standard by example. Praise in public and punish in private. Your Sgt Bell all the time to junior enlisted . But you know that !!
Stay safe .........thanks for taking your turn in the barrel.
Are you addressing me?
If you're talking about me, I suggest you ping me, genius.
And fyi, I wasn't a “reservist”, missy, I ENLISTED ACTIVE DUTY
“you don't even state your time with the 5thMarines?”
Quite the contrary, I specifically stated “ 69 & 70 !”
“Your jargon does not jive either?”
Well, “if” your comprehension of the English language & knowledge of the Viet Nam war were better; you just might understand the facts.
“Could be a non-hacker since you went and ran off and tattle-taled to the Mods.”
“non-haker?” Yea, right...you couldn't carry my boots, asshole.
“I stand my ground, that alot of soldiers are scum?”
YOU, are the only “scum” I see around here.
And in the future, if you are going to talk about someone,
at least have the class to ping them!
“ran off and tattle-taled to the Mods?”
I addressed the Admin Moderator so that they would know that we have a poster who is calling those who are fighting & dying in Iraq & Afghanistan, “scum.”
We don’t need your smears on FR.