Monday miscellany
Rep. Nacy Mace, SC-R. gets the quote of the month:
“What I would like to see, if these terrorist-loving kids and students hate our country so much, they should take their terrorist flags, they should go to Gaza in their crop tops and nose rings and see how long they would last, because Hamas would chop off their heads, throw them off the roof of a building before they ever had the chance to tell them their pronouns.” Fox News
Gonna have to pay more attention to her…
Sergeant Johnny Clem
The Army can’t decide how to promote NCOs. Ya gotta have school – no you don’t – yes you do – no you don’t but it will be temporary – yes you do – if we did a column every time they changed we’d run outta storage bytes. Well. in THIS week’s version:
The Army announced today that it will suspend its use of temporary promotions for noncommissioned officers whose new rank was held up for unfinished education requirements.
NCOs currently on temporary promotions will see those promotions become permanent, beginning in June, according to the release. Army Times
Here’s an idea: make up a decent correspondence course so motivated soldiers can do it in absentia even if school slots aren’t available. Critical tasks can be rated at the unit level (after all, their NCO raters are supposed to know it, too, right?) Quit jerking deserving E-4s off, especially in the year before they probably have to decide whether to reenlist.
Anyone aware that civilian interrogation contractors from Reston, VA-based CACI are on trial for Abu Ghraib?
During the trial that began April 15, lawyers for the three plaintiffs argued that CACI was liable for their mistreatment even if they couldn’t prove that CACI’s interrogators were the ones who directly inflicted the abuse. It said that its employees had little to any interaction with the three plaintiffs in the case and that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government, not CACI. Military Times
Allegations included that CACI blokes incited soldiers to “soften up” captives, that one was photographed with a crouching captive in an “unauthorized stress position” and more. The jury deadlocked so it is a mistrial. H/T to Jeff LPH!
Last but not least, 4th ID commander MG David Doyle has now barred superiors from contacting subordinates after 6PM and before 5AM:
with some caveats, including communications for health or safety reasons, or personal communications.
In his memo to the division, Doyle noted that after-hours communications keep soldiers on edge and, in many cases, aren’t necessary. The new policy is also punitive, meaning leaders who do not abide by it could face legal or other disciplinary ramifications. Military Times II
I have mixed feelings on this – some things DO deserve an earlier heads-up, but I have also worked with inconsiderate jerks (especially folks clueless that their time zone is ‘way off of yours) who call at silly hours whenever it occurs to them to discuss really unimportant things. Not sure a little common sense wouldn’t have been called for.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Iraq, None
The Non-Commissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) has been getting refined since before I joined. Twenty-five years ago, you pinned your rank when you graduated. After the wars kicked off, they allowed promotions without the requisite NCOES. I pinned SGT and took nearly 1.5 years to go to PLDC/WLC (it was in the process of changing names). Less than six months later I pinned SSG and went to BNCOC within four months. At the time, there was still the two-week Common Core, followed by seven weeks (IIRC) of Infantry BNCOC. Shortly afterward, they made Common Core a teleconference/virtual course. Tean years later, when I finally made the SFC selection list, I had to complete M-SLC before pinning. We had some older guys like me who’d made the list only a few months prior, as well as some younger guys who’d made the previous year’s list and had been waiting for over a year.
Around 2009 or so, the Army came up with Structured Self-Development (SSD), designed to make NCOES a continuing education system. Basically, SSD-1 was expected to be completed before promotion to SGT and before WLC, SSD-3 after ALC, and SSD-4 after SLC. There was no SSD-2, as Common Core basically filled the role. I self-enrolled, thinking it would help set me apart from my peers (in hindsight, that’s laughable), and completed the SSD-3 I needed, then SSD-1 to know what my Soldiers had to do, and finally SSD-4 (some eight years prior to completing SLC).
Long story short, the Army can easily implement interim courses like SSD to promote NCOs and take care of them pay and rank-wise. I’ve known more than a few E-8s who got 24+ months of 1SG time as frocked E-7s before going on to serve as frocked E-8 SGMs waiting for their Academy dates and promotions. Why not select the “best”, motivate them to self-enroll in online courses to get hard stripes, then send them to the resident courses as slots become available? The SGM Academy has used a resident/virtual mix for years now.
Good point.
I love the context above about making “prep” NCOPD CC’s available to shit hot E-4’s that are game to stay in.
On to 4ID and MG Doyle’s policy. I like it. If there’s an important situation going on, by all means contact me. When I was an NCO, I needed to know about things. Case in point, going to the Unit Armorer’s Course and finding out through the Company Armorer that one of my Soldier’s had shot his dog the night prior. As an E-5 Team Leader, you’d think that’s something I should have been among the first to know, but it wasn’t. Long story short, clear your Glock before disassembly, or that Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy you’re making payments on might be missing a head. I hold on to resentment, and my time in 3-15 Infantry was marred by our marriage to cell phone communication. The CSM at the time is still serving and is now the I Corps CSM, so maybe the battalion policy worked out for him. It didn’t for me. Within two days of getting back from Afghanistan, I was on leave as my dad was in the hospital with sepsis. I was still assigned to Brigade S3, and it was nice knowing that my cell phone could be left in the truck all day with almost no chance of missing a work-related call or text. After holiday leave, I got sent down to 3-15. Every weekend required a text “UP” from subordinates to leaders. The CSM expected all 1SGs to report their companies’ statuses by 1200. On holiday weekends, another text was expected no later than 2200 or so. To say this hindered any weekend plans is an understatement. If a Soldier slept in a bit, or if one of my team leaders had poor cell phone reception, I was on edge waiting for the text, so I could send it to the PSG. It was all frivolous anyway, as one of my Soldiers admitted that he had a scheduled text set up for every weekend. He could have been in a ditch or jail, and we’d have still gotten his text that he was good to go. One hour after release, and one hour before first… Read more »
Damn, I’m glad cell phones really didn’t become a “thing” until after I retired. They existed, but pretty much only rich people had them at the time. There was no expectation for the typical sailor to have constant 24/7 comms capability.
It’s bad enough now…when someone sends you a text or calls, they expect you to respond immediately and if you don’t, it must mean something’s wrong or you’re mad at them.
When I tell them “no, I was fishing/playing golf/at the gun range/ etc. and I don’t take my phone with me in such circumstances” they look at me like I’ve got three heads. How can I possibly survive for longer than 15 minutes without my slave tether attached?
I’ve actually forgotten my phone before…left it on the charger in my office…when I left the house for the day and I didn’t drop everything, cancel my plans and rearrange my entire schedule to go back and get it. I just went without it for a day (gasp!).
But, then again, I’m old. I wasn’t born with a cell phone in my hand. When I was young, answering machines didn’t even exist. If you called someone and they didn’t answer, your immediate response was “they must not be home…I’ll try again later”. Or maybe even swing by and knock on their door. And “text messaging” involved paper, writing instruments and a ten cent stamp.
Amen!
When you ask “How’d we communicate before cell phones,” then you realize they asked the same question 100-some years ago about land lines.
1984… Stationed in Schweinfurt supporting a 3ID Infantry Battalion. 2 months before my class date at Ft Benjamin Harrison (Indianapolis), IN for the Retention NCO ANCOC, the CSM of the Battalion I was attached to and supporting called me in to ask if I had ever gone to PLDC explaining they had checked my records and didn’t see it.
I explained no, I had just completed 6 years on Recruiting duty in Chicago, finishing as a Guidance Counselor at the MEPS after my 2 year initial 11B Infantryman assignment humping a radio with the 101st attending airborne and air assault school and 2 years in Berlin working in, attending training and earning a secondary MOS of 31G Tactical Communications Chief, leaving there as a SGT now a SSG on the SFC list in the secondary zone with my ANCOC class coming up in 2 months.
He shook and rubbed his head and notified me I start 3ID PLDC the following Monday. I showed up at PLDC and from the NCOIC on down they were confused and after I explained everything they just asked me to stand back, watch and assist them.
When I was at Fort Bliss they tried something similar with the no contact after 1700 and also all soldiers had to be released by 1700, unless you had prior approval from the brigade Commander…
Then they immediately caveat it in private, saying that it didn’t apply to officers, even though that was nowhere in the policy.
Everything was sort of okay until 9/11 hit. So then I would get calls late at night from the battalion leadership, practically every single night, telling me to get things done, without contacting my subordinates. Then they would get upset because the things were not done because my lieutenants were not allowed to call their NCOs.
What’s that old saying… damn, you did it just like we told you to.
At that particular time, both The battalion and the brigade Commanders were West Pointers, who believed that the officers ran the Army. Neither one of them cared much for me because I was prior enlisted and would tell them how things worked. I figure they must have micromanaged their way to the top.
On 20/20/20/…..hindsight, I am SO glad that I didn’t go to West Point and become an Orificer.
Then again, this was back in the early 70s, I might have turned out different then your above mentioned (bad) examples.
Project Manager’s Nightmare…
You gave us what we asked for, but that’s not what we wanted.
One’s name must be Obiwan Kenobi and be able to use the Force to receive a first time Go at that station.
As for the phone policy, I understood when it went out the window when half the unit was TDY in a different hemisphere. What I did *not* appreciate was when people would be called for mundane paperwork while they were on leave, and it was usually for stuff that had already been filed or handed off to someone else.
Wait. You mean the proper way for making SGT/E-5 is not repeatedly losing the PSNCOs leave statements after approval but before filing to deduct the days?
Weird….
I’ve completed entire assignments while initiating no, or very few, phone calls, texts or emails after work. (Gotten plenty of them, though….) When I did send emails I almost always stated I didn’t need any action at night or over the weekend. It’s really not hard to be considerate of others’ time.
Hippie freaks today beg The Man for supplies (to include rubbers, lube, AIDS tests, etc.) to support their protest against him:
https://www.breitbart.com/education/2024/05/03/university-of-chicago-anti-israel-encampment-demands-hiv-tests-dental-dams-plan-b/
By all means send them the rubbers, as many rubbers as they need, no, send five times as many as they need. Also, for the love of God, slip birth control pils in all of the pizzas and marijuana gummies. Just to be sure. Half the guys think their girls anyway so they won’t care about the BC pills, but just in case.
Losers.
And the Army goes rolling along…..
Speaking of miscellaneous…
This just hit the news today…
https://apnews.com/article/soldier-arrested-russia-korea-ca2842597a0af45062667f8cc552eca6
Not many details. There is clearly more to this story. This guy was PCSing back to the US from the ROK. Then turns up in Russia and arrested for stealing.
I’m going to hazard a guess that the aforementioned Russian woman was employed in the “entertainment industry” somewhere near TDC. Mrs. Black is probably changing the locks on the doors and selling all his shit right about now.
Am I too old to think that you only need a college education to become an officer, not an NCO?
It worked pretty well for me. YMMV.
Does this mean the 1SG won’t get called to get Joe out of jail on a friday night?
My dad always told me that if I ever got arrested on a weekend, he wasn’t coming for me until Monday morning. Why should his weekend get messed up because I was stupid? I always told my Soldiers the same thing every Friday. It worked well with one exception.
I guess it will be up to The Gunny Bunny to say out loud what everyone else musta been skeered to even think…Yes…I would hit that Kongress Kritter…with MY junk…and do ALL of the pushing. No need to call IDC SARC.
On the other subjects of the thread? I just went and gave my DD-214 a hug and a kiss.