Army Rant
Reply With QuoteReserve Unit: Was pretty cool. Very laid back. The Sigo was an IBM exec or something, so he just sat on his laptop all day. He was a Major, and the Company CO (CPT) would come in and try to make us do stuff, and the Major would tell him we're busy and to go away. We were all laying on shelfs sleeping!! I also got a spot on Active Reserve, since they knew I wanted to go active. It was sweet...E2 making $2200/mo after taxes!!! Gotta love housing allowance! I didn't even earn that much when I was deployed in Iraq as an E4 with all my combat pay!!!
First Assignment: Well, I got my transfer to active after my Grp XO LTC Anderson (I still remember his name, he was that cool..retired SF!!) pulled a few strings. I got to the Prior-service barracks at Ft. Leonard Wood, and, damn, WWII barracks where we used to stay up at night and watch the rats run across the floor. Only 3 showers, 1 toilet, and 40 people. That was the out-processing station for Korea. Korea was pretty awesome. I was gonna do 20yrs for sure. I was in charge of an E5, as an E2, and I got my E3 waved for TIS/TIR (time in service/time in rank), which is a big deal, since you are only allowed to get one of those waved for a promotion. (takes a Colonel to sign off on it for both). I tried to do Green to Gold, and placed 2d overall after the boards, but they only had one person they could send that yr for a full "scholarship" and I didn't get it. If I had even a semester of college already, I would have been accepted. I had put in for an extension to stay in Korea, when I got my orders for my new unit. It was 5th SF GRP, Ft. Lewis. I talked to my Commo Chief, and he said to call the unit and talk to their Sigo and see what the unit was like. I was told they worked mostly in civies, had shuttles to the local colleges, and worked only 3-4 days a week. I cancelled my extension so I could go there and get some college and, hopefully, get accepted in Green to Gold!!
2d Assignment: I arrive at Ft. Lewis, and call the unit to pick me up. They tell me my spot is gone, and that I am going to normal inprocessing to goto another unit. The spot had been taken even before I called them!!! My new unit was decent, the 1SG was seriously cool. But I wasn't allowed to goto college. They had a sign-up sheet to enroll in the on-base college in the 1SG's office. I worked in the Orderly Room, so I was in the next room over, and I tried to sign up, but was told, "You are too mission critical to be away at school." because I was the only Commo guy in the unit. The supply sergeant was a told bitch. She tried to write me up for chewing gum in uniform. She woke me up one night in the field to change the batteries in the radio, the one she was manning. I told her it was her job, cause it was OPERATOR LEVEL to change batteries, and she threatened to write me up. She woke up the 1SG (same tent) yelling at me, and he told her to do her fucking job. Then, same field problem, she tried to write me up for backing a vehicle (HMMWV) without a ground guide. I was driving the 1SG's vehicle, and he told me to do it. Plus for a vehicle under 2.5tons, you aren't required to use a ground guide when backing during the day. She still wrote it up, and the 1SG watched her do it. He pulled me out and told me to go for a walk for about an hour or so. When I came back, the supply sergeant was pouting in the corner, and I was told she tried to get the 1SG to sign the write up and to put me in for an Art.15. The 1SG torn it up, wrote her up, and put it in her NCOER. I did all the proofing and typed all the NCOERs for the unit, so I got the privilege of actually typing it in!!! I hated her.
Then we got in a new CO and 1SG. I got an Art.15 for going to visit my soldier in the hospital. He got bit by a brown recluse (sp?) at the firing range the day before. I took him to the ER, and stayed with him until 3am. I called the 1SG, told him the situation, and he told me to come in after PT at 0900. I went back to the hospital and brought him some breakfast at 0800, found out they had saved his arm (they were saying they might have to cut it off), and showed up to work at 0900. The CO wrote me up for missing PT, and gave me an Art.15. The 1SG just shugged his shoulders when I tried to get him to help. Then the CO tried to write me up AGAIN for going to church while I was on extra duty for the Art.15. I went to JAG, and talked to the JAG officer. "What's your CO's number? Better yet, here is my number, you tell him to call me." I gave the number to the CO, and he was pissed!! I got a call from the JAG officer about an hour later, and was told that he had been effectively served a "restraining order". The CO had told the JAG officer that he was keeping 15% of the unit on extra duty, cause that is what he was taught in Company Commander course, and that I was the easiest for him to keep an eye on, and that's why I was getting the Art. 15s. She told him that he isn't to even mutter a bad word in my direction, or she would personally get his commision revoked and put him in prison. The next week, we had a ruckmarch, and the CO checked every one's rucks afterwards to ensure it was packed to the proper weight. He even weighed the 1SGs. When I came up in the line, he looked at me, and said, "Yours is good." without even weighing it. Unfortunately, my soldier (yes, same one with the bite) had put pillows in his ruck, so I volunteered to do the 12mile ruck again with him. Nothing like 24miles in one day (morning, and then evening) with a 55lbs ruck. The requirement was for 35lbs, but that's for pussies.
I was a super hard charger back then, which explains why I have bad knees, hips, and back now.
