So this one time in Alaska we had this soldier, he went AWOL 9 times in 47
days( 30 of which he was in MP confinement.
On one occasion he was told at 0600 "sit in this chair and you will be out
of the army no later than 1600" so 1530 comes around and the paperwork is
done but he has gone AWOL again! So we do it all over the next day.
Seriously just sit there!!!!
Silly Army Policy
I along with many other service members love to ride motorcycles. In the state that I am in you do not have to wear a helmet. So I was taking a Sunday stroll. My boss drove up next to me at a stop light and noticed I was not wearing all of the INSANE safety gear the man requires you to wear. Here is the list...Boots, full length pants, full length long sleeve shirt, helmet with some form of ballistic eye protection, full length gloves, and a reflective vest. Now if you do not wear every little thing they want you to wear and you are in an accident they do not have to pay for you medical bills and your family can and will not get your life insurance payment. So why the hell does the military care if I don't wear my crap? You think they would want you not to. Is our government not trying to save money? One of the many things about being government property that drives me insane. During every weekend safety brief I wanted to shoot someone in the face. You do not need to tell me every week to put on sun screen, drink water, and not beat my dog. How about if I cross the line you deal with me then? We all know the rules and know what is expected of us in and out of work. Why waste a hour of my friday telling me to use a condom?
Army programs
During my early years in the Army when I was not yet smart with my pay check, I had an emergency on the home front. With just a word of mention to my first line NCO that afternoon he had me lined up for the Army Emergency Relief. At the end of the day I had an interest free loan that was able to take care of my problems. By the time I got out I had seen many examples of Army programs work just as they should have. This is one of the things I miss about no longer being in. You always had a NCO who was there for you 24/7 and fail safe programs that were there to help you should you need it...O yeah and free health care.
3-7 CAV
While stationed in Ft Stewart GA I was one of the luckiest soldiers ever. I had the best NCO channel and some of the best officers I have ever seen in my 8 years of service. One of the guys in my platoon was having some severe issues at home and trying to deal with the loss of friends from his recent deployment. He got terrible intoxicated and went AWOL. Normally he was one of the go to soldiers we had. Our command was shocked and had no idea what to do. They got together and called him. The soldier knew he was in trouble and did not want to answer the phone calls. They left him a message saying that if he was to answer the call they would work it out. They ended up putting him on an illegal as hell four day pass giving him 2 days to work things out and get back to work. When the soldier came back he was as grateful as could be. This is the greatest example of looking out for your soldier as I have ever seen. Also why I today say that 3-7 Cav was one of the best units the Army ever had.
Really?
So I work in Ft Knox Kentucky. In the winter it get really cold. In October we had a field problem. On the packing list was our black fleace jacket and ski mask. During my guard shift at 2am I dressed as warmly as I could. While just trying to keep my mind off of the cold one of my NCOs came up to me. He asked me what I was doing. I told him just guarding the ammo holding area. He said no why are you wearing that stuff? You know our commander does not allow us to wear the black fleace or the ski mask. I had to reply. "So why was it on the packing list and why was I even issued it?" Long story short I was forced to take it off and damn near froze my ass to death during my 3 hour shift. It turned out ok though. I was so sick the following night I had to go back to the rear. Good call Mr Commander Sir.
made by the lowest bidder
When I was a Private on my first tour in Iraq I found myself in a nasty fire fight. My truck was hit by a grenade and I my power steering unit was hit pretty hard. The truck was still running and all inside were ok. However, we still had to make it to the house. My truck commander ask me how the breaks were. I said I don't know I have not been hitting the breaks too much why? He says well in this truck the power steering and the breaking system run on the same circuit. I laughed and blew him off. That was until I needed to stop on a down hill slope. My super up armored truck going down hill out of control with no steering or breaks. Two of the three main factors of driving were gone. What mechanical engineer was able to get his degree and fool the government into accepting such a flawed design? I had to as carefully as possible run my truck into the sides of building walls to get it to a slow stop before hitting some civilian car or person. I also found out that the wheels on another truck are made of magnesium. One of the hardest things to put out should it catch fire. My good friend had a problem here when his driver side front tires got hit and his wheel went up in a super hot white flame. He almost did not make it out. He had to almost undress to climb to the other side of the truck to get out before the fire worked its way inside. Who designs these things?
waste of time and money
Submitted 10.12.11
I work for a unit that test new weapons for the Army to see if they are worth buying. Before every testing cycle we go to classes to learn how to use the equipment. One piece that we were slotted to test was a night vision camera that was portable and supposed to be set up on a small tower to further the range of vision. The system weighed in around 45lbs and cost over $120k a set. Keep in mind this is was designed to be carried up mountains for additional surveillance and security. During the general briefing on the equipment I asked the instructor, "Sir this only gives us 3 meters (about 10 feet) more visibility than the night vision scope our snipers use. In addition your camera system is 43lbs heavier, 8 times the size and cost, and is a huge signal to others that we are in the area when it is in use. Why should we even test this system?" The instructor really had no good answer to this question. I informed my command of all the time, money, and tired soldiers we could save by just not testing it as it is more of a liability than it is a help. But for some reason the officers in the high ranks (cough cough Col and above) seem to be very friendly with some of the contractors. Rumor has it that somebody is getting something out of forcing us to test such useless gear.
I work for a unit that test new weapons for the Army to see if they are worth buying. Before every testing cycle we go to classes to learn how to use the equipment. One piece that we were slotted to test was a night vision camera that was portable and supposed to be set up on a small tower to further the range of vision. The system weighed in around 45lbs and cost over $120k a set. Keep in mind this is was designed to be carried up mountains for additional surveillance and security. During the general briefing on the equipment I asked the instructor, "Sir this only gives us 3 meters (about 10 feet) more visibility than the night vision scope our snipers use. In addition your camera system is 43lbs heavier, 8 times the size and cost, and is a huge signal to others that we are in the area when it is in use. Why should we even test this system?" The instructor really had no good answer to this question. I informed my command of all the time, money, and tired soldiers we could save by just not testing it as it is more of a liability than it is a help. But for some reason the officers in the high ranks (cough cough Col and above) seem to be very friendly with some of the contractors. Rumor has it that somebody is getting something out of forcing us to test such useless gear.
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