| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 84.1 | Some thoughts | DOCSRV::STARIN | US Navy Reserve 75 years 1915-1990 | Mon Apr 02 1990 14:01 | 31 |
| Re .0:
Here I go again (hey, somebody else hop in too)....
The transition you mentioned is one of the challenges that Reservists
face, especially if your job in the civilian world is at a higher
level than your Reserve job.
I reported aboard the USS KIDD in 1982 for two weeks of active duty.
I was a Radioman First Class at the time. I had a chance to talk
to the Comm. Officer aboard (a Lieutenant Junior Grade - I'm not
sure what the RN/RNR/RNVR equivalent is) and he began the conversation
as if I was a "typical" active Navy First Class Petty Officer. That
is, maybe a high school education or G.E.D. (high school equivalent).
Not that I'm any scholar (my grades in college prove that :-8)
but after a few minutes I was able to demonstrate that although
I was an enlisted puke, I had the same education level as this officer.
As a result, we got along fine. I should also mention the Chief
Radioman aboard the KIDD at the time had a Bachelor's degree and
was working on going to Law School. All in all, I got along great
with the Chief and the COMMO.
The moral is if you've got a head on your shoulders and an education,
don't hide it (but don't flaunt it either) while you're playing
RAF. There are probably lots of times when a little forethought
can save people a lot of trouble or more importantly their lives.
Hope that's what you were looking for....
Mark
RMC USNR
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| 84.2 | Don't stop suggestions | KAOO01::LAPLANTE | Spaceman Biff....my hero | Mon Apr 02 1990 14:59 | 14 |
|
Don't ever be hesitant about making suggestions or asking questions.
Just remember to do it in the proper manner and to the proper person.
Your immediate commander, whether a section commander, platoon
commander, or commanding officer is the one to approach. Even if
your suggestions won't work, have been tried before or anything
like that; if your commander is good it will be acknowledged.
It might be hard to get the nerve in a new organization, especially
a temporary one, but do it. Both you and the Reserves will benefit
from it.
Roger
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| 84.3 | | PEKING::NASHD | Whatever happened to Capt. Beaky? | Mon Apr 02 1990 17:48 | 12 |
| Yes, I think I understand. When receiving orders don't stand up
and ask the officer/senior nco,"Why don't we go around the...instead
of through it". but suggest it to the junior nco once we are out
and walking. Pretty obvious now you've mentioned it. But talking
to managers here is so easy.
I heard an old saying once that's stuck in my head,"Adaptability
is the key to survival". Time to adapt methinks.
Thanks, and any more comments.....
Dave
|
| 84.4 | | AKOV12::LORENTZEN | | Mon Apr 02 1990 19:08 | 49 |
| Sometimes we run into people who espouse that thinking and discipline
cannot coexist. That a soldier's duty is to follow orders immediately
and completely without question. Most of the time that works because
action must be taken quickly and that action may not be directly
supported by an individual's moral/ethical beliefs or perspective.
However, there are cases where blindly following orders is not a good
course of action. One case is when the order is not lawful. Now this
is a very sticky area and I am by no means a barracks lawyer but we can
all imagine extreme situations where an order might be given which is
in direct violation of the law of the land. An example might be if
your commander ordered your platoon to rob a bank. (Now don't go
getting any ideas! 8-) ) Another case might be where an order is
given which seems completely immoral and outrageous such as killing
all of the civilians in a town or village. Lots of examples of this
in every war. In a situation like that you could very well be found
at fault, courtmartialed and (in an extreme case) executed as a
criminal even though you were "just following orders". Or, if you
refused, you might still be courtmartialed for NOT following orders.
There is also the concept that the person on the ground, at the scene,
is in the best position to know what to do. Let's say you're on guard
duty on your unit's perimeter and the unit comes under attack. You can
see that the unit is withdrawing to another position and yet the Sgt of
the Guard has not relieved you. Would you stay at your post and be
killed or captured even though everyone is gone and there is no more
perimeter to be guarded? And if you did "bug out" only to find later
that your perception was wrong and your squad had simply maneuvered with
the expectation that you would still be at your post to guard their flank
what do you think would happen? No easy answers.
What all this comes down to is that soldiers are disciplined and taught
to obey orders because combat is not rational. There is no time to
convince people to put themselves into grave danger. Should you
question orders and point out "better ways" to do things? Maybe. But
you'd better be right.
If I could give advice I would say that you should do your job to the
best of your ability, carry out your orders and discuss them afterwards
if you still feel the urge. No NCO or officer will appreciate someone who
is constantly questioning decisions and orders. Neither will your fellow
soldiers. And when you have the wisdom, experience and rank on your
uniform, neither will you.
Len
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| 84.5 | tight rope walking | MPGS::MCCLURE | Why Me??? | Tue Apr 03 1990 13:37 | 36 |
| Geeez, NCOPD. My favorite topic 8-).
Someplace in the PAMs on the duties and responsibilities of an
NCO is mention of this stuff. It is much more difficult to implement
for a reservist with a civilian leadership role. But, I feel if
you remember the principles, you wont go too far wrong. I forgot
them once and got relieved from my position. The Commander was
wrong, but he was the Commander. Probably the best illustration
of the principle is the relationship between the Infantry Platoon
Sergeant and the Platoon Leader. It takes a minimum of 5yrs for
a Sergeant to get into that position. The 2LT one year. The prudent
Lt will ask the advice of his Plt Sgt, but it is the Lt's job to
make the final decision. For the Plt Sgt, his duty is to inform
the Lt about anything that may affect the platoon's ability to
perform and make suggestions about how the task should be accomplished.
But, once the Lt makes the decision, it is the Sgt's duty to carry
out the order even if he doesn't think it is the correct way to
accomplish the mission. Providing, of course, that the order does
not endanger the welfare of the platoon. It is NOT the duty of the
Sgt to tell the squad leaders what an idiot the Lt is for not taking
his suggestion. This is where the 'proffesionalism' comes in. Its a
tough pill to swallow when you KNOW it wont work, but you have to
educate those Lts some how 8-).
At D.E.C, we all get to voice our opinions on the direction a project
should take. If the Manager decides to go a different way, what do
you think will happen if you don't cooperate? In the military, the
disciplinary action is immediate. In D.E.C., it might wait until
our next salary review. The major difference, is our ability in
the civilian world to approach the decision makers on a casual
basis. The thing to keep in mind, is that you have to more formal
in the military and that disrespect goes in one direction only.
That is UP. The other direction is poor leadership, not disrespect.
But poor leadership is not an offense for non-judicial punishment.
Bob Mc
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| 84.6 | Do your share & half again; its easy! | LEDS::HORSEY | | Mon May 21 1990 21:38 | 12 |
| I'll tell you something that really gets noticed and helps you along in
the military, and that is a cheerful willingness to pitch in and do
more than your share of the job. If you have to fill sandbags, fill
half again as many as anyone else, and build the bunker too. If you
have to clean the barracks until 5, work until 6. I had a
communications PFC who understood this perfectly. A dozen "No problem,
sir, I'll take care of it!"s, and he was a Lance Corporal. Six months
later, during which time he was often voluntarily up a pole fixing
commo wire at 12:30 or 1 AM, a Corporal's slot opened up. Yep, he got
it. He was of a rare minority who instead of saying "Oh god, more work
to do" said "Isn't it lucky we have work to do today", sort of like an
old-country craftsman rather than an assembly-line worker.
|
| 84.7 | | PEKING::NASHD | Whatever happened to Capt. Beaky? | Tue May 22 1990 08:05 | 4 |
| >> "Isn't it lucky we have work today!"
I like that.....thanks.
|
| 84.8 | Keep smilin..... | PEKING::BECKC | | Wed May 23 1990 08:53 | 23 |
|
Take your commission and then you can give out the orders.
At first I found it hard to except discipline, but now its water
off a ducks back, as was said in previous notes, keep smiling and
be ever willing to do the job and your laughing.
A couple of weekends back, I was asked to go out into the field
with the RRTT (Regimental Recruits Training Team) as the Medic,
they asked me to do a lesson and some cas sim, which I did whole
heartedly, at the end of the weekend I had the SGTM and CSGT both
praising me for a good job done, as well as a pat on the back,
and that meant something, because they had noticed how hard I had
worked and that they had appreciated it.
I don't know if this helped, but it made a big difference to how
I felt about the TA, because most of the time you are treated like
morons and priase is not often given.
Dustie
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