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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
ARTICLE 7
Navy: Too much Show and not much Substance
Ed.: Dumbing down EOD training could have deadly consequences.
A former EOD Instructor
Just read your piece about fun rides. I used to be an instructor at the Naval
EOD School and boy have I seen a drastic decline in training!
We got the best Powerpoint shows, the most awesome LRC ("techno-geek" term
for Learning Resource Center) and 400 mghz Desktops, great for dog and pony
shows that our 06 used for publicity tours.
Unfortunately our students were about 10 percent as competent as their
predecessors. The skipper was working so hard at eliminating our attrition
rate.
Talking about the Navy brass: I could easily see this sub incident happen
again and again - The Navy and its 06s (and up) just plain frighten me any
more…
One of the instructors once grimly commented on our EOD memorial, which is a
very solemn tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
He felt that our present graduates should be given their EOD badge along with
the gold nameplate that will be used to remember them once they're unleashed
into the "real world."
One instructor went so far to say that instead of having a memorial stone for
each service - we should dedicate a stone for each graduating class, for the
inevitable that follows poor training. Sad, but rue!
NOTE: EOD is Explosive Ordnance Demolition or Explosive Ordnance Detachment.
ARTICLE 8
First Give-away Berets, Now Free Aviation Badges
Ed: This senior NonCom addresses the cheapening of aviation skills badges and
recommends common sense solutions for the beret issue. Why isn’t the brass
asking grunts like him before jumping the gun?
By a senior Army NCO
About 14 years ago, I walked into a recruiter’s office and requested airborne
infantry, with a slot in the 82nd Airborne. I got what I wanted, a chance to
serve with an elite unit.
I had always looked at the soldiers who wore berets as a cut above and they
showed that pride. While in the 82nd, I always would stand in formation and
smile when I looked at my beret or the 82nd patch. It drove me to be the best
soldier I could be. 14 years later I cannot understand what the hell the top
brass is thinking!
They are so far from reality it scares me! I am now a SFC in Aviation and the
ARMY of today is NOTHING like when I came in! Does the CofS really think the
black beret giveaway will mold the army into a 21st century fighting force?
What a bunch of crap. As a former airborne infantryman, I can just imagine
the loathing for this idea that is going on in the SF community.
This is just like the less known but just as degrading aircraft crewmember
wings giveaway that just happened. Any schmuck who works "somewhere close to"
or can I.D. Army aircraft 5 out of 10 times can get the new "Aviation Badge."
This is a slap in the face to the few soldiers who actually were aircraft
crewmembers and who flew daily to earn those wings.
The heroes at the top tell us that these measures will bring the moral up and
create a tighter force. In the case of the crewmember badge, while at ANCOC
the branch CSM told the students that this change will bring the Aviation
branch together. This is a bunch of crap. Out here in the real world where
soldiers soldier, The people who earned the badge walk around with a sour
taste in their mouth while the kids who are getting the badge all ask why?
They don't even care.
Initiatives like this sure sound good in the air-conditioned sanctuaries that
the brass work at but it does nothing but divide those who earned it and
those who were given it. If the CofS wants to go to an all-beret army then at
least leave the SF community alone and go with berets that are different
colors for each branch or standardize three non-SF colors; 1 for combat arms,
1 for CS and 1 for CSS while leaving ABN, SF and the Rangers alone.
Keep up the good work SFTT, your newsletters are awesome.
ARTICLE 9
The Sergeant’s Corner
The Truth About Guard And Reserve Readiness
Ed.: If these problems exist, someone needs to ram the readiness dipstick
into certain outfits.
By a California ARNG NCO
I can sympathize with the author of the recent article on the California
National Guard, but from the perspective of the Reserve Component. I am a
soldier charged with the duty of ensuring the wartime readiness of our RC
element by planning and resourcing their training.
Succinctly put, if we're relying on National Guard and Reserve units in my
part of the world to stave off an armed and determined enemy, we are going to
get bloodied.
Discipline is completely nonexistent, as is military bearing and appearance
(these are the "professionals" we're going to send to Kosovo and Bosnia to
represent America?). Noncoms and officers alike, constantly shop for their
next job with little regard for their current lot in life. This often entails
MOS and branch changes.
The end result is non-MOS qualified soldiers in leadership positions over
junior enlisted soldiers who might've actually given a damn when they first
reported-in. These junior enlisted soldiers usually do one of two things --
pop smoke at the earliest out, or become an overweight, long-haired, unkempt,
reserve careerist.
Harsh you ask? Maybe. Accurate? Ask any junior enlisted RC soldier to
describe his chain-of-command and what he does on a drill weekend.
The absolute travesty is that AC soldiers, sent to train these units, bust
their humps setting up training opportunities that AC units would kill for,
but the RC "horse won't drink the water." RC leadership doesn't want to train
because that takes time and effort. Why expend the energy if they're going to
get paid for four days (for two days work) every weekend regardless if they
train or not?
Enlistment and retention is down throughout the RC. Numbers may look good,
but check to see how many of those assigned to the unit, actually exist. On
top of everything the AC soldiers do every day, we are now tagged with the
additional duty of being the RC recruiter. And I thought we paid NCOs
additional money to do this for the Army? OERs and NCOERs are riding on it.
We were told that recruiting is our number one priority! It surpasses the
training we are supposed to conduct to prepare these units for peacekeeping
operations in Eastern Europe, or even the ultimate meat grinder… war.
I don't expect the same level of proficiency from part-time soldiers as from
their Active component brethren. But I do expect some semblance of purpose,
discipline, and heart. I have yet to find it in any of the RC units in the
West. When you tell a unit they're not wrapped tight enough, you have to
couch it so you don't hurt their feelings.
I've had junior RC leaders go "civilian-secure" and begin acting without any
deference whatsoever to the rank of the Observer Controller. I even had one
who started tossing obscenities and barking orders at the senior OC… and he
felt the OC was obliged to obey those orders because the RC soldier outranked
him by virtue of being a "tax-payer." Last I checked my LES I also paid taxes…
The whole process is a wash. Why AC/RC duty for the full-time soldier is such
a priority to the bean counters at PERSCOM I'll never understand. As soon as
I can, I'll be departing this barren wasteland. If America is depending upon
its National Guard and Reserve in time of war, our Republic will surely
perish.
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