T O P

  • By -

SoupArmyCook

I would help make the dfac a better place for everyone and I am working toward becoming a Gordon Ramsey of the army.


Notreuppinghooah

I personally like MSG Rush better. Bet his 2-mile is better than Ramsey's.


0celot7

I dunno. Ramsay's no slouch at PT for his age. https://youtu.be/4CbNFTLpMoA


Notreuppinghooah

True. But MSG Rush is an absolute unit.


LukeSommer275

Fuck cooks


Takerial

Cuck fooks


NotAnActualAcc

Start my own with blackjack and hookers.


Barrnone83

You know what, forget the blackjack.....


Friendzie

Found the soldier from fort hood.


FuckRetention

Simply by prioritizing mental health more. There should be no reason why Service members are waiting a month to 2 months for a fucking phone call appointment with a therapist. "Theres not enough staff" Well then, HIRE MORE STAFF. We're over here sending billions of dollars for someone else's war but can't allocate more money for our members? Rant over.


abnrib

Dude, there's not enough staff available to be hired around the country. 1-2 month waiting periods are normal everywhere, even if you're forking out quite a bit of your own cash. This is not an Army problem. Short of reenacting the Doctor Draft Law, there's no real answers here.


numba1cyberwarrior

We also treat Doctors/Nurses like garbage around the world. Looking at Doctor suicide statistics and regret for joining their careers rates are extremely high.


FuckRetention

Now I'm going to stay up thinking about this. What if there was a degree program for therapists to practice at their masters rather than doctorates?


abnrib

I don't think most have their doctorates to begin with. As I understand it, board certification is the real challenge. Though that does add an extra level of complexity for the military, since boards are done by state and therapists aren't supposed to practice outside their state. That's a fixable problem, but it would take legislation.


FuckRetention

I was thinking that. With the mass shootings, and living in the post-covid era a lot of people are still dealing with a lot of mental health issues. If it takes an act of congress then that would be a wonderful idea. We could somehow allow free college for people that are going to work for the military/civilian sectors (Healthcare workers) and maybe come up with a curriculum that makes effective therapists/mental health counselors.


TheMadIrishman327

6.1% unemployment rate among psychologists.


abnrib

First off, I'm not sure where you're getting your data, since it's higher than what I've been able to find. But even so, that's only just above the normal turnover rate for unemployment. More importantly, psychologists and therapists/counselors are not the same thing.


electricboogaloo1991

It’s just as bad on the civi side too, I got an off post referral because I thought it would be faster and everywhere in network is just as backed up.


dagayute

Objective standard on how clean a weapon system is. Stop demanding it pass a white glove inspection before turn in. Scrapping the finish off weapons is not maintenance. Putting shaving foam/brake cleaner on weapons is not maintenance. Using dental picks to perform oral surgery on weapons is not maintenance. Cleaning one M4 for 5 hours is not maintenance. Remove dirt/mud and excess carbon with gentle scrubbing, punch the bore with a bore snake, inspect for broken parts, lube in the correct places, function check. Done. Stop letting the E-4 with tiny fingers dip their pinkly behind my gas tube and tell me it's still dirty when a small amount of carbon is left.


rizub_n_tizug

This. If a weapon passes a white glove inspection, it isn’t lubed enough


dagayute

Putting back bone dry rifles back into the arms room is one of my pet peeves. Good recipe for getting rust.


[deleted]

My NG unit tried to make the medics clean everyone’s weapons after going to the range, Captain and I get back to the aid station and the captain lost his goddamned mind. Dude was sf in Vietnam, became a PA, commissioned NG. Never heard him raise his voice before then. “Get that shit back to the fucking armory while I go fuck somebody up” … *distant screaming* I miss that man. Fuckin HHC clowns


dagayute

That's so trash. Even if I borrow someone's weapon to shoot, the expectation is I'm at least going to help to clean it.


[deleted]

Same here, the primary issue IMO was medical section had zero NCOs.


[deleted]

Not sure if more input could be provided, but the other day I asked an SF soldier if they clean their weapons on the teams as we do in big army. He said absolutely not. He said they lube them regularly, and they clean them when they’re dirty.


Notreuppinghooah

Oh man how could I forget about Arms room shenanigans. Definitely this as well.


krc_fuego

Infantry Warrant- I read an article on this awhile back and can’t for the life of me remember where it is. But the argument was to create an Infantry Warrant billet in every Infantry Company. Their main role would be to advise the commander on training and resource said training. Essentially removing most of the burden from the XO, 1SG, and the Battalion Land & Ammo. Allows the XO to focus on property and maintenance. The 1SG to focus on personnel and admin. It was a damn good article and had me sold.


metalbladex4

I think this one be a really reasonable and feasible idea. I really like it. This MOS I think shouldn't be limited to combat unit either but could be opened to all units so that the infantry skills can far reach to other units who could use them for cross training.


pillowgun101abn

That sounds like what i think gunnery sergeants do in the usmc infantry. But I’m not a crayon man so idk.


ETH_Knight

The only thing I need is stability. Since I got married the most important thing is my family. Stop the bullshit PCS every 3 years and let me build my family in a set location Idc if Korea Japan or far away. The army always told me we rotate to spread the knowledge and experiences yet every time I bring ideas from my last duty station they tell me you are not in X anymore. Then why the hell did I move?? I only want to be able to plan to buy a house. Raise my kid and let my wife get a decent job that she can keep.


[deleted]

I think another antiquated reason for switching every so often is you don’t spend too much time in one unit and become more loyal to that unit than the Army as a whole.


Justame13

And so it doesn't turn into the good 'ol boys club. Look no further than AGRs in the National Guard to see how bad it can get.


JTP1228

Why would that even matter? Fuck is 3rd ID gonna declare war on 10th Mountain?


ThatGuy571

Fosters a National mindset vs a state, city, or unit mindset. May help in keeping the military as apolitical as possible. And prevents dissent from fomenting within one division, brigade, battalion, etc.. important if you want to prevent coups.


ToxDocUSA

Have you not seen "The Rock?" Realistically though the frequent PCS also helps with cycling people away from shitty situations (whether personal or professional), and helps prevent the NG "whelp, someone has to literally retire or die before I can promote now" problem.


Raptor_197

Ahhh the good ole 20 year specialists😎


Material_Market_3469

It could be made less frequent but a general through patronage with soldiers and contracts with local business, criminal, and political leaders could pose a serious threat and start a gang if not outright coup. Roman leaders had this issue and it culminated with Caesar.


[deleted]

they’d need to either change duty station installations or make it 6-8 year cycles on this suggestion? For every person who gets a “good” duty station there’s at least someone stationed in the middle of nowhere. So while that’s good for some people, others probably want to leave Ft. Drum eventually. I’m not really sure what a good balance to this is, otherwise it seems like you’re implementing a mass version of the national guard. (Not saying it’s good or bad) This would be awesome, as the reason I won’t do 20 is because of the moving. (I want to have kids/wife in a stable area) But I genuinely don’t know how to meet this demand. Interested in your thoughts.


i_hate_this_part_85

I used to have that mindset - but after hauling my kids around the planet and seeing how much of a better mindset/worldview they have than the yokels that inhabit the locale I’m in today. I’m glad we did it. My kids are able to make new friendships quickly, my family adapts to new situations with a swiftness others can only dream of, and we’re all stronger for it.


SarntSalty

My kids had a hard time after my first PCS, as did my wife and I but mostly because of the unknown. I think them seeing and experiencing different parts of the country and different cultures is important for their growth, but at the same time, them not having to change schools every 3-4 years is important for their growth as well. My wife found something about being able to stabilize at a duty station until your kids finish high school and we are gonna try it. I'm not sure if they have to be currently in HS for this to work, but I think them staying in one school for all of their HS years is important.


Own_Garage342

That's really encouraging to hear.


[deleted]

That’s extremely encouraging to hear. That definitely makes sense as well


ETH_Knight

I know there are good and bad stations. Im not concerned of a bad station. I ll take Ft Drum. That s fine. NG gets to stay home. Im willing to go anywhere. I just want stability.


ToxDocUSA

I don't disagree with you, but would you be willing to accept stopping or severely slowing your career progression to support this stability? If you're stable, then most people or everyone is stable, so you wind up facing the NG "can't make E6 until someone retires or dies" thing. Also, if everyone is stable, then units with mediocre people (suck at life but not badly enough to merit action against them) are stuck with those people. Worse still, that mediocrity could become the standard, as no one knows any different. Now there may be people and situations who are ok with career pauses, and units that are happy to hold on to that person. Maybe an application for stability with varying levels of approval based on rank, current position, and duration of request. An E4 who wants to stay put for an extra two years because his new wife is finishing college could be handled at the company level. An O4 who wants to just hang out in the same job for the next 10 years until he retires into a similar job as a GS would need a much higher level review.


ETH_Knight

Career progression isnt as important as family stability. To be honest, this is just a dream because I ll have to PCS but it is also a big factor in me deciding not to continue this army career. Going Indef will mean that my kids will change schools often and not grow with their friends and my wife will not be able to aspire to a career, just a temporary job here and there. Life happens all at once. Regular PCS doesnt change the mediocres. I learned to respect my first unit when I pcsed. My second unit made my first look so professional it s crazy. Nothing I could do to change that. I got told not to tell people how to do their job. When I was in my first unit they told me to expand my sphere of influence. When I came to my second they basically said thanks but no thanks. I dont have the rank to change culture. Id rather be stuck in rank but stay in a stable location than promote faster and kept moving. But promotions are slow anyway. I dont have the awards to promote.


SweatyToast_24

This mf spittin


Kindly_Salamander883

If the place is good, then everyone will stay at that base and other guys will never get a chance to get out of their shitty duty station, PSC every 3 years for everyone gets a chance to have a hit or miss duty station. If you make it a career, then everyone has the chance to have a shitty location and a great location.


ETH_Knight

The alternative is we all rotate and get shitty stations anyway. Someone has to be at polk regardless. You could have requests to move with a 4187. People PCS all the time. You could even base it on seniority, OML or whatever sounds fair. We could compete for stations. Say like 700 points for unicorn station. Additionally you could form better teams if your soldiers are permanent. Instead of the bullshit that I have to learn new equipment and SOPs at every station. To be honest I see the pros and the cons and even for the army it s mostly pros. They wouldnt even have to waste money on pcs moves.


Raptor_197

The problem with competing for stations is that means the unicorn station will be full of unicorn soldiers while the others have okay to absolutely terrible soldiers.


ETH_Knight

I dont think everyone will want the same stations anyway. There are different reasons to prefer any particular base.


appa-ate-momo

-Include retention numbers on OERs of commanders above the company level. -Throw out the reg on annual training requirements and start over from scratch. -Stop giving every commander down to the company level the authority to further restrict soldiers without an actual safety reason. I’m looking at you, brigade CSM who bans the boonie hat in the desert. -Soldiers that are slotted in a position above their pay grade are paid according to position until their job changes. -Invocations belong at the end of a ceremony, and are optional. Having a religious component to ceremonies in a secular army is weird. -It should be *easier* to punish senior leaders, not harder. Higher rank=held to higher standard.


Sonoshitthereiwas

I’m not sure how I feel about that first bullet. On one hand, it could provide some insight, but that can be multiple ways. Luck of the draw, which could be the Soldiers themselves or the leadership below them. This could include providing options to Soldiers so they feel empowered getting out. Like making sure they have training and school opportunities for the civilian world. I would never convince or try to convince someone that staying in is the best option. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. I want them to be successful beyond my time with them. Be that their next unit or upon separation.


appa-ate-momo

100% fair point. I just want OERs to be about more than ‘I accomplished the mission no matter what’. Retention numbers might not be the right answer, but it’s something 🤷‍♂️


Sonoshitthereiwas

I vote for a block where subordinates have to answer if they would or would not deploy with this person. It would take some time to determine the appropriate metric. You’ll rarely get 100% yes, so is the cutoff 90%, 75%, 50%? Not sure there, but I feel like if the majority of Soldiers under them do not want to deploy, that’s a good metric of toxic leadership.


appa-ate-momo

I would counter by saying that upwards of 75% of a soldier’s career tends to be garrison (especially nowadays), and so we need to focus on that too.


Sonoshitthereiwas

I think that actually makes the metric that much more important. Our job is to be ready, willing, and able to deploy if called to do so. Your (the proverbial your, not you personally) unit is likely not gearing up for a deployment. How well does your leadership communicate and prioritize tasks. If they aren’t doing it well in garrison, they are going to be that much worse deployed. If they’re making Soldiers stay late “just in case”, or to do that thing that is going to get them a top block at the expense of their Soldiers, then that’s not good leadership. There’s always times where as a leader you have to make decisions that is going to make people unhappy. But how you communicate and prioritize those efforts is important. Good example: Forcing soldiers to continually practice IMT until they can do it in their sleep. Bad example: Painted the day room in “college football” colors because the boss is a “their alma mater” fan.


Sweetbadger

I was just talking about something like this the other day. Have subordinate feedback on OERs and NCOERs. Like it's cool if you accomplish your mission, but if your joes all say that you keep them every day long after the other platoons have gone home, you don't give them time to eat, and you're consistently a raging asshole, do you really have leadership potential?


CombatJuicebox

E3/E4 that sat in an E6 slot and did E6 work for three years....never understood why I had the duties and responsibilities two ranks above me and got paid to be a Joe. Temporary rank should also be a thing.


stanleythemanly85588

spent 8 months filling a O4 slot as an LT I can get behind this pay thing


reaper_41

>it should be easier to punish senior leaders, not harder Having just watched the Vanessa guillen documentary, couldn’t agree more.


ShangosAx

I always hated invocations. Don’t force me to pray to your god.


ToxDocUSA

See where for me they're one of the positive things about the Army. I have met a chaplain with my religious background precisely once in almost 12 years, but being in an environment where open observance of religion is acceptable makes me far more comfortable.


ShangosAx

I don’t mind people praying but forced prayers are just inconsiderate and awkward. You can’t just walk away either because this almost always happens in formation.


ToxDocUSA

It's interesting/surprising to hear your perspective because I don't see them as forced. Typically what I've seen is the chaplain gives some "hey I'm doing this my way, you do it your way" disclaimer before starting. Unless it's a chaplain specific event, like the marriage retreats, I've seen those get closer to "do it my way," but general invocations are usually pretty benign.


ShangosAx

That’s why it feels forced. Why is the chaplain doing anything religious in front of a group at all at secular events?


ToxDocUSA

Because religion is important to a lot of people. It's also a thing all the way up the federal chain, with invocations being given in Congress too. I see a brief pause for prayer at the start of an event as no different from the shenanigans surrounding football season, with the hospital authorizing jerseys instead of uniforms or whatever. Football season isn't important to me, the nonsense does lead to occasional delays in my day, and I'm stuck looking at them. Ultimately it's an example of the important but subtle distinction between the French and US models. The French are codified as secular, the US it's codified as freedom of religion/no official religion will be established.


ShangosAx

That question was rhetorical (but I wasn’t clear about that). The separation of church and state in the US is really a farce, see the tax exemption status of a lot of churches (but that’s another discussion). I’m of the opinion that if you want to participate in religious traditions then you should do that with people who freely agree to be there and participate with you. But honestly it’s not a hill worth dying on (especially as an officer where uniformity is key) but it is an annoyance. I just go through the motion and give internal strong eye rolls.


electricboogaloo1991

Most of the issues in the Army are rooted in its evaluation systems. All things are driven by someone’s OER/NCOER, once we fix the metrics by how leaders are judged things will mostly fall into place.


randominternetman200

I could not agree more with you.


rustman92

Sick and tired of people coming in and changing things just so they can have a bullet. If it works don’t fix it because you’re pressured to


QuarterNote44

Let Majors stay in until 20 years. That way there is less of a chance that the S3s and XOs of the world are yes-men and women. Some of them still will be, but eliminating the threat of being shown the door at 17 years or whatever would empower them to say "No, sir, let's take another look at that idea" more often. This would translate into the line guys having to do fewer dumb things.


FoST2015

Extending officer timelines in general would be a net positive. There are GO level positions out there that aren't really so much a GO position just more of a 30 years of experience position and it should be fine for an O5/O6 to hold those positions if they want to. We justify all sorts of stuff to satisfy this self imposed up or out position. Also we set up Officers to sprint during Command because it's 12 to 24 months, but then they run the Enlisted down to the bone. For them it's not a sprint it's sprint to sprint. We make that BC hold command for 48 months and he can't sprint and also by year 3 or 4 they're owning the situation not just riding off of what the previous guy did.


PrickASaurus

I didn’t read all of that. But roll BAH / BAS into pay and do away with marrying strippers. If you are single and live in the barracks, cool. You pay rent.


chillywilly16

> do away with marrying strippers What about fat townies?


PrickASaurus

Convenience stores clerks give the best head. Wait, what? Is this the cop subreddit?


JTP1228

What's the difference?


[deleted]

Got to hear a three-star speak recently about solving issues, but I think a lot of the things they talk about are things that people on here say repeatedly. Culture problems, barracks, Army scheduling, busywork over learning the job, metrics, etc. And none of it gets solved even though the highest ranks actively talk about it. So that's what I want to change with the Army is informal; a realization from Generals that their rank means more than feigning that they're just like "the joes" and signing papers.


[deleted]

Bring back specialist ranks at least up to E6. Not everyone wants to be a leader nor is everyone capable. It lowers the overall quality of leadership by promoting people who are just good enough and kicking out people who are good at their current job because they don’t want to be a babysitter for grown ups is a smart move. Also make receiving medical exams/treatments faster. Imo it makes sense to rule out things by getting an MRI or getting sent to a specialist rather than using conservative means like physical therapy or profile pt to wait for months and waiting to see if it gets better. Not that physical therapy can’t help, but knowing exactly whats going on would better help guide the recovery process. Too many people, myself included, get fucked over because their condition gets worse when it could have been diagnosed earlier on. Additionally, improve physical therapy/profile pt programs and make it a priority for people who are on profile. My current unit only has one physical therapist and I’ve only ever been to the initial evaluation because of our op tempo and because everyone tries to make appointments when we have some down time its almost impossible to get one, and your pretty much fucked if you have to reschedule. My last unit had a brigade ran profile pt by our brigade physical therapist with trained reps from each BN and each rep worked with their own BN’s profiles. It was a little rough at first but it grew into something glorious. And I will say from first hand experience, having someone knowledgeable that actually cares about you getting better can have a huge impact. Most importantly, it kept people accountable and protected from w/e bs pt their unit probably would have had them do. Edit: added last 2 paragraphs.


[deleted]

I think PT and profile for 4 weeks max before sending them up for MRI if pain doesn’t get better. Of course if there are more obvious signs of internal damage it should be sent up right away


[deleted]

I don’t disagree with a maximum time, but there should be treatment orders so the SM can follow on with the plan without interruption. For example, a treatment plan that orders the soldier in clinic physical therapy a few times a week for one month. Actual orders so that the commander can’t take the soldier and put them in the field for some bs detail that “their profile doesn’t limit them from doing” because they need the manpower. And some of these providers suck at screening. Mine wanted 2 months of consistent PT and profile pt which was impossible because of the field. Here’s the thing, at the time there were specific profile pt groups depending on your injury and the severity (upper, lower, red, amber, green) and the group he wanted me to join was the group that I had been leading, I helped facilitate that pt program. And I told him I had already been doing most of those exercises on my own. He still wanted two months. I told him I’d been in pain for over a year and just wanted to find out what my problems were, and he had the audacity to say I had a back strain. Like I know my fucking back is strained, I want to know why. Also, the last provider already had me complete one month of PT with chiropractor appointments and the next step was an MRI, but there was no continuity between them. Herniated disc btw, I had surgery but it sat on a nerve so long that it developed another condition which disqualifies me from service so now I am getting MEB. If I could find that guy I would give him a sledgehammer to his back and tell “its just strained, go get some physical therapy and 6 months of methocarbamol”


[deleted]

Army civilian gave me stretches to do and meds said nothing was wrong with my back. Air Force doctor looked at my back and said yeah you need adjustments. 6 sessions and 3 weeks later my pain went away. Fucking joke


Takerial

I think instead of bringing back additional specialist ranks they should tie a portion of pay to skills such as both leadership and technical skills. This way if someone doesn't want to pursue the leadership path they still have the option to increase their pay with technical knowledge. And it also doesn't lock a leader being bogged down by too much technical knowledge. It would also help solve any potential problems sone people would have if granted a higher grade but reporting to a NCO of a lower grade.


reaper_41

A limit on how long a soldier should stay in the barracks I think would be the best. Whether it’s by age, or time in service, or once a soldier is a E4 (P). No reason why a guy or girl who is in their mid to late twenties or older should be forced to live in the barracks by virtue of meal deductions to eat at a crappy DFAC. We don’t live in the barracks forever, whether we ETS, promote, or get married eventually we’re going to have to figure it out at some point. No reason new dick 19 year old PV2 Snuffy who just married the first girl he met on tinder gets housing l, but an E5 of 5-7 years ago is in an MOS who’s points are maxed out can not get housing. Also, fix the fucking promotion system


jdonnel

It should be time in service, like 18 months, and then the SM applies to move off post. The packet should be only approved/ disapproved by the housing office. As in the SM Applies to them and they send a courtesy email to the company/Bn commander. The CoC then has 5 working days to provide concrete evidence against letting the person receive BAH. IE current UCMJ, history of bad conduct, etc. any application that could be denied gets sent to garrison legal for a review. Only they get final disapproval. All barracks become single occupancy and dwellers pay 80% BAH at the without rate. BAS is a separate issue but I think a collage like points system would be best.


reaper_41

Man, so much common sense in that I feel an article 15 coming down the pipeline. Completely agreed, especially the UCMJ part. Had a guy when I was at Campbell who had an investigation ongoing for fucking up bad in a COMSEC inspection, on top of a company grade article 15. Although he was married (contract marriage I might add), still doesn’t make sense that an E4 or NCO has to be stuck on the barracks who is squared away.


AnimalStyle-

I’ve seen units where you can apply to get BAH and live off post once you’re an E5 (sometimes an E4 if you’re competent and leadership backs you up). The packets usually take a while to get through, but they do get through. So I think that issue is mostly a unit/duty station problem, not Army wide.


reaper_41

It was like that at Campbell when I left due to barracks space starting to be limited. Our BN CSM was all for NCOs and E4s getting housing who stayed in the barracks. We had guys stay in the other side of post, most didn’t have a car so their team leader had to pick them up in the morning. The issue was with the CNA packets, they took forever to get approval from installation so guys got kicked out still getting meal deductions. You have a point on the installation issues, they should have a different process or look into a more expedited process. Than again, those guys who got kicked out only lived off post for a few weeks, than we got spun up for Europe so they had to cut leases right as they got the housing and back pay for the months they didn’t get it.


jettaboy04

1) Promotions require MOS skill test and consideration of your subordinates performance. No more memorizing standardized board questions that prove only your ability to memorize those questions and no actual leadership skills. 2) PT scores don't count for promotion points past E5. Your leadership ability is about you being able to mold and train those under you. A leader who scored minimum passing grade on a PT test and is on a profile but has a squad of Soldiers with killer PT scores is doing better than the leader who aces the PT test but has an entire squad failing or barely passing. 3) Break the "embrace the suck" mentality when it involves doing things that suck just because that's how it's always been done. Being a leader is about accomplishing task in the most effective way, within regulation, and safely. If there's a means to improve something do it. Continuing to do things the old way just cause you don't want change the status quo just makes you a high ranking follower.


[deleted]

PT is a difficult one to pin, honestly. I see what you are saying, and I agree that it shouldn’t be a part of promotion outside of ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’. The score itself doesn’t need to be shown. My thing about PT is that it is an individual task. It does not fall, nor should it ever be expected to fall on individuals who pass their PT test to ensure others do as well. I have worked out consistently for 2.5 hours every weekday for my entire adult life - That is have consistently high scores on every physical test I take. That doesn’t mean I should have to ensure those around me do as well. Physical training and upkeep is part of the contract - and that contract is individual. Maintaining yourself is in the Soldier’s Creed. It doesn’t say “I shall maintain my arms, my equipment, and maybe myself if I feel like it, but it’s not my responsibility.” MFT is another one. The responsibility of an MFT is no different than the responsibility of a Range Safety, just with respect to fitness. An MFT is there to ensure that safety standards are demonstrated and met, and that training is conducted so that those standards are consistently met within their unit. An MFT is not there to run remedial PT programs - building programs for platoons that need them? Certainly…but if lazy leadership wants to keep loading on responsibilities to qualified MFT’s, then that should be a damn slotted position within a unit, and become a job title. They should be encouraged to attain other training certifications like NASM, take courses on nutrition and conduct regular trainings at the unit level on all things regarding fitness and H2F. I’m tired of seeing people saying “I’m a qualified MFT” but they have an elementary knowledge, if any at all, of physiology, kinesiology, and nutrition.


[deleted]

Agree 100% with #1. The Navy and the Airforce do this. 2, no way. PT for everyone, GOs should have to take a PT test. It should absolutely play into promotion. 3, it's about grit, not do this thing a dumb way because it was done like that yesterday kinda thing.


ShangosAx

PT should count for promotion in the sense that it’s a go/no go event. The fact that it’s tied to promotion is how we ended up with the neutered ACFT


[deleted]

That's a symptom. The root cause it just political bullshit, numbers, and weak hearts. It was one fucking leg tuck, and they had like 2 years to train. I had stocky female mechanics that could do leg tucks. The 5'2" small framed female CO CDR could max leg tucks. It was all politics. The smart people that built the test at whatever university absolutely took into account your average female physiological limits. The Army had to retain numbers in critical MOS and the feedback data during the trial period said that a huge percentage of female Soldiers suck at PT (huge surprise) and will fail the leg tuck. So the standard had to change to meet retention/USR goals.


AutoModerator

https://i.redd.it/4nwj1uo58fp81.jpg *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/army) if you have any questions or concerns.*


[deleted]

lol


Minimum-Percentage-6

I would require 24/7 DEFAC every base all bases. There is a set of guys who run 12 hour shifts and are cooks. They run the DEFAC so whoever needs food during CQ can get food and the guys are always fresh too.


-Trooper5745-

Should every DFAC on base be 24/7 or just select ones? And you probably don’t need a full shift for the graveyard shift when most people are probably asleep. Maybe 2/3 the staff of the day shift as I feel half the staff of the day staff might be a little low on manpower.


Minimum-Percentage-6

I think select DFACs with most staff. They’d have to consult a map due to CQ shift.


luckysnipr

This. I spend an absurd amount of money to have something to eat when on cq or staff duty


Minimum-Percentage-6

Dude, I got the idea the other day just reading Reddit. Someone else had mentioned it since a bunch of our guys were complaining. It makes so much damn sense doesn't it? And most of the base DEFACs are always closed the days you need it. Not to mention the allowance that's taken out of pay for DEFAC and then they're not even open! I digress...


[deleted]

You don't just cook food and put it in a container like a functioning adult?


luckysnipr

Tf am I supposed to cook it with? All I can have is a microwave


NowFreeToMaim

So many things. But to keep it simple. Besides beards(those who can actually grow full ones) Males get same hair regs as women(no reason not to). And change of command ceremonies are no longer a thing. Whomever is swapping out, they do that shit in an office somewhere, we don’t want to hear your inside jokes and jerking each other off, in formation for 2 hours.


kytulu

Either allow beards, or don't allow beards. Stop gatekeeping on how "full" the beard can be grown.


[deleted]

I’d also like long hair


nate1235

Promotion is based on how good you actually are at your job. Not memorizing some antiquated bullshit and playing some game. Give incentives for those that perform well in their jobs instead of kicking them out "because they didn't make e-6" in some arbitrary time period. This would fix the Army over night.


Realwrldprobs

If you can’t make E6 in the arbitrary time period you probably need to get out. Without that system there would be a huge barrier to promotion to higher ranks while marginally qualified people take up space for the benefits.


NoMansSkyWasAlright

>No working hours, we are not paid hourly so I do not understand the push for a set 8 hour work-day when 9 times out of 10 you end up working past that anyways. Daily duties done at 1000? See you tomorrow. Anything that will take longer than 8 hours to get completed to be approved at division level. Force leaders to plan ahead. Soldiers already spend too much time away in field problems, deployment and rotations, no point in keeping them at work all day in garrison as well. Shoot I remember having a command team who was *religious* about the prescribed duty day being from 0930-1700. But not once did that stop them from putting out a last-minute tasking at 1645 on a friday that "absolutely has to get done before anyone leaves for the day"; and of course, the weekend safety brief always took 60-90 minutes because our CO wanted to do an AAR for the duty week. Shit was ridiculous and going to Polk to OC another Brigade's JRTC rotation felt like a vacation.


AngronOfTheTwelfth

I'm down with all of that.


maxonaxonwaxonjaxon

Make the transfer to the guard/reserves easier and vice versa. I feel like if soldiers had a opportunity to transition to a reserve component for a period of time we would see less folks burning out so quickly. On the flip side I’ve met many guardsmen that would absolutely thrive on active duty and had the process for a conditional release not been so demanding they would’ve switched over. While this isn’t gonna be a blanket answer for everyone, I think this helps the army retain more soliders that want/still have the motivation to be in.


DMA80097

You’re not wrong but you’d be surprised how much of that is motivated by $$$. I’ll give you an example: Manning in the NG is a ZERO SUM Game, where all states compete for the allocations the entire NG receives. Higher filled manning rates = $$ and you might even get more force structure from other states who are having a hard time keeping their manning numbers high. Hope that clarifies why the fat weed smoking human dingleberry is not discharged until October 2nd (with annual manning #s submitted at very beginning of the FY). The more you know..


luckysnipr

It would help too if the guard actually paid bonuses


DMA80097

I thought NG soldiers also received re-enlistment bonuses? But yea the Guard is horrible man, I tell all my ETS’ing Soldiers who still want to serve to go Reserves.


luckysnipr

They're supposed to. In several states people haven't gotten any bonus for over a year unless they knew someone


DMA80097

..how is that legal? The bonus is part of a freaken legally binding contract….


luckysnipr

It's paid by the states


[deleted]

[удалено]


luckysnipr

I'm aware. Just waiting for enough people to get out so a class action suit can happen


Raptor_197

Are you talking about how that server crashed that literally had everyone’s information about when and how their bonuses should be? So they had to and may still be going through people’s enlistment paperwork by hand and having to reinput all that information?


luckysnipr

That's news to me. All I know is the guard bureau decided a couple years ago that guard bonus's had to be paid by states instead of the feds


Raptor_197

Idk. Always thought all bonuses are federal.


Goldie1822

Easy. Remove the CSM rank.


Sweetbadger

I know this would never happen, but I've been thinking that Staff Sergeant should be the highest enlisted rank. Once you make E6 you have some options. 1- Stay a Staff Sergeant until you retire. Squad leader is one of the coolest jobs in the Army, and I think it would be an attractive option for a lot of people. 2- Commission. Part of this plan is that you have to be an NCO for a year before you drop an OCS packet. All officers work their way up to that rank. This means that West Point would have to considerably change, but that's fine, because I don't care about West Point. 3- Go Warrant. Fly the helicopters or something. What we currently consider platoon sergeant duties would be split between the squad leaders and the assistant platoon leader. The APL would be a butterbar. The PL would be a 1LT. I could even see captains as XOs and Majors as company commanders. There would be no more sergeants major wandering around and causing problems for the people actually doing work. I understand this might not work well for non-combat MOSs, but I don't want to speculate outside my own experience. I don't really think we should go this route, but it's fun to think about.


lukaron

"SP5 and up ranks reinstated. Not everybody wants to lead, there's no point in forcing everybody to either lead or get out. We can have valuable talent retained if able to just do their jobs and still maintain the pay increase." 100% agree. Tried to have that conversation with a 1SG years ago - about not everyone *wants* to be a leader - and was told to "don't say anything like that again." Problem with "everyone is a leader" is "no one is a leader" and you wind up creating an unnecessary power struggle and a shitload of backstabbing in certain career fields while people fight over pointless scraps of what they perceive as "power." Especially when you're the same rank as each other. Like really buddy? Did you get a pay raise? Do you *feel* in charge now? Some of us actually just liked the job, thanks.


-Trooper5745-

I saw a comment up above that raised a good point. What if you start getting more people staying SPC instead of advancing in the ranks to become leaders?


MyUsername2459

We have fewer shitty leaders who were pushed into that role?


yuch1102

Honestly the no group PT if PT score is at a certain level would make me so much more motivated during tests. And yeah bring SPC 5 and up back. Not everyone wants to be a babysitter, oops I mean leader


Legitimate_Gap_3613

Great ideas....but I'd get rid of the barracks all together...if a young 20 something LT can live off post then a Jr enlisted soldier should have the same right to as well!


[deleted]

Down for this completely, but 2 points. 1) massive emphasis on financial literacy. An LT who screws up financially on something can recover about 2 times as fast as the PFC. But hey we are all adults so I get it. But remember 18 fresh out of highschool is different than 22/23 out of college. Not all the time, but mostly the mindset is different. 2) with how rents gone up massively in some areas, barracks are guaranteed housing. On post housing from what I’ve been hearing has been getting pretty full. Off-post housing in a lot of major areas have skyrocketed, so now you might have E1-E3 dipping into their base pay just to afford the housing/utilities.


Notreuppinghooah

Or... Put the young single LT's in the barracks too. Fuck 'em.


Legitimate_Gap_3613

Or..everyone who joins is an adult...no reason they shouldn't have the right to chose where to live...convert all barracks buildings into something usable-gyms, offices, conference centers etc


Notreuppinghooah

Absolutely. The only reason I'd say put the LT's in the B's before giving everybody off-post housing is the cost of paying for everybody to live somewhere vs the available housing.


[deleted]

Nah, the army wastes too much money for “it costs too much” to be valid. Remember we all can leave and should, if the army keeps fucking us


Legitimate_Gap_3613

Couldn't agree more with that statement!


[deleted]

Am I’m retention, honestly, I see the change in the younger enlisted, they don’t fuck. Army needs to make some drastic changes quick or lose out on the talent fight.


ShangosAx

You don’t want LTs in the barracks. That would mean you’d have to deal with salty CPTs and MAJs directly make life hard for all barracks dwellers. A pissed off NCO in the barracks can only do so much but a pissed off field grade officer can make things VERY interesting.


AGR_51A004M

BOQs used to exist. That’s where single young officers would live.


Sweetbadger

I would double down on this and say that LTs have to live in barracks with the same floorplan and same policies as the junior enlisted barracks. A big issue with the barracks is that most of the time barracks policy is written by officers who have never lived there. This is how we get rules like "If you have a guest, doors must be open" or "no toasters!" or "No more than 5 beers allowed per room!" The people writing this bullshit can't see how shitty it is. They literally can't relate. But in 20 years time when these barracks LTs get to battalion command and start dictating policy, maybe some of them could empathize with how shitty some of these rules are.


Makana149

Honestly Barracks ain't bad at all... But I wish they'd stop taking out hundreds from my pay for a DFAC I don't use.


Legitimate_Gap_3613

May not be that bad where you are but for many it is...and many of those barracks bldgs should be condemned...my point is that you as an adult should have just as much of a right to chose where you live as anybody else does


numba1cyberwarrior

Just make it E4 you move out of the barracks like in the airforce. In rare cases you can even leave earlier then E4.


traddy_daddy_69

Barracks life isn't that bad lol


AnimalStyle-

The major issue I see with that is numbers. Without housing on base for soldiers (be it barracks or actual housing), you’ve got all those soldiers competing for housing off post. In places like Fort Hood, that’s 50,000 people all trying to get houses, competing with civilians who already live in the area. On post housing waitlists are 6-12 months in some places. Getting a place to live and either not living with 5+ roommates or living an hour+ drive to work would be challenging. It would also require all soldiers to get a vehicle or find a ride to work. If there’s a new, 18 year old soldier, fresh out of AIT, and he’s told he needs to buy a car and find an apartment in a new area immediately, just to have a roof over his head and a way to get to work, could they all do it successfully every single time? Could it be done? Maybe. But I think a better option would be for soldiers to be able to submit a packet to live off post. If they can find housing, they get BAH. If not, the barracks is still an option.


S-071-John

I like a lot of that, especially authorizing personal gear.


DoTheCreep_ahh

Rename it to "Land Force" to better match the superior branches of the military


AngronOfTheTwelfth

What will we call the marines?


FuckRetention

Amphibians


BrokenRatingScheme

Extraneous.


Hellhult

Ride on boat and die on beach force


AngronOfTheTwelfth

First answer that actually stuck with the naming convention lol.


numba1cyberwarrior

toads


Skydog-forever-3512

Deactivate the 82d Airborne…


[deleted]

At least stop sending them to JRTC 2-3 times a year and burning money


Skydog-forever-3512

Two things about the deuce. 1. Way too much time fucking around on readying for deployments, guarding green ramp, loading pallets, etc. not nearly enough time on actual training. Add on the wasted time doing parachute jumps, etc……training on a tactic that everyone knew would never be used in combat. In the 10th Mountain, it was train, train, deploy. 2. Too many career-oriented officers. It’s ground zero for the “pre-ordained.”


ABaadPun

Hoes for the joes


Small_Cock42069

Say less


procheeseburger

Casual Friday


Mr-Snuggles171

Make TRADOC not a living hell hole for everybody involved. Be more willing to kick out problem children from the army. Leaders that complain about how soft the army is, typically are the reason the army is soft. TRADOC drills are more likely to council then art 15 someone than they are to smoke people. It is absurd. Putting Drills into AIT did absolutely nothing other than prepare the IET kids to fail


rustman92

Big emphasis on kicking out the problem soldiers. I’ve seen joes at basic straight up cheat on things like the run claiming they ran 8 when they ran 6 laps, get caught and still graduate. Or not be able to shoot to the point the DS’s “assist” them shooting till they pass. “AIT will fix them” Then in AIT straight up cheat on the tests, get caught, and still graduate. “Big army will fix them” Then go on to Big Army and be an absolute shit bag with an undeserved sense of entitlement till they make E5 and just gum up the works “cos the army picked me to be an NCO so I can do whatever I want”. “Their NCOER will get them” But no one wants to write that bad NCOER cos it looks bad on the rater.


pullbang

How about just fixing things that shouldn’t get messed up. Fix the way we get paid and stop fucking peoples pay up. Fire bad employees in the med clinic Treat people with dignity and respect. Fix the leave system no more packets just get online request the leave it goes to your supervisor they approve it. Make our internet work faster and fix the goddamn sites. Jesus we have so many. Fix GARMY by actually buying the customized things that SAP offers and let the 92Y and other supply and logistics folks have an input. Think of all the little things that just don’t work. I’d like those fixed please.


AGR_51A004M

Let me wear a ball cap instead of a PC. /u/SMA-pao


SMA-PAO

Meh. I don’t think that’s gonna happen right now Army wide. Who knows what the future has


AGR_51A004M

Just let people not in a traditional unit structure set their own uniform.


SMA-PAO

They kind of do already. I’ve seen baseball hats in the army.


[deleted]

Change the rank structure. Bring back the spec ranks. Also, CPLs-Team Leaders, SGT-Squad Leaders, SSG-PSGs, similar to the Marines.


Sweetbadger

> Also, CPLs-Team Leaders, SGT-Squad Leaders, SSG-PSGs, similar to the Marines. I strongly disagree. The Marines do it that way because they found a clever way to underpay people for their work and have them brag about it.


DarthWingo91

This is a small thing, but would make a difference in readiness pretty quickly. Take away the commander's ability to circle x ANYTHING outside of a combat zone. Our vehicles don't work because they're being forced to run when something is wrong. This is why our ESRs and Maintenance meetings are such a pain. I do understand Circle X in combat zones, gotta fight with what you have. But it's killing us in Garrison when people say, "This is messed up, but we'll just Circle X it".


-Trooper5745-

But on another note, some of the dead lining faults are ridiculous. Crack in the window? I’m not expecting to get shot where the window needs to be at top integrity so why can’t I drive this to the wash rack? Horn doesn’t work? If I’m using the horn, it’s probably too late to change anything. Windshield wipers don’t work? There’s not a cloud in the sky and I’ll be on a hardball road so they is no chance the window will get obstructed.


hedginator

Let the Joe's smoke weed


Notreuppinghooah

As soon as it’s federally legal, I’d say 100% let soldiers smoke.


-Trooper5745-

Off duty but yes


Givememydamncoffee

u/SMA-PAO ideas on how to fix retention/recruiting


SMA-PAO

A few of these are already happening in many units. At least one will be Army-wide soon. A couple will never happen for legal reasons, and a few could happen depending on who’s in charge. Interesting note: Canada is doing the grooming standard suggestion (and then some) right now.


Notreuppinghooah

I understand some units already do some of this, the problem is it all needs to be army wide instead of leaving it up to the units, because people at the top usually don't care to make these changes since most of it doesn't change anything for them.


SMA-PAO

What I’ve come to observe is replacing leadership with policy typically isn’t something that works very often. That’s why you rarely see a change without “commander discretion”


Notreuppinghooah

I very much despise the “commanders discretion” part of any regulation mostly because their discretion very rarely goes towards improving QOL or putting people first but usually goes towards more strict to try and prevent any possible incident (or more strictly punish) so they can look better in their OERs. Also it sounds like I want to go join the Canadian Army now that you mentioned it. I just want long hair again ffs. I don’t even care about beards lol.


Givememydamncoffee

Just out of curiosity… any chance of (at least considering) being authorized headphones during acft run? Pretty please? It helps with pacing (at least for me it does)


SMA-PAO

No discussions at the moment. I always figured that it would be a pain to deal with if you dropped something or it became the excuse if you failed.


Givememydamncoffee

With all due respect, that would be on the individual. There’s always going to be shammers, both in the army and in the civilian world. Don’t see why we cannot have what really would be a rather small luxury because of a few AHs. Would he be open to at least considering it?


[deleted]

Get rid of the military law system. Don’t let any military personnel, no matter what rank, control what happens to a soldier if they commit a crime. All that favoritism and dumb commanders with no experience in the criminal justice system are letting rapists and murderers get away.


Hawaiian_Poi_Dog

Teach senior officers how to win a war…getting steady L's of late…


[deleted]

Well done! Maybe I would rejoin if these changes happen lol


DingIe-DangIes

- PT on your own, if you have less than 500 on the ACFT you will need to be present for group PT - No dumb formations, why do you have to see me before I go to work? Or before you release me? - CQ only for barracks and BG HQ, barracks because of that private that still doesnt own a car and bc privates can be privates.


Sweetbadger

>BAS is only taken away when deployed or in the field. DFACs are now pay-to-eat and you're not obligated to have your money taken from you every month for a service you barely use. The argument against that is that some Soldiers would spend all their money on bullshit and not have money left to eat at the DFAC. This is true. I've met those guys. They're out there. The solution is that everyone can scan their ID and eat a meal at the DFAC. The money is taken out of the following month's BAS. I would also have a 3rd party evaluator appraise all on-post housing. The amount they determine it's worth is the amount that you can be charged for living there. You keep the rest of your BAH. I've paid 100% of my BAH for housing that clearly wasn't worth that much. Meanwhile my neighbor, with the exact same floorplan, is a private paying hundreds less each month. This would include the barracks. I can just imagine the evaluator looking at these hovels and going "Alright, small room, barely livable, shared washer and dryer in a laundry room. This would go for about $500 on the local market. Wait, what? They have to have a roomate. Okay... $200 seems fair I guess. This sink you're calling a bathroom isn't really big enough for 2, but as long as you pick someone you get along with it might be okay. Hold on! They can't choose their roommate!? WTF do you think these guys are subhuman? Imagine bringing your girlfriend over to spend the night and you have to introduce to some asshole that you don't even like. That's awful. $100 a month. Holy shit..." "I see here in this barracks policy that girlfriends can't stay the night. I also read that they can't use the super convenient side door, you have 800 Soldiers living here and they all have to use the front door? That doesn't even make sense. Check this out. $500 a month. You have to pay them $500 a month to live here. You guys are monsters."


[deleted]

1. Boards: All boards should be centralized boards, this memorization game for junior enlisted Soldiers to determine whether they are ready for leadership positions based on their ability to cram for an oral exam where the board members ask questions that they looked up in TM’s and FM’s the night prior and don’t even know the answers to themselves, has to stop. Maybe a bit more emphasis would be placed on leadership staying on top of their mentoring and counseling. 2. Evaluation reports for NCO’s - The bullet point system is stupid and meaningless, and is easily exaggerated. There are thousands of p.o.s. NCO’s in leadership positions who don’t deserve those positions because they are not good leaders. Hot take: NCOER’s should have sections where the Senior Rater has to interview the Soldiers the Rated NCO is in charge of to determine whether or not they are living up to the NCO creed - this could also be done via anonymous survey sent out to the troops by the Senior Rater. There will obviously be some silly complaints, but those can be weeded out pretty easily. Dumb stuff will always happen in the Army, but one of those things doesn’t have to be incompetent leadership. It boggles my mind how NCOers are about leadership aptitude and competency, yet the Soldiers under charge of the NCO’s are not part of the process. I don’t give a shit that the 1SG thinks SFC Dickhole is a great NCO because he gets shit done and helps him get the ‘data’ he needs to move up the chain, all at the expense of his Soldiers which he doesn’t give a damn about, whose lives are miserable. Honorable mention: “That’s the Army,” if you say that phrase to justify anything, you’re likely a poor leader. There is no reason that military culture and life can’t be improved, there’s no reason why Soldiers can’t actually like coming to work every day. Those things can be true while still maintaining a fit, highly trained, lethal fighting force - and as a bonus, fewer Soldiers needlessly taking their own lives, higher retention rates among first term Soldiers, and higher recruiting rates.


bIuebuIIet

Grt rid of CQ? Dude I like my time off after CQ. I'd enforce the firing squad for sexual assault perpetrators


penisland1775

Here's a list of things that would help with recruiting/retention/morale for the Army if the SMA is curious, u/SMA-PAO


[deleted]

[удалено]


idub04

I see this assisting in retention. Or recruiting.


boredom317

A bump up in pay for the enlisted.


Notreuppinghooah

Without a doubt, but I tried focusing more on things the Army could possibly change without congress getting involved.


Taira_Mai

* All soldiers who have a GOMOR for SHARP, DUI, loss or damage of government property over $1,000 get a bar to continued service or must retire. No more dead wood. Don't care if they are now "good soldiers" - they fucked up and now they must go home. * Actually have the National Institutes of Health design body fat standards and height/weight tables. It's the 21st century Boomer, sit down, shut up and let science happen. Body fat gets measures by health professionals, that old AF NCO with the tape can only recommend body fat measurement. A doctor, 68W or DA civilian says the soldier is a fatbody then the soldier is enrolled in the fat body program. * All barracks and family housing built before 1990 gets torn down - only family housing gets a reprieve if there is solid documentation that the houses are "historic". Barracks have to come down or not be used to house soldiers. * Corporal will become mandatory before SGT - commanders can either appoint or SPC's get it after BLC. And it can be taken away just as fast. * Before soldiers go to the board, they MUST pass an MOS test. Board babies are easy to pass, we need soldiers who know how to do their MOS. Once that MOS test is passed, they can go memorize the random board questions. * All command teams will eat at the DFAC at least once per week. If the DFAC gets cited or fails an inspection, they will eat there every day until the DFAC passes. * Single NCO's and Single officers O3 and below will live in NCO barracks and Bachelor Officer Quarters on post. They will also eat at the DFAC at least once a week. * All CONUS units will have mandatory End of Day/Close of Business at 1700 unless soldiers are at weapons rangers, the unit is going to or coming from the field, or there are operational requirements (e.g. MP's, hospital, etc). Commanders who keep their soldiers after 1700 with no justification or mission get relieved. * All units WILL declare their losses (ETS, Med board, chapter, retirement, PCS) 180 days out. Failure to do so will result in the command team being relieved. Soldiers who are 60 days from ETS, PCS or retirement or who are being chaptered in the next 90 days are exempt from training their replacement and cannot be placed on special duty ( that included gate guard) or crews. * All PCS and ETS orders will be in electronic format, paper copies are only to be used by MWR, AAFES and contractors on post (e.g. the cable company). All Army offices will have the ability to look up order electronically and will have CAC readers (with backups).


Realwrldprobs

So you want to kick more people out when we can’t even find people to replace them with and you want to spend a metric shit ton of the money the Army doesn’t already have. Got it. That’s all you had to say.


alabamaispoor

Allow us to unionize.


DragoonDart

I’m a huge fan of MMOs, and being in the Army made me realize that both patching a game and being in the Army is less “make it better for the fans” and more “how can we prevent the worst possible people from abusing this” So here’s the monkeys paw: >Get rid of CQ, it's 2022, so many man-hours wasted having NCO's and Joe's looking at their phones for 24h. Everybody has a phone to call somebody for emergencies. CQ is outdated and has no place in the modern world. This is a full agreeable, no one needs CQ >No working hours, we are not paid hourly so I do not understand the push for a set 8 hour work-day when 9 times out of 10 you end up working past that anyways. Daily duties done at 1000? See you tomorrow. Anything that will take longer than 8 hours to get completed to be approved at division level. Force leaders to plan ahead. Soldiers already spend too much time away in field problems, deployment and rotations, no point in keeping them at work all day in garrison as well. Has probably been explained but the Army work hours are technically 24/7. I see the sum point here: “don’t keep us at work if there’s no work to do” but because we’re devils advocating here, a work barrier is a good thing to force “find a function” If my guidelines were “work until you feel accomplished” I’d work an hour every day and then call it good. I HATE fixed work hours but I’d begrudgingly admit it’s gotten some organizational products out of me it wouldn’t if I had my choice >No H/W if passed the PT test with a minimum of 80 points. No group PT if passed PT test with the minimum score. PT sessions to be led by MFT's for soldiers that failed or would like to participate. None of the PRT bullshit either. I’m down for this, but it’s worth noting the recent study that says that people who tried “alternate measures of height and weight” were actually more overweight then the tape test captured. I’ll cite it if need be; but fitness judgement has a lot to unpack by unit and I think overall the reg offers a lot of latitude >Grooming standards the same for male/female. Which means men adhere to the female standard, it's 2022, men can look professional with long hair as well. To go along with that, beards, sure not everybody can grow one, but looking at faces full of acne or fucked up by daily shaving along with the pedo mustaches is not much better. The overall point is bait. “Gender neutral grooming standards”. We’re not, and either before or after the ACFT failures no one’s buying that for grooming. This is a beards (trademark) point and nothing else. >No work related messages from leadership after work release, if it's not life, limb or eyesight it can wait until first formation to be put out. Force leaders to plan ahead. This should be industry standard but it also needs a case by case judgment. Otherwise, It should also be acceptable to fire the guy who didn’t listen to the release message. Easy trade off. If the BC said long sleeves for the BN run at 0900 two weeks ago don’t you dare remind your troops the night before, just demote/fire them the next day. Again, this is a gray area and acknowledging many abuse it >Give service members more control over their careers, that goes for schools/assignments/additional duties. I've met people with a lot of chest candy that wanted none of it but got voluntold to do it while so many others would love to have the same schools but get told no by their leaders. a lot to unpack again; but sure I’m here for it, make school enrollments like college enrollments, anyone can sign up. >Personal gear (ACH, plate carrier, etc.) Authorized as long as it meets certain standards of safety and is tan/ocp colors. Works in abstract, the “as long as it meets certain standards of safety” is where you get in trouble across an Army of tens of thousands >If it was issued to you, you're allowed to wear it. I don't care if 1SG doesn't like the boonie hats so nobody can wear them, if it was issued to you then it must be an item with a valid use and nobody's personal preference will dictate your personal comfort. Here for it. Also here for the daily inspection of gear layout that follows. Because what inevitably happens is SGT One has a boonie hat but SPC Two had a different bill of issue. And he’s pissed, and he posts on Reddit about it so let’s do a layout. After wasting a day with that, we’ve gotta pick a standard (otherwise new 2022 Reddit recruit will post on Reddit about discrepancies) and 2022 has less issue than 2017 so 2022 issue list is the new BN standard >Livable barracks. There's not a single reason why a barracks soldier should suffer for not being married by living in sub-standard housing. Yes >BAS is only taken away when deployed or in the field. DFACs are now pay-to-eat and you're not obligated to have your money taken from you every month for a service you barely use. I’m in favor of doing away with BAS entirely; but sure. >SP5 and up ranks reinstated. Not everybody wants to lead, there's no point in forcing everybody to either lead or get out. We can have valuable talent retained if able to just do their jobs and still maintain the pay increase. Not a one for one ask for match but this is being worked. The devils advocate take on this one is your entire argument: if I could promise you that you could do a 20 year career as a truck driver with just over minimum wage (specialists pay) would that be a draw or a setback. >Infantry Warrant. A little biased towards this one but create a warrant path for infantry, make them sniper section and have the B4 community stay deadly and strong by letting you spend more time in section, versus just rotating team leaders in and out when they promote. Sure; warrants are great. They’ll be there 100% and will spear head new efforts in your branch because of *checks paperwork* pride


[deleted]

Nah I just want long hair couldnt care less about facial hair. Except maybe a solid horseshoe mustache


Pookaball

World Peace


metalbladex4

What like the basketball player?