Dropping some wisdom · 12:10am Jun 20th, 2013
For those of you in the military especially, take heed and take this to heart. For everybody else, you can appreciate this as well.
So, today we had a short-notice “sensing session” for every male in the squadron, regardless of rank. While this was spawned by and mainly focused on Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP), there was a period right in the middle where the squadron CSM used the opportunity of having every male from fuzzy to CO in one place to lay some wisdom on us. While I can’t recite it verbatim, I will paraphrase as best I am able, because I feel that these simple truths bear repeating.
CSM has a major issue with NCOs, such as squad and section leaders, “talking to their subordinates out of name.” What he meant by this is something we’re all familiar with; being called names and berated. If somebody is tore up from the floor up, you need to fix them regardless of rank discrepancy. At no point in time is it ever appropriate (in a garrison, non-combat environment) to lose your military bearing and professionalism. By “calling you out of your name” and calling you a window-licking rock-eater or a failed abortion, that person has stepped out of the bounds of professional conduct and into the realm of man-to-man. To this, the CSM stated “there is not enough room on this uniform for enough stars or wreaths for me to let somebody talk to me like that. Leaders sometimes confuse volume with being right. They seem to think that if they are loud enough, they can’t be wrong.” With this, I whole heartedly agree.
By insulting someone as a person instead of addressing them as a subordinate member of YOUR TEAM, you not only forgo any entitlement to respect but you open yourself up to a response in kind. What can you communicate with profanity and insults that could not be conveyed better and with more meaning in a professional manner? “Here, we’re in a low-threat environment. You don’t have to worry about being blown up or shot at every day. You get to go home at the end of every day. The biggest threat here is “Big Sarge”, who’s going to take you pay and your rank. He’s going to yell at you, make you feel like dirt, and maybe even fear him. But one day, you’ll find yourself downrange. When that day comes, you might find something you fear more than Big Sarge.
“If he’s ate up and you and your whole squad knows it, he can’t read a map or use a radio, are you going to follow his ass out on patrol? How about after he takes you down the wrong route and Specialist Snuffy loses his legs and an arm? You told him it was the wrong route, but he just yelled at you and called you a failed abortion oxygen thief. Would you follow him outside the wire again? FUCK no, you wouldn’t. Because now, there’s something you fear more than Big Sarge. He can put you at parade rest, but you still have legs to stand on. He can give you an Article, take you back to fuzzy and have you filling sandbags for forty-five days, but you still have your fucking legs.”
That was nearly verbatim what he said, and I agree entirely. The rest is paraphrased. You can be the biggest, hardest dude out there, there will always be something your Joes are more afraid of than you. Don’t assume that since you have some bars or stripes on your chest that you automatically know better than your squad, your section. Listen to your team, and they’ll respect you more for it. If they’re wrong, tell them, but maintain your military bearing while you do it. A good leader is one who can admit when he is wrong, can take advice from a subordinate, and who treats his team members as human beings. If you do this, if you set the example of a good leader, then your subordinates will follow you to the gates of hell itself. You, as NCOs, need to be creating the next generation of leaders. You need to make these PFC’s into Sergeants. But first, you need to take a good hard look at yourself and make damn sure that you are setting the example. “Consider this a Public Service Announcement, because if I hear or see this shit again… I will blow your ass in place. I will destroy you so hard not even Jesus can save you.”
I completely agree. When I was on my boat (submarine for the rest of you) there was one time I spilled some water on the deck while I was loading potable water onboard, the pettey officer I was working under called me "the poster child for pro choice". When I brought this up to my LPO he told me to "stop being a bitch and own up to my mistake". Needless to say my boat was #1 in the Pacific theater for unexpected losses. I could go own for hours about how the submarine community is inherently broken but I don't want to bring everyone else down. All I can say is that I wish we had some training like you had, then I might not have lost it like I did.
Thanks for passing that along man; this is definitely something everyone can take to heart no matter where they are. Being a future soldier myself, and seeing some scenarios you went over; I can say that I truly took this to heart. Hooah!
~Sparky
1155236
Sadly, we only recently started to receive this sort of training. And the only thing that brought this about was the fact that the CSM took personal offense to the degradation of soldiers in our unit.
I just try to be the example of leadership, or at least, what I think leadership should be.
1155261
Remember that no matter what you wear on your chest, you are dealing with human beings. They wear the same uniform, but they have their own issues. A lot of times, people seem to forget that Soldiers are humans in a uniform, not machines.
1155272
As you said previously; not just soldiers. There's been many a time that I've seen just several people act as such; whether they are acting like they're machines, or what-have-you. I think Everyone needs to just stop and think about what they are doing/saying/expecting of others every once in a while..
1155289
Well said. If you can't say it in a professional and courteous manner, it isn't worth saying.
1155272
Exactly, The Chiefs on my boat said that the senior leadership was there to push the junior enlisted until they broke. Those are the worst leaders you can have, the ones who abuse their subordinates because they were and think that's the way it should be because it always has been. Don't ever let anyone do that to you, you are a person who makes mistakes even when you try your best. The saddest part is you can't change their minds, they were broken years ago and won't fix it.
1155298
Yeah, sounds like a winning philosophy to me. I'm just glad you made it out of that toxic cesspool. 
Push them until they break? So, they were fostering a culture of mental abuse in an effort to... what? Fill a confined space with a slew of mentally unstable people trained in combat?