Why does the Army Like to Enforce Non-Required Issues to its Soldiers?

Of the seven and a half years while I was in the Army, there were many times I was angered with the Chain of Command of my units.  It seemed at times they would only focus on minute, pointless issues over issues that did matter.  For instance, about a week or two ago I got into it with some stupid, brainless minions that lost all way of thinking for themselves about unit PT shirts.  You see, in the Army, and I do believe in the other branches as well, units will have clothing with their insignias on it for sale to their personnel.  I never had an issue with units doing this, I mean, if someone wants to wear clothing with their unit insignia on it is fine by me.  The problem with it is units will try to force their Soldiers to buy this clothing just so it looks like there is pride with the unit, and everyone likes being in it.  It’s not really so much the sweatshirts or the sweatpants they offer for sale, it’s the t-shirts that Soldiers can wear during PT sessions in the morning.  I remember my past units where the First Sergeant would tell the formation in the mornings that the shirts weren’t required but encouraged to buy, and when I say encouraged the leaders in the company would almost harass Solider into buying these shirts.  Some of the things these leaders would pull are assigning a Soldier to more CQ/Battalion Staff Duty than usual, deny their leave form, or not give them a weekend pass.  Just a bunch of immature, high school inspired bullying only to purchase something that is technically not authorized under AR 670-1.  Now, some of you may say “It is authorized, under command discretion”, that only means it’s an in-unit authorization under Battalion Command, and it doesn’t say in AR 670-1 that it’s required to have.  It states the standard-issue physical fitness uniform consists of the following components: a. Jacket. b. Pants. c. Trunks. d. T-shirt. e. Undergarments. f. Footwear. g. Socks., and that is it, no unit t-shirt in there.  If a unit tries to state it’s a requirement to have, they are wrong and can be punished under UCMJ to make such a statement.  To be honest, if units really wanted their Soldiers to wear unit PT shirt, then the unit can purchase them for their troops and issue them out, or have the leaders contribute money into purchasing the shirts which I’ve seen done before.  Other items units always seem to try to enforce Soldiers to purchase are jump boots, Stetson hats, or any other special items that come along with being in specific units.  For instance, jump boots you would only wear if you’re in an Airborne unit or an Air Assault unit.  I was stationed at Fort Campbell for a better part of four years in my time in the Army, and I remember my unit didn’t really enforce the purchase of jump boots to its Soldiers, but I did know some people in units that did so, even if you didn’t become Air Assault qualified.  To me, being I never became Airborne or Air Assault qualified, buying and wearing jump boots would’ve been, say, sacrilegious.  Unless I became one of those, I had no business wearing them.  However, you can only wear them while you’re in that particular unit, and once you go into a unit that isn’t an Airborne or Air Assault unit, you can no longer wear them.  The same goes for Stetson hats, an item very special to Cavalry units in the Army.  I’ve also known people in Cavalry units that weren’t even Cav Scouts where their leadership wanted and tried enforcing them to purchase a Stetson hat.  Now, I know some Cavalry units won’t let you wear one until you’ve done a Spur Ride, which is a traditional activity done by Cav units with new personnel.  It usually can be a variety of activities, like a PT test, a rifle range, ruck marching, or all three together where you have a score very high in.  Others included just drinking a nasty concoction out of your combat boot.  Either way, like jump boots, I would feel it would be sacrilegious to wear a Stetson hat if not performing a Spur Ride of some sort.  But enforcing Soldiers to purchase jump boots or a Stetson hat is very unacceptable, considering these are not cheap at all.  Finally, this isn’t an item of purchase, but I feel it’s something that also goes along with the lines of this subject; Battalion Balls.  Every unit I was part of always pushed to get all their Soldiers to be pathetic, high school inspired dances so leaders could show there’s comradery within the unit.  What a load of bullshit! I mean, units were so serious about these that Soldier had to go to the Battalion Sergeant Major and explain why they couldn’t go to a ball if they weren’t going to go.  It’s funny how the Army tries to say their family-friendly with their personnel, but then turn around enforce them to go to functions that are really nothing more than brown nose fests.  Let your Soldiers have lives for God’s sake, and let them spend time with their families as much as they can because when it comes time to deployments or even field training, at least their Soldiers have gotten reasonable time to be with their own families.  I have fucking spoken!


Disclaimer:The views expressed in this article [or, book, blog post, essay, op-ed] are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the [insert your agency, institution, organization], Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

The Angry Private! 
US Army Ordnance Corps 2009-2017
OEF 2010-2011

My Introduction

Well, this has been a few months process creating this blog.  Some of them I talked to about writing supported me on it, others said I could get into a lot of trouble, but I don’t care, I’m still going forward with this.  The way I see it, this needs to be told.  Instead of sitting around letting it go on the way, it’s been going, there needs to a whistle blown.  That is what you are taught in the Military, if something is happening that seems wrong, report it immediately.  I’m simply doing that, because if you don’t report any wrongdoing, then you are as guilty as the person doing what is wrong.  However, before I begin adding entries into this blog, I wanted to do this introduction and lay down some ground rules that I have to maintain a thorough understanding this my audience, so let’s begin!

What I will be telling you is my personal experiences while I was in the US Army.  I am medically retired, served for seven and a half years, and I’m a recently discharged Vet.  That is all you need to know about me at this time, and chances are that is all you will about me.  Also, I have some guidelines that will be set here and not changed. 

1.       I will not be calling out people’s names here in this blog.  I will be discussing them, but to protect the stupid their names won’t be mentioned.  Also, do not bother asking who they are, because I will not tell you. 

2.       As for calling out people’s names, I will, or try not to, talk about certain units I was in.  I will say bases, divisions, and maybe brigades depended on how mad I get.  However, anything under a brigade I will try not to mention. 

      3.       I will not violate anything OPSEC here, which means I will not talk about troop movements in a combat zone, talk about anything that is considered classified material, and just about anything else you can’t find if you do a google search.  The goal of this blog is to address issues within the US Army, not try to get people killed.  In fact, if there is another goal here, it’s to save lives in the Army.  I may have some disagreements with the Army, but I do not hate it, and nor do I hate my country.  So, if you’re looking for ways to destroy the United States, you came to the wrong place and you are just as much as an enemy to me as you are an enemy to the US.

      4.        As I have earlier, what I have told you about me is all you need to know about me.  Unless if it’s something I have posted in an entry, that is all you will about me.  If you ask who I am, my only answer will be to refer to this entry and tell you to re-read my introduction.  So, do not ask, unless you want a stupid answer in return.

There it is, some guidelines for this blog to come.  Some of you may ask, “Why are you doing this?”  The reason is to help get some issues off my chest.  This blog will help serve as a therapeutic tool, considering how much the Army has given me some very bad mental issues that will be with me till the end of my days.  However, I do see other comments coming once the entries start being added, like “This sounds like you should’ve never been a Soldier” or “That’s just the way the Army is”, and even my favorite “You can always tell who was a shitbag in the Army”.  My response to all of this is yes, maybe I shouldn’t have been a Solider, because my IQ is way too high for such stupidity.  There are so many ways the Army can conduct itself but only chooses the dumbest path.  And shitbag?  Please, at least I wasn’t some stupid, brainless minion that can’t think or stand up for themselves, and allow some idiot that couldn’t graduate high school to save his/her save, but has a couple stripes in their chest so now they think they’re an Einstein of some sort dictate their rightful path, even if it’s the wrong one.  Yes, I am prepared for the upcoming flak I will receive, but it will still not stop me from continuing on.  Also, I can see other comments coming like” You need to stay in your lane” or “You shouldn’t say that about the Army”.  My response to these, or similar, comments is you can kiss my DD-214.  Army conduct doesn’t apply to me no more.  Shoot, I almost thought about creating this while I was still in the Army, but chose to wait until I was discharged from service, which was probably the smarter path to go on.  It just matters that now I have started on this blog, and there will many more entries to come.  So let the butthurt begin!

Disclaimer:The views expressed in this article [or, book, blog post, essay, op-ed] are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the [insert your agency, institution, organization], Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

The Angry Private! 
US Army Ordnance Corps 2009-2017
OEF 2010-2011