wOOtage!!!

I finally get a break from the weekly grind (no field exercise this week! ), and can post my DD article myself...

I'll apologize in advance if this comes off as a rant, but when you've read it through all the way, I think you'll realize that it's more than that...

You've more than likely seen the commercial / PSA on TV lately... The teenage boy is walking home alone from somewhere or other, and every time, when he's just about to do something unsafe, an older man (presumably his father) appears at his side, warning him not to do this or that. The final shot involves him meeting up with a group of teenage boys (presumably his friends), and they offer him a joint. The older man is nowhere to be seen...

Now, that's good advice for parents to get off their duffs and actually PARENT their children, to get involved in their childrens' lives, give them guidance that will help them later on in life. More on that at a later date, though...

The main thing I want to address is the seemingly willful ignorance that some folks display these days... I don't mean ignorance in terms of not knowing any better, either...

How many times have you been told that "...drugs are bad for you...", or "...don't drink and drive...", or even, "...practice safe sex..."? On average, you've heard it so many times that you've since lost count. You probably couldn't remember when you first heard them, could you? The good thing about repetition is that for most people, it helps to drive the message home. For others, however, it just becomes another "...yadda, yadda, yadda..." statement. In one ear and out the other.

Now, on the other hand, I fully know and understand that for some instances, nothing replaces experience. Your parents probably told you not to do this or not to do that, but you had to go ahead and try it anyways, and learn that the "old folks" weren't as senile as you previously thought... Chances are, though, you were a child back then...

Adults, or those who are supposedly of sufficient age and maturity to be considered as such, those are the ones who I'm talking about...

Without going into a whole lot of detail, we had a couple guys in my unit get busted for DUI this past weekend. They were underage, the driver rolled his car and then left the scene of an accident, and the whole company was called in after he was arrested and the company leadership was informed...

That no one was seriously injured or even killed is miraculous in my mind. That these imbeciles had been assigned to the unit for more than 5 months, and had received the same weekend safety briefing, each and every weekend, that they were underage, and that they decided that they knew what was best for themselves is astonishing to me...

Their punishment has yet to be fully decided on and imposed, but if it were up to me (and quite a few other "old-school" NCOs in the unit), the trusty old FM 22-102 would be enacted, in full view of the rest of the company, and THEN we take their money, time, and just about anything/everything else, until they either get a boot in their backside, jail time at Ft. Leavenworth, or both.

There are so many other facets of willful ignorance that I could discourse on in depth, but I'm sure no one's feelings will be hurt if I were to open the floor to anyone else with a gripe against willful ignorance, be it drinking and driving, using illegal drugs, unprotected sexual relations, or just willful ignorance in general...

Willfull ignorance can also be seen in many other places; such as political candidates/office holders, advertisements for alcohol/tobacco products, SOME anti-drug campaigns, etc.
I say some because I have seen a few commercials that actually present facts about drugs/alcohol rather than over-hyped propaganda (Reefer Madness, for example).
At any rate, I already know what those guys in your unit can expect as well as you do, and they will be LUCKY if all they get is 60/60 and half month's pay times 2 taken from them.
What they really need is a swift kick with a steel boot in their 4th point of contact.

Whats an FM 22-102? I assume the FM is Field Manual....

-MF

Quote: Originally Posted by GrandpaNoob72 How many times have you been told that "...drugs are bad for you...", or "...don't drink and drive...", or even, "...practice safe sex..."? On average, you've heard it so many times that you've since lost count. You probably couldn't remember when you first heard them, could you? The good thing about repetition is that for most people, it helps to drive the message home. For others, however, it just becomes another "...yadda, yadda, yadda..." statement. In one ear and out the other.

However, I think that the main point might have been missed here. Sure, kids hear it. They hear it from the television, they hear it at school, and they hear it at church.

But how many times have they heard it from a parent?

Quote: Originally Posted by GrandpaNoob72 wOOtage!!! I finally get a break from the weekly grind (no field exercise this week! ), and can post my DD article myself... ...

lol!!! I thought something was funny when I checked my PM's and emails and didn't see one from ya!

Anyways bro hope you enjoy your break

Monsignor: The FM 22-102 I'm referring to is a fictitious Field Manual.

It has to do with the place that "Wall-to-Wall Counseling" should permanently occupy in the Army. Why drown ourselves in paperwork when a thoroughly planned and surgically executed a$$-beating will get the point across?

Rob: Too true these days...

Iron Serif: Glad I could be of some sort of relief for ya today, I know you had a rough weekend with the GF's injury, etc... Next week, too, I got it, ok?

godfoot: Actually, I was shopping at Home Depot yesterday, and I found myself wandering the dimension lumber aisles for no apparent reason...

And the sad thing about this is that sometimes they don't age out of it.....

Quote: Originally Posted by GrandpaNoob72 Their punishment has yet to be fully decided on and imposed, but if it were up to me (and quite a few other "old-school" NCOs in the unit), the trusty old FM 22-102 would be enacted, in full view of the rest of the company, and THEN we take their money, time, and just about anything/everything else, until they either get a boot in their backside, jail time at Ft. Leavenworth, or both.

Us squids call it "ladderwell Counceling" but its all the same... What made Uncle Sam so worried about what people think... When i joined up i got my A** handed to me more than once... now everyone is os worried about saving face...

I Say let the retarded bugger have it and show him some boot leather.

well, as much as i want to say thing generation is getting better, it honestly isnt. i know more of my friends whose parents are too busy doing their thing to care.

results, the kids are doing the same **** as above.

but i agree the military should have an official ass whupping clause. if you screw up, you get rocked. it drives points home so much better than a yelling.

Then again, Jager, sometimes if you play your cards right, you can put the fear into them without physical violence (and yes, sometimes NOT)...

I have one imbecile (the "Zero" in my squad of "Heroes") that tried to make the downpayment on his car with his debit card. When the dealership waited a week to put the transaction through, he thought the money had already gone out, so he went ahead and paid the rest of his bills and partied... a LOT... When the bank denied the transaction, the dealership tried a couple more times... He racked up about $300 in NSF fees, then wondered why his "bank was screwing him over".

When the dealership called me, I got involved. He would have a receipt from the dealership for the downpayment, or a letter from them stating that they had agreed to take separate payments towards the down payment itself, over and above what he owes the bank every month, OR ELSE...

He came back with this tale of woe about his wife writing them a check for the down payment, the check being refused by the bank, and then her trying to write a second check for half of that, and that one going through. I called the dealership to make sure, and NOPE, no such thing had happened. When I asked him where the receipt was, he tried to give me some BS story to explain why he couldn't produce it.

At that point, the rest of my company witnessed my "transformation" from relatively easy-going NCO to Super-Duper-Mega-A-Hole NCO in about .75 seconds... We were indoors, and a couple other NCOs told me they could hear me out in the parking lot behind the company... I can't be sure, but I think the dumbf**k peed on himself.

This morning, every last shred of documentation I had screamed at him for was in my hands before we even held first formation at 0630...

Quote: Originally Posted by GrandpaNoob72 ... I can't be sure, but I think the dumbf**k peed on himself.This morning, every last shred of documentation I had screamed at him for was in my hands before we even held first formation at 0630...

Nice thats what needs to be done these days... I wish that i could get away with stuff like that!

GPN you are certainly correct , physical use does not have to be used nearly as much as many people think. I started at 13 in the family gun store and was trained by a SSGT in the VA national guard, and a Sarge Major who is still there at the store. They were both pretty open that they firmly belive that a good talkking to can handle almost anything.

both have related though that in the days when the army was a whole lot less politically correct, a good asswhupping for a good reason was never stopped. if talking yelling and counciling didnt work, a wall and a few minutes later the soldier got the picture damn fast.

dont get me wrong i certainly dont advocate violence as a first response to most situations involving screwups, but sometimes you just gotta get a point across real well.