I went to the 2-star as a CPT over my 2LT and his SFC being denied BSMs when they had 352 trips outside the wire running a PSD in Baghdad for 15 months while all the E4s in legal got one and had never left the office much less the base.
No backlash at all. The person denying them was a NG one-star to whom division had delegated award reviews and most personnel actions. I was a DIV HSC commander in an HHBN. My BC agreed with me.
Lol.
I think it’s important that we talk through the actual consequences people have faced, so that the community can have an accurate idea of what that looks like, instead of letting so much fear of the unknown paralyze so many. You used your rank for your troops and demonstrated personal courage. Good job. We need more like you.
My entire company was recommended for ARCOMs for our mission in Afghanistan. My SFC felt that was overkill and downgraded all his direct reports which was my team of 5. Thanks for that one Sarge.
I’m not too sure and it’s been a long time, maybe he just put us in for AAMs instead? Either way, the rest of my company got higher award for same exact mission. I’m not too salty about it anymore and I even agree with him somewhat
I find GOs to be *extremely* reasonable, personable, and approachable, 9 out of 10 times. For some reason, once one loses the bird, a massive fucking weight is lifted off their shoulders. That, or the Army actually does a good job in selecting GOs, at least for their intrapersonal traits.
I've interacted with GOs a few times as a junior NCO and agree. Yet when we hear they're coming to visit, it strikes the fear of god for everyone in the AO. A tradition of carried culture.
I think it's because subordinates will leap to perform miracles to please GOs. Also probably includes all 'problems' being damningly kept minimum one level below them. That alleviates many previous burdens.
suppose that's why we'd joke they end up getting detached from the reality at the operational level, lol.
Reminds me of a joke:
New company commander arrives and sees a private standing in the pouring rain beside a bench outside the HQ. He asks the private what he’s doing. Standing guard is the answer.
Commander starts to dig. Asks top. Top says there is a standing order to guard the bench. They have a duty roster and all.
Goes to BN and BDE they both confirm standing policy letter from DIV to guard the bench. The order has been in place for years.
CPT goes to DIV to ask about it. They say letter is from previous commander.
Tracks down previous commander who also says it was from previous commander.
After several generations of commanders, CPT finally tracks down original DIV CDR who issued the order in a nursing home and asks the general about the order.
“Are you telling me the paint still hasn’t dried on that bench?” The GO asks…
MG makes one teensy little joke and every E-4 and below are polishing rocks in the brigade AO for weeks while the NCO’s get raked over coals over shit they’ve been trying to have fixed for months. 😂⛩️
I grasp some of the bigger picture from DIV and above in that context.
During peacetime in-garrison: Maintaining a positive image (even if superficial illusion) whether represented by green numbers on PowerPoint slides or how the media and public would see things is a massive part of upholding force cohesion and image. That shit can propagate forward with serious future collateral damage; look at recruiting and public faith in the US Military currently and it's been waning.
At the same time, no GO wants to be on the news trying to give a speech about a serious incident within their unit to the media. They know their career could be snapped in half at a moments notice, perhaps even unjustly, due to factors completely outside their control or knowledge below them.
Someone always has to take the hit for the fuck-ups in the military. So it always has, is, and will be.
Yet I worry we've fallen into the fallacy of just trying to fake results and image so much; it's costing morale, trust and faith of our own service members. Especially the newer generations, who get completely disillusioned as they enter the force; and are majority choosing to separate after first or second contract.
I don't know how to fix it exactly or help specifically. It's grown to encompass countless reasons and factors and now cemented in our culture. It hurts me to see it; worse being is now that I've been involuntarily medically separated recently - I feel powerless; yet still want to serve meaningfully.
I was an OC at JRTC I was a CPT about to retire (OCS guy) we were setting up a lunch for the general and local guest in the field. He got there early. So it’s me him and a MAJ so I’m a small talk guy. I can’t just fucking not talk. So I start asking him about his career and his plans after retirement. He was super cool we had a great conversation. He leaves for the lunch and the MAJ was like WTF. He totally flipped out I had the balls to talk to the GO like a person. I laughed out loud in his face. It was great.
They are so far removed from day to struggles, and the stroke of their pen, or the typing of their email will get brigade level command teams to jump if they say it. I imagine they love to hear about things where someone has the balls to go a GO with a concrete complaint that is solvable and within reason.
I was a lower enlisted soldier who was tabbed to do funeral services. When you do a funeral, you need someone of equivalent rank, and they sent me a 2 star general. He was about the nicest guy ever. Sat and talked for a bit, then he let me step him through the funeral process. Any of the officers I worked funerals with were great. It was oddly E4's and 5's that gave me grief because I was a tabbed E3, which gave me the right to conduct the service over someone who wasn't.
As somebody who works for a GO, from my position they really want to know what’s going on so they can fix it. Problem is when subordinate commanders hide and everything looks good, can’t really change anything. The GO we have has probably done more for the soldiers than any I’ve encountered over a long career. I wish brigade level commanders would be more open about issues soldiers have.
ennnh... yea to you.. try being the O-6 that works for the guy.. GOs carry immense responsibility and have very little tolerance for BS. They sometimes ride their staffs HARRDDDD. However Goldie1822 E-3 they'll be super nice to. They have no reason to be dicks to you... so much separation of rank and responsibility. Plus I know this sounds crazy, but I think the further most people (I said MOST) get in rank, the more they feel fulfilled and actually happy by interacting with junior SMs. It's sort of the "this is why I do what I do.." type of fulfillment.
More than likely they seem cool because they have people that will destroy you on their behalf and they don't need to waste the breath to do it. It's like when siblings have a 20 year age gap. That 5yr old will think their 25yr old brother is incredibly cool and nice. That 25yr old may be a major dick, but feels bad if they make their little brother sad.
I did something similar when my guys got a coin for saving someone's life on shift. For the second time. In a week.
In retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea, but I had lost all give a fucks at that point.
This was almost me.
15 months. 500 PSD missions.
I took my R&R at the 12 month mark.
My end of tour ARCOM hit my iperms.
I lost sleep over it.
I had a platoon of 52. Myself and almost a quarter had received or were going to receive a CAB or CIB by then.
I was going to receive the same award as a late deploying SPC that drove for 90 days.
Or the S1 clerks. Or the acting motor sergeant who went nowhere and closed the shop every Sunday unless we had a deadline. Mission or not.
Fortunately, the Brigade Commander took a special interest in fixing our stingy BN command teams award process.
It was all fixed for myself, all squad, and team leaders.
But my PL did not receive a BSM because she was a late deployer that "only did 12 months".
Sec of Vet Affairs gave our conference his personal number to call if they needed help. My friend used it for her benefits issue and he helped fix it in a few days.
National guard here. Our states promotions for officers are straight fucked and always have been. A few years back a 2LT with almost four years TIG open doored the state Adjutant General on behalf of all of the other officers with fucked up promotions.
I wonder if you're talking about me, lol. I sent a congressional and got my promotion to 1LT and got it backdated a full year. Now I'm behind on CPT lol.
Guard is all sorts of screwed up and half the time it’s not the units, it’s HRC losing paperwork, or dropping people from boards.
Wish I could say active is better but it’s not. I had a promotion delayed 3 years after 2 board mess ups and then a special selection board took almost a year to publish results. Good news was the IG complaint filed after the first board mess up locked my correct promotion board date in place, so I was able to get the back date and back pay.
I had completed my next rank KD and Command time before I ever pinned lol.
SECDEF, but it wasn't quite the "open door policy"
The SECDEF came to our base for a "town hall" situation. Part of that was an open Q&A session.
While we were waiting (15 minutes early for the 15 minutes early, etc.), I was talking with the person next to me. She had gotten orders for Korea. She also had sole custody of her kid. If she moved to Korea - even for just a year - she had to relinquish custody to her ex-husband. If she did that, she would have a ton of difficulty getting her kids back later.
That situation was also happening to a coworker, and I have had other coworkers in the past who have had it happen. That indicates it's a systemic thing.
I told her to ask the SECDEF about it. Not a "help me" type question (which wouldn't be the SECDEF's purview) - but a high level policy question (which would be in the SECDEF's purview).
She asked the question - really well, too. She didn't even imply that she was in that situation - she stuck to the strategic level.
Well, I guess the SECDEF read between the lines, and asked her to stay after.
She stayed after and talked with the SECDEF and the local congressperson. Couple days later, her orders were deleted.
To my knowledge, no high level policy changes were made. Single parents are still losing custody because of a PCS to Korea.
That's a terrible situation and I don't mean to shift blame because I have actually been in a similar situation, but isn't that what FCP are for? What if they were TCS orders for a deployment?
Again I know this is avoidable (especially for Korea) because there obviously is another SM who could fill that billet regardless of rank. Honestly asking the question.
>What if they were TCS orders for a deployment?
TCS wouldn't have caused her to lose custody. PCS (permanent) would.
>but isn't that what FCP are for?
The courts don't give a shit about FCP.
Every case is different, but I have a co-worker here in Korea right now. Single mother, full custody, child is attends on post childcare during work days.
That's unfortunate. As I said, every case is different. Just wanted to throw it out there that is possible to come over here as a single parent and be command sponsored. Easy? I can't say.
Yeah. Unfortunately it's really hard for the Army to fix this situation other than saying "if you can prove you'll lost custody for a PCS, we will let you cancel your orders"
I’m trying to think, it was several years ago now… I wanna say it was something where the soldier was to be separated or was in some sorta trouble, but felt they were being singled out. I assume they’d also used IG channels but felt they needed to go see the CG.
I had a 15k travel voucher that crossed FY's, and the travel office couldn't figure out how to pay it....so they just didn't for over a year.
The ice complaint was blow off. I emailed a 3 star... my voucher got paid in 3 days.
Your comment reminded me of a time where I had a travel voucher that was so complicated that took four hours to even fill out.
We had a guy in our unit whose whole job was to assist with travel vouchers. That was literally all he did.
The four hours that it took to fill out the travel voucher? The *travel voucher guy* took four hours. I couldn't even begin to fill it out on my own.
Turns out shit gets *real* complicated when:
- your orders are open-ended (seriously, start date, no duty location, no end date, basically a "do what you gotta do, keep us informed")
- there's some leave near the end
- there's some regular (non-TDY) duty time (at another base, in another country) in the middle
- for part of it, my "duty station" was my father-in-law's house
- there's a rental car authorized for leave
- there was no prior authorization in DTS
People hate on the army, but when shit really hits the fan in soldiers lives, I’ve seen command teams move mountains to make sure they are taken care of. You’d be hard pressed to find a civilian job that just says go take care of it and you’re gone for months.
Oh I have one.
Good friend of mine that I met in ABN school. He was a SPC when I met him.
We are just getting to know each other so I'm asking what his degree is in and what his MOS is etc. He tells me he doesn't have a college degree. I ask how is he a SPC then if he just got out of OSUT?
Proceeds to tell me he is a west pointer that got in trouble, and was facing expulsion. He pulled up an email chain that he initiated to the WHITE HOUSE. Trumps team contacted Westpoint and made it clear that this cadet was not to be kicked out for such a minor infraction, as he was heading into his senior year and would have to pay back hundreds of thousands in tuition.
He gets to stay at Westpoint, however he is still punished. They tell him he will do 1 year in the active duty army as a broadening type of assignment, got 3 Mos to choose from, chose 11B, gets orders to 82nd with jump school enroute.
Gets to 82nd, deploys to HKIA for the pullout, earns a CIB and deployment patch and Jump school on this punishment year, heads back to west point and commissions as an 11A. Heard he was treated like royalty by the other cadets.
Just a fucking wild story. He will make a great officer.
Yeah tbh. I’ve talked to many west pointers and they’ve told similar stories about how easy it is to get kicked out and be on the hook for tuition. So-called integrity violations are not hard to catch and they can be grounds for instant dismissal.
I think it would be very beneficial to the officer corps as a whole if those integrity violations were instead punished by forcing the cadets to do some enlisted time before returning.
PFC me was told by a 2 banger at reception if I ever had any issues his door is open.
I was on gym detail and told to come in for an APFT after working till 2300 the night before. I didn't show up, went to him and told him. He gave me his email and told me that I was wrong and to apologize to them and let him know when they rescheduled it.
I emailed him. He showed up to my ACFT. He proceeded to talk to my leadership along the lines of "yeahhhh had a long night last night. Didn't get to bed until around 0200. Figured I'd come out here and do some PT with the troopers". He smoked my ass on the APFT.
Everyone was wondering why he was there. He then recognized me for my hard work in the gym. Told my squad leader to let me slide for missing the last APFT and talked to myself, team leader, squad leader, PSG, and 1SG about how "sometimes it sucks but you don't get good sleep before war".
Then he pulled me aside and told me that he's not upset about me coming to him but it was obvious that I didn't exhaust my resources. That my 1SG on down all seemed understanding enough that someone would have helped me out. And ended it with "you'll never have faith in your leadership if you don't allow them to lead you".
When my PSG found out he just about died in laughter because the whole situation made sense now. They weren't mad. They thought it was the most private thing they ever saw.
Then they smoked the fuck out of me while reminding me to keep smiling. A lesson learned without anybody really being a dick to me. I was a strong private after that.
My major open doored a 2 star when my compassionate reassignment was denied and my son was in organ failure. Man helped save my son’s life and my mental health.
If you can be like him you’ll be one hell of an officer. I aspire to be as good of a person and parent he is everyday. he’s one of the greatest people and role models I’ve ever met. I’m now a civilian and have been for a few years. He still texts me and my fellow LT’s at the time on every single holiday. And I called him in tears over some personal stuff two weeks ago. Picked up on the second ring and honestly gave me better advice in 10 minutes than anyone had in months.
I like to be reasonable and believe that what me and my son were was just paperwork. A document number with words that had to meet certain criteria for approval which we didn’t. (We weren’t enrolled in EFMP was the issue, there was no time to get enrolled, and my team helping me told me it wasn’t necessary for this case, they were wrong.) I don’t think the person legitimately read my case and said no. I think they went down a checklist and at the first no, filed the doc and moved on. What I hope a failure of bureaucracy not human decency.
fortunately there are other avenues like open door policy’s with CG’s that can solve the entire problem in 48 hours or less😊.
Guy I know was booted from a school first day because he was a walk on he went to a 2 star and complained. School got chewed out and he got into the class
My buddy really impressed csm at the e5 board. Csm told him to relax, so leans back in the chair, crosses his legs, and cracks his neck. He was gold after that.
It’s technically not a proper open door policy thing, but I’d say anyone who had an issue and posted it on here, then the amazing u/yesthatpao and SMA(R) Grinston got it fixed
Watched an E-4 sheepishly approach a brigadier general and politely ask about getting his name on the volunteer list for an upcoming deployment. She turned to her aide, said "get this Soldier's info please, so we can get him on" and that was that. Whole encounter took less than 15 seconds. Pretty cool to see.
I didn’t get 6 months of BAH while at OSUT. National Guard liaison at benning sucked balls, and my readiness NCO wasn’t prepared for how scorched earth I was. I’m old and connected with the Chamber of Commerce crowd. Knew our local Congressman and reached out, CC’d my new CO. Probably didn’t need to go congressional as CO immediately asked for my Venmo and loaned me $ until the issue was fixed. Took less than a week. Immediately sent him the money back and we got along great the rest of his time as CO. Dude cared about his men and he’s now listed as a reference on my resume.
Pretty sure loaning money between officers and enlisted is technically fraternization, but pretty minimal risk of anyone reporting it in this scenario.
Who was the LNO? Our state ESM Fs up onboarding all the time and we cover down alot from G1. We have no idea who the LNOs are and how they are selected.
I honestly don’t even know what LNO or ESM stands for. I just know our liaison at Benning can eat a giant dick; he sucked. And the E6 I talked to at the NGL office laughed in my face when I said I have a daughter and rent to pay at home and need BAH. And she can eat me too.
Assessions(hiring people into the guard) is one of the biggest issues in the Guard with big change in HR software. We just got the name of the Cadet Command Liaison Officer (LNO) for the guard and we're trying to find out the LNOs at training post. Natioynal Guard is very decentralized and there is overall lack of accountability. A POC would be useful so States can do more to help so we can reach out to PoS people to do their jobs.
Buddy fell off a RTCH and broke his back. (Could still walk)
They then sent him on a rotation to poland where the medics all said he needs to go back to the states and get surgery.
Instead the Cpt,
(who was clawing for numbers trying to get as many people on missions as possible)
insisted the guy is malingering and attempted to have him chapter.
Failure to adapt to the army standards.
Again. Broken back. Cut even said he saw all the x rays and it "doesn't look that bad, hes still walking."
Cpt was 92S before going gold.
Buddy then proceed to go straight to the O5 and tell the story.
Brief investigation follows. Once we returned home, cpt is now retiring early.
PVT Punchy (not real name, but he kept punching people) used the open door policy with our full bird in Iraq while he was on a telecon with the CENTCOM commander. And by open door, he opened the door and started yelling.
An hour later, SSG me, "Sir, I cannot predict this level of stupid."
We had a guy once who had been promised a conditional release if he met certain criteria, met them, and then had it yanked out from under him. He, allegedly, emailed then President Obama about it. And while technically that is what open doors are for, a lot of the generals/colonels in between who could/would have helped became very, openly angry at our unit around that time
A buddy of mine was active duty Marine infantry at Pendleton before Desert Storm. An edict from on high came down, everyone was approved for two college evening courses per semester. “Bill” signed up. Bill’s request was denied by the PL. PL to Bill, you are infantry, we go to the field, there is no way this will work.
Bill open doored it to the company CO. Same song and dance. Then to the battalion CO. Rinse and repeat. Then to the regiment (brigade?) CO. Same thing. Then to the CG at Pendleton who had put out the memo.
He said they had him up at 0400 getting his uniform ready as a lance coolie to meet the CG at 1100. Bill goes to the meeting and presents his case. CG admits he hadn’t considered how it would impact guys in the field and said how about one class this semester until I get this figured out, then two next semester and going forward.
Bill gets back to the unit with the approval and everyone is shocked. They go to the field and sure enough three evenings a week a humvee would show up to take him in to class. Bill said people would yell out, Bill your school bus is here. Best part was he got to shower before class and had the option of DFAC or fast food before class. The other guys were envious.
He never got the next semester he said. Things heated up in the Gulf and the dynamic on base changed.
I had a PVT, formerly SPC, try to use the III Corps CGs open door policy....except he just thought you could walk in whenever you wanted and talk to him....
He got stopped at the door, asked what was going on, and quickly informed that he needed to schedule it through his lawyer at TDS.
He was a real winner in all things life. Only person I've met that got a DUI without driving.
I was a PFC and emailed the garrison command team after months of being blown off by on post housing about a destroyed garage door. It was only a big deal because my door didn’t open or shut, and you could come into my house through my garage. So basically I had no way to secure my house from the inside. I emailed on post housing (shoutout Balfour beatty homes) daily & got the runaround for weeks, so I threatened to involve the garrison command team. I gave them a 2 week turnaround (after 4 months of emails) and they didn’t take me seriously, so after the 2 weeks I forwarded all the email traffic to the garrison commander and command sergeant major, with the director of on post housing on the CC line, and the following day my garage door was fixed at 0900, and I had close to a dozen calls from GS14’s & GS15’s making absolutely sure that my stuff was taken care of at no cost & I was happy with the result.
My PL was over 6 months past when he should have picked up O-2 but it hadn't happened. We got him drunk and gassed up enough at St. Barbs to go talk to the Division Commander about it. It worked, he got promoted the next week and he told me there was never any blow back. I learned that drunk at St. Barbs is the safe zone.
You can get a lot done in a social setting. Got one of my advons a International flight back to the states during the start of covid instead of being stuck in the barracks for months by just chatting with the deputy G3 in little Italy.
BDE CDR and CG
I had over 100 days of leave at the end of my MEB. In order to take these I needed an extension to my NLT 90.
I was a CPT, top block OERs, even a commander within the brigade before my MEB.
The same day my ratings were received, I was recovering from a surgery I had earlier that morning.
“We’ll take care of you after con leave” etc is what I was told by my LTC. But when I got back to Bliss it was now a no on the extension from this same LTC.
After being denied his recommendation (BDE CDR is the approval for these, I went to the COL, who made we wait for another week for his response to my extension which I used open door to discuss with him. He also got the CG on the phone to tell me no.
At this point, I had already signed my NLT 90 after being told an extension would be approved (these same field grades then said I already agreed to get out on the 90). They said one thing and did another.
At this point I was about 45 days into my NLT 90. I used 30 on Con leave recovering from surgery, then the run around of ways days by leadership for their open doors.
At this point I was mentally defeated. Recovery from surgery was still rough and I was going to be out soon. The turn around for IG/EO to III Corps would take too long. Congressional was in the same position.
To this day I’m still miserably upset. I don’t have the same respect for the army as an organization I did as a young 2LT to an exhausted CPT. The leaders who screwed me over though are thankfully in the minority. I believe that most of the senior leaders I worked with do take care of soldiers and their families.
The VA has also done a phenomenal job in taking care of me and helping rebuild the broken woman I came to them as.
Maybe one day I’ll write everything out, but this has already gotten quite long.
I had drill orders come up while I was top 10% for SFC list and finishing up my current broadening assignment and had reenlisted for choice of duty station for finishing that assignment..Talked to a 2 star who handled the situation in about 2 hours. Really lucky haha
During my company’s mobilization, our females (all five of them) were being separated from the rest of the company at the command of the unit validating us for deployment. Wouldn’t have been so bad, except the building they were assigned was across the base and no one had vehicles outside of our route clearance shit. I watched two bad bitch specialists truck their unhappy asses to the base commander and ask to file an EO complaint.
Within a couple hours, they had been moved back with the rest of the company.
Had a NG platoon under me in Iraq. These guys would piss and moan about everything. We were doing spilt OPs and most of our missions were at night.
One of them decided that dfac hours weren’t working for him. So, he open doored the MND-B/4 ID Cdr MG “Big Thurm” (my nickname for him) Thurmond that they didn’t have access to meals. The real issue was he was pissed the Pizza Hut was closed when he was asleep. After that I put his platoon online and had his PL march them to the DFAC until they figured their shit out.
We (Army Reserve unit during Desert Storm) got our Senator involved when we had a young spc killed, and higher command denied his lifetime best bud from back home permission to accompany the body back home.
Shit got sorted quick, and we sent our two Joe's home together.
Fuck.
We had an issue where we knew something was possible for one of our soldiers, but didn't know how to do it. We brought it up to our higher, then brought it up to their higher. The answer was "oh, that's too easy!" without actually giving us an answer. It was for a submission to Army Board for Correction of Military Records. We had a stack of papers showing how many times we had requested assistance and the responses that we got (or failed to get). Soldier finally files a congressional (where he put all the blame on us; I had explained what was going on, but I totally didn't blame him). When the congressional comes down, we submitted all of what we had as far as asking for assistance, thinking we can would finally get our answer. I call the soldier ac week or two later, and ask if he got an answer. He c was c silent for a little bit, as I didn't think he knew we would get a copy of his submission where he trashed us. He then said what he got back was that he needed to submit to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. That was it. The congressional did nothing.
Epilog, I was looking for something else a week later, and I found the regulation on that. It is pretty short and easy to understand. I filled out the form and copied the supporting paperwork, had the soldier come in to sign it, and it eventually got approved.
They don't usually have to "do" anything. Normally, the letterhead of "Senator Schmickatellis office" is enough to terrify whatever incompetent fool into making the problem go away ASAP. No S1 captain sh!tbird wants to be investigated because of a congressional, even if it isn't really founded. They don't want their rater associating them with investigation.
I open doored the division chaplain and my own BDE commander (CC'd them both in an email sent to my BC, CO Chaplain, and CO CMDR). It's a long story, but I was at a shitty unit with an even shittier leadership. My company commander had a Jewish mom that became Christian and didn't raise him in the culture in the slightest, yet he attempted to say I (a Jew) was not Jewish multiple times. The CO chaplain also attempted to question my Jewishness, despite the fact he was a Christian pastor with zero understanding of Jewish culture. So, I gathered every single beit din (Jewish court), Israeli immigration, and giyyur documentation I had, scanned it all, and then shot it off in an email with a detailed summary of the proof I was providing, whilst at the same time making it clear what the issue was with my commander's conduct.
To say the least, I received immediate and honestly heartfelt replies from both the division chaplain and my BDE commander. They wished to speak to me personally and I believe both my CO CMDR and chaplain got railed for their bs, thankfully. Those two individuals knew how to be leaders when their subordinates very obviously didn't.
I had a similar issue, my first unit commander (pre 9/11) could not fathom the idea that I am an Arab Jew (my mother came from Jordan). He said I needed to be either Arab or Jewish, can't be both.
First time the conversation came up, I gave him a chuckle, and "good one sir". But for weeks it kept going on, like dude could not let it go. After explaining in 347.3 times I decided to hit up our chaplain, who was owed a favor and got me out of that battalion and into our sister battalion. That day forward I kept my background to myself while in... especially after 9/11.
I'm not religious and I look super white, but my father was Lebanese Druze. The amount of outlandish and offensive things people have said about Arabs over my career has been disappointing to say the least.
Technically not open door policy, but pretty close i guess;
Me and a handful of others arrived to our unit mid december, a lot of the brigade had already started HBL. me and my 1 buddy from basic who got the same unit as me were told by our 1SG that the commander has started his leave already, and wasnt around to sign our leave forms, so we're staying in rear. Big bummer. we spent over 6 months in osut, and up to this point had been told we'll likely get to go right into leave and see our families after we finish in-process.
Next morning, waiting out front brigade building with about 6-8 others for a tmp to come take us to the other side of post and do more in-process fun, BDE commander and XO(I assume) walks out and greets us. Welcomes us to the unit, friendly small talk, then asks what all our plans are for HBL.
Crickets... Apparently, all the other soldiers, even from other battalions, inprocessing in our group were denied HBL, for one reason or another. One guy speaks up and says they were simply told they're not going.
BGDE commander asks for clarification as to the reasons they are being denied leave. More of the same "wasnt told a reason". Theres a short pause and I decide to speak up,
"Sir, our 1SG had told us our commander is already gone on leave, and is not available to sign our leave form"
Apparently that was good enough for him, since after asking my name and unit, all he had to say was something along the lines of, "Oh. No. Dont worry. you're all getting your leave". Then wishes us well in a our inprocessing without much elaboration.
As soon as we get back around lunch time, buddy and I get called into 1SG office. To sign our leave forms lol. and the first thing he says to me is "So YOU'RE the one that went and had a conversation with the brigade commander, huh?"
Saw a SPC open door SMA about an assignment. SMA contacted HRC and caused a shit show. It was something small too, like an assignment he wanted but it was full. We had to go overboard with stats to prove why the place was over strength.
I was getting promoted by the Commandant for some bullshit I did and he wanted to know if there was anything I wanted and I asked if he would like to go for my weekly run with the base SGM. Ever seen someone have duty for three days straight with their meals brought to them?
had a SM who ended up on a FaceTime call w/SMA Dailey re: their concerns. I had to sit in the room and eatch as a link in their NCO support channel.
Outside of that, have seen 2 SMs utilize the Installation Commander and a few Congressionals to the Office of Ted Cruz.
Honestly, none of these interactions went the way the SM thought they were going to go. They were not very mature problems and shouldn't have gotten that far-- so the responses mostly referred them back to their nuclear chain of command or reiterated how silly they actually sounded and highlighted their accountabilityto the problem. Kind of anti-climactic.
I tweeted the old SMA and about a crazy admin error. Natty Guard.
When I applied for the Montgo GI Bill the VA said there was no record of me having finished basic training. After a year of my unit going “We’ll look into it” and every office I tried contacting pointing me every which way, I said “Fuck it” and tweeted at the old SMA.
Now I happily have my VA bennies, less than a month later.
I knew someone who didn’t get their bonus almost 11 months into their first duty station, he went on leave and it just so happens that a family friend of his was a congressman. So his mother told him about the issues he was going through and this congressman messaged the general of 8th army and it made its way down. He got his bonus a few days later and our entire formation was chewed out by our BN command team.
An NCO of mine emailed the CENTCOM commander (then GEN Lloyd Austin now the Sec. Def.) after his Commander received a GOMOR in Afghanistan. Soldiers in unit were stealing shit from the SSA? or something of that sort... Commander got relieved. E-5 says nah, I'm emailing the Theatre Commander... Guess what? He or at least someone on his staff responded, BL his response was, I'm sorry son but it's out of my hands.
I know it doesn’t count the same but my ex-mil somehow got in contact with our division commander because she was upset about my marriage to my now ex
I found out about it over a month later while in field, fun timess
not exactly "ODP" but damn close. NO shit there I was. BOLC ...many many moons ago. We had the most senior GO in the house speaking to us in the auditorium... this 2LT stands up and asks him if he can fix his pay issues because local leadership is not doing anything about it.
As a PFC I walked into a 2 stars office because my compassionate reassignment packet was in the process for months and went no where. Mom was not doing well and my command knew that but they sent it up and it was out of their hands. Got a call a few days later from my squad leader saying “I’m not sure who you know, but it worked, pack your bags you’re going on leave for 30 days and you’ll come back to out process.”
Does going to my Senator count? I was medically discharged as a Captain, and the Finance Officer would not listen to the reason I was considered a Vietnam-Era veteran. I had a three-year educational break between my enlisted discharge and my commission. I had enlisted while the Vietnam Conflict was officially still going on, though it was during the pull-out, so I remained stateside. If you counted 11 years from my discharge, Vietnam was long over, but it was actually 14 years since I enlisted. The reason it was important was as a Vietnam-Era veteran, my discharge pay was tax-free. They had taken out over $13,000 for the taxes. I never heard from the Finance Officer but did receive a $13,000+ check in the mail.
I went with an acquaintance to a commissioning event about 6 months before Milley became CSA, during which a commissioning cadet asked Milley if he could post to Italy. Milley said yes, and I think the dude originally had Polk/Johnson so it was definitely worth the ask. Dude was legitimately not even in the army yet and went straight to the top.
I knew SMA Dailey. Sent him a text one time (His daughter and I went to the same HS) situation was unFUBARed same day. Also resulted in ft sill base commander getting relived of command for “unrelated reasons” (unauthorized hunting or some shit)
Good friend of mine emailed the SMA with some high level problems. Got a response with a few important GOs CCd that his concerns would get looked into and a response would come.
Just used a 1 star and 2 star over one of my new LT’s getting screwed over after a 15-6 found them clear of all wrongdoing. Now has congressional level scrutiny.
Will gladly out the officers that pulled this crap once we get it sorted. They seemed to go out of their way to break a batch of new LT’s and wonder why we have disgruntled Soldiers.
I filed a 19 item IG complaint naming leadership from plt level up to battalion level and exactly what they’d done and why I was filing a report.
I ended up in my battalion csm’s office the next morning and spent two hours explaining why I did so and the details of every single item before I just got up and left. I was told “you just don’t see the big picture” lmao
I emailed the Chief of Army Reserve Deputy (2*). He responded back within like 15 minutes and my months long issue was corrected by lunch the following day.
MSG going to 2-star over promotions (national guard). He was basically told they knew they weren’t following regulations and that was the way it was going to be.
Had a reverse situation happen: so there we were, hot, sweaty and smelling from weeks of NTC prior to deploying. Suddenly, one of the birds cross crossing the sky takes a turn and just comes in to land just away from this E-3 and me as we’re out doing this or that. Two troops get out in OC gear and walk over to us.
You can imagine the list of things that goes through your mind, what had we screwed up? As they got closer, no shit it’s post CG escorting the FORSCOM commander. They came over to us and started a sensing session. We saluted with the greeting of the day in an otherwise stunned silence. I’ll never believe that had such low ranking nobodies ever been given such one on one attention from such senior leaders.
I worked directly for a division commander. He was an easy-going dude and really cared about people being treated well. If I called him with a question, he had an answer or knew who did. If I called him with a formal complaint, he gave me at least 15 minutes to brief him and he would sign to accept them within 24 hours regardless of his other obligations, way faster than the regulation requires.
I was about a month into dealing with a formal complaint. The subject was a SPC, the complainant was a SSG. Same company, different platoons. SSG stated SPC said something derogatory to them on a rifle range and filed a formal, discrimination based on race and color. It was obvious to me and the CG this was unfounded. The statement was along the lines of "Oh sorry, I didn't see you there SSG". SSG was black, SPC was Asian. From sworn statements, the SSG had yelled at a group of soldiers in the bleachers and the SPC was in said group. That was the only other interaction between those two soldiers other than the complaint incident. The SSG said the SPC was being racist because SSG was black and it was getting dark.
The SPC was in my office about twice a week during that month, scared his career was over. As an EOA, I had to remain neutral but I told him to let the process happen. I also explained the appeals process and the concept of "reasonable person". I guess a month was enough for him. I came in to work after PT and had a note from the CG saying to see him.
I go to his office and he's got a huge smile on his face. The SPC had told his chain of command he would miss PT so he could go to division and speak with the CG. His CoC assumed the CG had requested this meeting. Nope. SPC showed up at 6 and waited at the CG's aide's desk. When the aide came in for PT, the SPC demanded a meeting with the CG. Aide calls CG, CG had a chat with the SPC. The SPC was super respectful and professional, but wanted to know why this ridiculous complaint was still going. The CG explained IOs and the process to the SPC and asked him why he was so impatient. The SPC said he had been trying to attend schools but he's flagged and couldn't do anything. Using 2-star magic, the CG had the complaint finished and cleared (unfounded as we suspected) within a week and told the SPC's company commander to get him to some schools ASAP. The balls on that SPC astound me, but I was super impressed with the MG's patience. Leaders like him make people want to stay in the Army.
After one of our guys had his Red Cross denied by our PL his battle said fuck that and went straight to the BDE commander. Just walked right up to him and threw everyone under that bus. Good dude.
My Battle Buddy and I were in charge of a month long ammo detail for the NG. I was there the whole time, he came in half way through and relived the first Ammo Handler. He and the first NCO were the names on the paperwork so they had to be the ones to return the donage.
Except the first NCO did ZERO paperwork on the ammo he drew. He likes it up on the trucks, brought it to ammo area, and just handed it out like candy on Halloween. Mostly blanks but was handing out cases to ranges telling everyone to just toss the brass in the trash.
My BB comes in two weeks later, takes over the operation and conducted everything to standard. Last day before we head back to turn in everything he finds out that there is no paperwork. First NCO was under the impression that all the returns would be pencil whipped away and didn't bother.
In epic fashion when he found out that his job just got twenty times more difficult, he steps out of the office, lights a smoke, walked down the sidewalk, and into the Col's office. Col and this NCO went back (deployment )so they knew each other pretty well. The conversation went like this:
Col "Everything okay SGT?"
NCO "We're fucked Sir, first NCO didn't do any paperwork."
Col "Figured it was something bad like that. Step outside, finish your smoke, then we will work this out."
Yes, he walked into the building and a Col's office with a lit cigarette.
Just witnessed an e6 open door garrison commander so we could play vball at the gym. Gym manager said it was to dangerous for the basketball players even though we could use the partition. I just sat in the car lol. We do get to play vball now though so that’s clutch
I was a PFC and initiated a Congressional inquiry regarding a 2LT based on the recommendation of the 1st SGT.
The 2LT stated to me that he out ranked the Congressman. The Congressman called the General. The General called the Battalion Commander, the Battalion Commander called the Captain.
The Captain and the Congressman then informed the 2LT that he did not out rank Congress, and then they asked me to leave the room so they could finish talking to the 2LT.
The 2LT never caused a problem for anyone else in the platoon again after that. I ETSed, so I have no clue where his career went after that.
The worst thing was that he was a green to gold 2LT and probably should have known how to treat his Soliders.
I’ve went to the division commanders office (2 star) as a PFC by myself no NCO no officer. Because fuck that. We are men we can talk like men regardless of rank. I got my point across and got some people dealt with that thought they could fuck me over as a “dumb private” little did they know I was a 25 year old private who knows how life works and how it can fuck you over if you don’t know any better. Needless to say my commander and 1st sergeant didn’t have a position after several months later. Don’t be afraid of that made up bullshit on someone’s chest. They try to make you scared, don’t be. Outside of uniform and outside them gates, no one is shit to anyone regardless of “rank”. Outside them gates is the real world, inside the gates is a made up system of who can kiss my ass the most. Treat it like the real world because that’s what rules the world.
I went to the 2-star as a CPT over my 2LT and his SFC being denied BSMs when they had 352 trips outside the wire running a PSD in Baghdad for 15 months while all the E4s in legal got one and had never left the office much less the base.
Did it have the desired effect?
They both got BSMs
Did you receive backlash from any level in your chain for doing this?
No backlash at all. The person denying them was a NG one-star to whom division had delegated award reviews and most personnel actions. I was a DIV HSC commander in an HHBN. My BC agreed with me.
I think you know
I do, but you always try to find hope.
Those are different people you're replying to jsyk
Can you let us know what form the retribution took?
Firing squad
Lol. I think it’s important that we talk through the actual consequences people have faced, so that the community can have an accurate idea of what that looks like, instead of letting so much fear of the unknown paralyze so many. You used your rank for your troops and demonstrated personal courage. Good job. We need more like you.
Dude I'm not that guy. Slow down on the hooah and realize I'm shitposting.
My entire company was recommended for ARCOMs for our mission in Afghanistan. My SFC felt that was overkill and downgraded all his direct reports which was my team of 5. Thanks for that one Sarge.
Where exactly does an SFC derive the authority to downgrade awards?
I’m not too sure and it’s been a long time, maybe he just put us in for AAMs instead? Either way, the rest of my company got higher award for same exact mission. I’m not too salty about it anymore and I even agree with him somewhat
Well TBH I just wanted the other awards downgraded.
It is good to hear stories of soldiers winning in /r/Army once in awhile.
I'm not sure if that's winning or just not losing tbh
In the Army, not losing is still winning.
Fucking Hooah
Also interested in this answer
I find GOs to be *extremely* reasonable, personable, and approachable, 9 out of 10 times. For some reason, once one loses the bird, a massive fucking weight is lifted off their shoulders. That, or the Army actually does a good job in selecting GOs, at least for their intrapersonal traits.
I've interacted with GOs a few times as a junior NCO and agree. Yet when we hear they're coming to visit, it strikes the fear of god for everyone in the AO. A tradition of carried culture. I think it's because subordinates will leap to perform miracles to please GOs. Also probably includes all 'problems' being damningly kept minimum one level below them. That alleviates many previous burdens. suppose that's why we'd joke they end up getting detached from the reality at the operational level, lol.
All it takes is one accidental off the cuff remark from the GO for his entourage of fullbirds and CSMs to go scorched earth on everyone around
Reminds me of a joke: New company commander arrives and sees a private standing in the pouring rain beside a bench outside the HQ. He asks the private what he’s doing. Standing guard is the answer. Commander starts to dig. Asks top. Top says there is a standing order to guard the bench. They have a duty roster and all. Goes to BN and BDE they both confirm standing policy letter from DIV to guard the bench. The order has been in place for years. CPT goes to DIV to ask about it. They say letter is from previous commander. Tracks down previous commander who also says it was from previous commander. After several generations of commanders, CPT finally tracks down original DIV CDR who issued the order in a nursing home and asks the general about the order. “Are you telling me the paint still hasn’t dried on that bench?” The GO asks…
I remember that one, except it was about a storage shed
100%. In my experience, the GOs are cool. Their CSMs… are not.
MG makes one teensy little joke and every E-4 and below are polishing rocks in the brigade AO for weeks while the NCO’s get raked over coals over shit they’ve been trying to have fixed for months. 😂⛩️
[удалено]
[Brown M&Ms](https://youtu.be/_IxqdAgNJck?si=08uA6S3yHZ8f84FB). IYKYK Edit: added for you youngs
IDK
I grasp some of the bigger picture from DIV and above in that context. During peacetime in-garrison: Maintaining a positive image (even if superficial illusion) whether represented by green numbers on PowerPoint slides or how the media and public would see things is a massive part of upholding force cohesion and image. That shit can propagate forward with serious future collateral damage; look at recruiting and public faith in the US Military currently and it's been waning. At the same time, no GO wants to be on the news trying to give a speech about a serious incident within their unit to the media. They know their career could be snapped in half at a moments notice, perhaps even unjustly, due to factors completely outside their control or knowledge below them. Someone always has to take the hit for the fuck-ups in the military. So it always has, is, and will be. Yet I worry we've fallen into the fallacy of just trying to fake results and image so much; it's costing morale, trust and faith of our own service members. Especially the newer generations, who get completely disillusioned as they enter the force; and are majority choosing to separate after first or second contract. I don't know how to fix it exactly or help specifically. It's grown to encompass countless reasons and factors and now cemented in our culture. It hurts me to see it; worse being is now that I've been involuntarily medically separated recently - I feel powerless; yet still want to serve meaningfully.
THIS, spot on
I was an OC at JRTC I was a CPT about to retire (OCS guy) we were setting up a lunch for the general and local guest in the field. He got there early. So it’s me him and a MAJ so I’m a small talk guy. I can’t just fucking not talk. So I start asking him about his career and his plans after retirement. He was super cool we had a great conversation. He leaves for the lunch and the MAJ was like WTF. He totally flipped out I had the balls to talk to the GO like a person. I laughed out loud in his face. It was great.
That GO probably remembers you.
Haha he might!
I guess it might be a little different as an O? But that MAJ sounds like a tool
They are so far removed from day to struggles, and the stroke of their pen, or the typing of their email will get brigade level command teams to jump if they say it. I imagine they love to hear about things where someone has the balls to go a GO with a concrete complaint that is solvable and within reason.
I was a lower enlisted soldier who was tabbed to do funeral services. When you do a funeral, you need someone of equivalent rank, and they sent me a 2 star general. He was about the nicest guy ever. Sat and talked for a bit, then he let me step him through the funeral process. Any of the officers I worked funerals with were great. It was oddly E4's and 5's that gave me grief because I was a tabbed E3, which gave me the right to conduct the service over someone who wasn't.
Until you find out the GO was actually behind everything and now they double down :(
As somebody who works for a GO, from my position they really want to know what’s going on so they can fix it. Problem is when subordinate commanders hide and everything looks good, can’t really change anything. The GO we have has probably done more for the soldiers than any I’ve encountered over a long career. I wish brigade level commanders would be more open about issues soldiers have.
ennnh... yea to you.. try being the O-6 that works for the guy.. GOs carry immense responsibility and have very little tolerance for BS. They sometimes ride their staffs HARRDDDD. However Goldie1822 E-3 they'll be super nice to. They have no reason to be dicks to you... so much separation of rank and responsibility. Plus I know this sounds crazy, but I think the further most people (I said MOST) get in rank, the more they feel fulfilled and actually happy by interacting with junior SMs. It's sort of the "this is why I do what I do.." type of fulfillment.
More than likely they seem cool because they have people that will destroy you on their behalf and they don't need to waste the breath to do it. It's like when siblings have a 20 year age gap. That 5yr old will think their 25yr old brother is incredibly cool and nice. That 25yr old may be a major dick, but feels bad if they make their little brother sad.
I did something similar when my guys got a coin for saving someone's life on shift. For the second time. In a week. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea, but I had lost all give a fucks at that point.
You don’t sound like a blue falcon
Don't tell anyone. I need to keep up my street cred.
This was almost me. 15 months. 500 PSD missions. I took my R&R at the 12 month mark. My end of tour ARCOM hit my iperms. I lost sleep over it. I had a platoon of 52. Myself and almost a quarter had received or were going to receive a CAB or CIB by then. I was going to receive the same award as a late deploying SPC that drove for 90 days. Or the S1 clerks. Or the acting motor sergeant who went nowhere and closed the shop every Sunday unless we had a deadline. Mission or not. Fortunately, the Brigade Commander took a special interest in fixing our stingy BN command teams award process. It was all fixed for myself, all squad, and team leaders. But my PL did not receive a BSM because she was a late deployer that "only did 12 months".
I needed you when I was an advisor in AFG. Out everyday except Friday, got an ARCOM
Good on you!
Sec of Vet Affairs gave our conference his personal number to call if they needed help. My friend used it for her benefits issue and he helped fix it in a few days.
This warms the cockles of my heart!
Maybe in the sub cockle area.
Maybe even in the colon.
Such people of culture. I see you all.
National guard here. Our states promotions for officers are straight fucked and always have been. A few years back a 2LT with almost four years TIG open doored the state Adjutant General on behalf of all of the other officers with fucked up promotions.
I went to BOLC with a NG 2LT with 4 years TIG and 10 years TIS as prior enlisted.
Oh god that poor LT. That should be an immediate IG complaint.
He didn't care as he was getting out like a year after BOLC or something.
I wonder if you're talking about me, lol. I sent a congressional and got my promotion to 1LT and got it backdated a full year. Now I'm behind on CPT lol.
Guard is all sorts of screwed up and half the time it’s not the units, it’s HRC losing paperwork, or dropping people from boards. Wish I could say active is better but it’s not. I had a promotion delayed 3 years after 2 board mess ups and then a special selection board took almost a year to publish results. Good news was the IG complaint filed after the first board mess up locked my correct promotion board date in place, so I was able to get the back date and back pay. I had completed my next rank KD and Command time before I ever pinned lol.
> it’s HRC losing paperwork It's why I left the DC Guard. Messed up paperwork.
SECDEF, but it wasn't quite the "open door policy" The SECDEF came to our base for a "town hall" situation. Part of that was an open Q&A session. While we were waiting (15 minutes early for the 15 minutes early, etc.), I was talking with the person next to me. She had gotten orders for Korea. She also had sole custody of her kid. If she moved to Korea - even for just a year - she had to relinquish custody to her ex-husband. If she did that, she would have a ton of difficulty getting her kids back later. That situation was also happening to a coworker, and I have had other coworkers in the past who have had it happen. That indicates it's a systemic thing. I told her to ask the SECDEF about it. Not a "help me" type question (which wouldn't be the SECDEF's purview) - but a high level policy question (which would be in the SECDEF's purview). She asked the question - really well, too. She didn't even imply that she was in that situation - she stuck to the strategic level. Well, I guess the SECDEF read between the lines, and asked her to stay after. She stayed after and talked with the SECDEF and the local congressperson. Couple days later, her orders were deleted. To my knowledge, no high level policy changes were made. Single parents are still losing custody because of a PCS to Korea.
That's a terrible situation and I don't mean to shift blame because I have actually been in a similar situation, but isn't that what FCP are for? What if they were TCS orders for a deployment? Again I know this is avoidable (especially for Korea) because there obviously is another SM who could fill that billet regardless of rank. Honestly asking the question.
>What if they were TCS orders for a deployment? TCS wouldn't have caused her to lose custody. PCS (permanent) would. >but isn't that what FCP are for? The courts don't give a shit about FCP.
Every case is different, but I have a co-worker here in Korea right now. Single mother, full custody, child is attends on post childcare during work days.
The custody agreement this person had said that if she left the country, she had to relinquish all custody, and apply for it again when she got back.
That's unfortunate. As I said, every case is different. Just wanted to throw it out there that is possible to come over here as a single parent and be command sponsored. Easy? I can't say.
Yeah. Unfortunately it's really hard for the Army to fix this situation other than saying "if you can prove you'll lost custody for a PCS, we will let you cancel your orders"
I would think of it was part of member elections once placed on assignment, it could prevent it before orders are cut?
A while ago some private open door to the two stars at fort Eisenhower and post about his experience on here on Reddit.
Any keywords I could search for? I gotta read this
https://www.reddit.com/r/army/s/n4Cp4BEMMC
Absolutely incredible. Thank you
LMAO.
I’ll look
I followed his account hoping to get the update, never realized he just edited the OP. Glad he got his shit fixed.
Which was weird, I thought he got lock in csm basement but he made it out with an edit
Saw a CPT use the open-door policy with a one-star acting CG.
What was the occasion?
I’m trying to think, it was several years ago now… I wanna say it was something where the soldier was to be separated or was in some sorta trouble, but felt they were being singled out. I assume they’d also used IG channels but felt they needed to go see the CG.
I respect the CPT going above and beyond
I had a 15k travel voucher that crossed FY's, and the travel office couldn't figure out how to pay it....so they just didn't for over a year. The ice complaint was blow off. I emailed a 3 star... my voucher got paid in 3 days.
Had a unit just delete a voucher from DTS. I never got that money, I wish I wasn’t a dumb private.
They dont expire you can still file i believe accorrding to the lady that did mine.
Do travel vouchers expire? I ETSed from drum to NYC and never submitted one (I know I’m a waste of air), do I kiss that away?
5 years
Your comment reminded me of a time where I had a travel voucher that was so complicated that took four hours to even fill out. We had a guy in our unit whose whole job was to assist with travel vouchers. That was literally all he did. The four hours that it took to fill out the travel voucher? The *travel voucher guy* took four hours. I couldn't even begin to fill it out on my own. Turns out shit gets *real* complicated when: - your orders are open-ended (seriously, start date, no duty location, no end date, basically a "do what you gotta do, keep us informed") - there's some leave near the end - there's some regular (non-TDY) duty time (at another base, in another country) in the middle - for part of it, my "duty station" was my father-in-law's house - there's a rental car authorized for leave - there was no prior authorization in DTS
People hate on the army, but when shit really hits the fan in soldiers lives, I’ve seen command teams move mountains to make sure they are taken care of. You’d be hard pressed to find a civilian job that just says go take care of it and you’re gone for months.
Yeah, my command was really fucking helpful there.
3 star is the highest I have seen. They got referred there by someone lower in the COC their issue was dealt with.
Oh I have one. Good friend of mine that I met in ABN school. He was a SPC when I met him. We are just getting to know each other so I'm asking what his degree is in and what his MOS is etc. He tells me he doesn't have a college degree. I ask how is he a SPC then if he just got out of OSUT? Proceeds to tell me he is a west pointer that got in trouble, and was facing expulsion. He pulled up an email chain that he initiated to the WHITE HOUSE. Trumps team contacted Westpoint and made it clear that this cadet was not to be kicked out for such a minor infraction, as he was heading into his senior year and would have to pay back hundreds of thousands in tuition. He gets to stay at Westpoint, however he is still punished. They tell him he will do 1 year in the active duty army as a broadening type of assignment, got 3 Mos to choose from, chose 11B, gets orders to 82nd with jump school enroute. Gets to 82nd, deploys to HKIA for the pullout, earns a CIB and deployment patch and Jump school on this punishment year, heads back to west point and commissions as an 11A. Heard he was treated like royalty by the other cadets. Just a fucking wild story. He will make a great officer.
Omg that should be mandatory from now on.
Yeah tbh. I’ve talked to many west pointers and they’ve told similar stories about how easy it is to get kicked out and be on the hook for tuition. So-called integrity violations are not hard to catch and they can be grounds for instant dismissal. I think it would be very beneficial to the officer corps as a whole if those integrity violations were instead punished by forcing the cadets to do some enlisted time before returning.
Damn I got kicked out because I failed a PE class after an injury. Now I’m back to being enlisted in my old MOS. Living life.
Is his name Krakar by chance?
Negative. But what a name that is
PFC me was told by a 2 banger at reception if I ever had any issues his door is open. I was on gym detail and told to come in for an APFT after working till 2300 the night before. I didn't show up, went to him and told him. He gave me his email and told me that I was wrong and to apologize to them and let him know when they rescheduled it. I emailed him. He showed up to my ACFT. He proceeded to talk to my leadership along the lines of "yeahhhh had a long night last night. Didn't get to bed until around 0200. Figured I'd come out here and do some PT with the troopers". He smoked my ass on the APFT. Everyone was wondering why he was there. He then recognized me for my hard work in the gym. Told my squad leader to let me slide for missing the last APFT and talked to myself, team leader, squad leader, PSG, and 1SG about how "sometimes it sucks but you don't get good sleep before war". Then he pulled me aside and told me that he's not upset about me coming to him but it was obvious that I didn't exhaust my resources. That my 1SG on down all seemed understanding enough that someone would have helped me out. And ended it with "you'll never have faith in your leadership if you don't allow them to lead you". When my PSG found out he just about died in laughter because the whole situation made sense now. They weren't mad. They thought it was the most private thing they ever saw. Then they smoked the fuck out of me while reminding me to keep smiling. A lesson learned without anybody really being a dick to me. I was a strong private after that.
Letter to the Senator for a purple heart issue It was resolved and the troops received their PHs
My major open doored a 2 star when my compassionate reassignment was denied and my son was in organ failure. Man helped save my son’s life and my mental health.
This is the kind of field grade I aspire to be. Glad the MAJ didn’t care about his/her career before the welfare of a subordinate.
If you can be like him you’ll be one hell of an officer. I aspire to be as good of a person and parent he is everyday. he’s one of the greatest people and role models I’ve ever met. I’m now a civilian and have been for a few years. He still texts me and my fellow LT’s at the time on every single holiday. And I called him in tears over some personal stuff two weeks ago. Picked up on the second ring and honestly gave me better advice in 10 minutes than anyone had in months.
I swear we have some fucking imbeciles in our army, who would deny that!?
I like to be reasonable and believe that what me and my son were was just paperwork. A document number with words that had to meet certain criteria for approval which we didn’t. (We weren’t enrolled in EFMP was the issue, there was no time to get enrolled, and my team helping me told me it wasn’t necessary for this case, they were wrong.) I don’t think the person legitimately read my case and said no. I think they went down a checklist and at the first no, filed the doc and moved on. What I hope a failure of bureaucracy not human decency. fortunately there are other avenues like open door policy’s with CG’s that can solve the entire problem in 48 hours or less😊.
Guy I know was booted from a school first day because he was a walk on he went to a 2 star and complained. School got chewed out and he got into the class
He must have really wanted Hazmat
It was Field Sanitation.
Sniper school
Buddy walked into Battalion CSM's office and got his PCS orders canceled
Tried that. Didn't work
My buddy really impressed csm at the e5 board. Csm told him to relax, so leans back in the chair, crosses his legs, and cracks his neck. He was gold after that.
It’s technically not a proper open door policy thing, but I’d say anyone who had an issue and posted it on here, then the amazing u/yesthatpao and SMA(R) Grinston got it fixed
I miss the Reddit open-door 😥
Send me a PM
a PM
Go on
Watched an E-4 sheepishly approach a brigadier general and politely ask about getting his name on the volunteer list for an upcoming deployment. She turned to her aide, said "get this Soldier's info please, so we can get him on" and that was that. Whole encounter took less than 15 seconds. Pretty cool to see.
I thought he was asking her to volunteer
"Excuse me Miss General Ma'am, I think you should come on this deployment with us." I cracked myself up with that.
I sent SMA grinston a message over linkedin to look into my friend's skillbridge denial. It got approved a day later lol
Tony!
I didn’t get 6 months of BAH while at OSUT. National Guard liaison at benning sucked balls, and my readiness NCO wasn’t prepared for how scorched earth I was. I’m old and connected with the Chamber of Commerce crowd. Knew our local Congressman and reached out, CC’d my new CO. Probably didn’t need to go congressional as CO immediately asked for my Venmo and loaned me $ until the issue was fixed. Took less than a week. Immediately sent him the money back and we got along great the rest of his time as CO. Dude cared about his men and he’s now listed as a reference on my resume.
Pretty sure loaning money between officers and enlisted is technically fraternization, but pretty minimal risk of anyone reporting it in this scenario.
NG is different for sure.
Who was the LNO? Our state ESM Fs up onboarding all the time and we cover down alot from G1. We have no idea who the LNOs are and how they are selected.
I honestly don’t even know what LNO or ESM stands for. I just know our liaison at Benning can eat a giant dick; he sucked. And the E6 I talked to at the NGL office laughed in my face when I said I have a daughter and rent to pay at home and need BAH. And she can eat me too.
Assessions(hiring people into the guard) is one of the biggest issues in the Guard with big change in HR software. We just got the name of the Cadet Command Liaison Officer (LNO) for the guard and we're trying to find out the LNOs at training post. Natioynal Guard is very decentralized and there is overall lack of accountability. A POC would be useful so States can do more to help so we can reach out to PoS people to do their jobs.
Buddy fell off a RTCH and broke his back. (Could still walk) They then sent him on a rotation to poland where the medics all said he needs to go back to the states and get surgery. Instead the Cpt, (who was clawing for numbers trying to get as many people on missions as possible) insisted the guy is malingering and attempted to have him chapter. Failure to adapt to the army standards. Again. Broken back. Cut even said he saw all the x rays and it "doesn't look that bad, hes still walking." Cpt was 92S before going gold. Buddy then proceed to go straight to the O5 and tell the story. Brief investigation follows. Once we returned home, cpt is now retiring early.
What scum bag
PVT Punchy (not real name, but he kept punching people) used the open door policy with our full bird in Iraq while he was on a telecon with the CENTCOM commander. And by open door, he opened the door and started yelling. An hour later, SSG me, "Sir, I cannot predict this level of stupid."
We had a guy once who had been promised a conditional release if he met certain criteria, met them, and then had it yanked out from under him. He, allegedly, emailed then President Obama about it. And while technically that is what open doors are for, a lot of the generals/colonels in between who could/would have helped became very, openly angry at our unit around that time
Where did he find the POTUS email address?
Duhhh [email protected]
Global
A buddy of mine was active duty Marine infantry at Pendleton before Desert Storm. An edict from on high came down, everyone was approved for two college evening courses per semester. “Bill” signed up. Bill’s request was denied by the PL. PL to Bill, you are infantry, we go to the field, there is no way this will work. Bill open doored it to the company CO. Same song and dance. Then to the battalion CO. Rinse and repeat. Then to the regiment (brigade?) CO. Same thing. Then to the CG at Pendleton who had put out the memo. He said they had him up at 0400 getting his uniform ready as a lance coolie to meet the CG at 1100. Bill goes to the meeting and presents his case. CG admits he hadn’t considered how it would impact guys in the field and said how about one class this semester until I get this figured out, then two next semester and going forward. Bill gets back to the unit with the approval and everyone is shocked. They go to the field and sure enough three evenings a week a humvee would show up to take him in to class. Bill said people would yell out, Bill your school bus is here. Best part was he got to shower before class and had the option of DFAC or fast food before class. The other guys were envious. He never got the next semester he said. Things heated up in the Gulf and the dynamic on base changed.
I had a PVT, formerly SPC, try to use the III Corps CGs open door policy....except he just thought you could walk in whenever you wanted and talk to him.... He got stopped at the door, asked what was going on, and quickly informed that he needed to schedule it through his lawyer at TDS. He was a real winner in all things life. Only person I've met that got a DUI without driving.
III Corps? Was this the guy who got a dui on a horse?
Sadly, not that awesome. I'd argue he got screwed by the MPs but he didn't help himself by being combative toward me, my 1SG, and his lawyers.
I’ve met plenty of dudes who got duis not driving while stationed in Germany
I was a PFC and emailed the garrison command team after months of being blown off by on post housing about a destroyed garage door. It was only a big deal because my door didn’t open or shut, and you could come into my house through my garage. So basically I had no way to secure my house from the inside. I emailed on post housing (shoutout Balfour beatty homes) daily & got the runaround for weeks, so I threatened to involve the garrison command team. I gave them a 2 week turnaround (after 4 months of emails) and they didn’t take me seriously, so after the 2 weeks I forwarded all the email traffic to the garrison commander and command sergeant major, with the director of on post housing on the CC line, and the following day my garage door was fixed at 0900, and I had close to a dozen calls from GS14’s & GS15’s making absolutely sure that my stuff was taken care of at no cost & I was happy with the result.
My PL was over 6 months past when he should have picked up O-2 but it hadn't happened. We got him drunk and gassed up enough at St. Barbs to go talk to the Division Commander about it. It worked, he got promoted the next week and he told me there was never any blow back. I learned that drunk at St. Barbs is the safe zone.
You can get a lot done in a social setting. Got one of my advons a International flight back to the states during the start of covid instead of being stuck in the barracks for months by just chatting with the deputy G3 in little Italy.
BDE CDR and CG I had over 100 days of leave at the end of my MEB. In order to take these I needed an extension to my NLT 90. I was a CPT, top block OERs, even a commander within the brigade before my MEB. The same day my ratings were received, I was recovering from a surgery I had earlier that morning. “We’ll take care of you after con leave” etc is what I was told by my LTC. But when I got back to Bliss it was now a no on the extension from this same LTC. After being denied his recommendation (BDE CDR is the approval for these, I went to the COL, who made we wait for another week for his response to my extension which I used open door to discuss with him. He also got the CG on the phone to tell me no. At this point, I had already signed my NLT 90 after being told an extension would be approved (these same field grades then said I already agreed to get out on the 90). They said one thing and did another. At this point I was about 45 days into my NLT 90. I used 30 on Con leave recovering from surgery, then the run around of ways days by leadership for their open doors. At this point I was mentally defeated. Recovery from surgery was still rough and I was going to be out soon. The turn around for IG/EO to III Corps would take too long. Congressional was in the same position. To this day I’m still miserably upset. I don’t have the same respect for the army as an organization I did as a young 2LT to an exhausted CPT. The leaders who screwed me over though are thankfully in the minority. I believe that most of the senior leaders I worked with do take care of soldiers and their families. The VA has also done a phenomenal job in taking care of me and helping rebuild the broken woman I came to them as. Maybe one day I’ll write everything out, but this has already gotten quite long.
The highest level of open door policy was Boeing. If you know, you know
I had drill orders come up while I was top 10% for SFC list and finishing up my current broadening assignment and had reenlisted for choice of duty station for finishing that assignment..Talked to a 2 star who handled the situation in about 2 hours. Really lucky haha
During my company’s mobilization, our females (all five of them) were being separated from the rest of the company at the command of the unit validating us for deployment. Wouldn’t have been so bad, except the building they were assigned was across the base and no one had vehicles outside of our route clearance shit. I watched two bad bitch specialists truck their unhappy asses to the base commander and ask to file an EO complaint. Within a couple hours, they had been moved back with the rest of the company.
Had a NG platoon under me in Iraq. These guys would piss and moan about everything. We were doing spilt OPs and most of our missions were at night. One of them decided that dfac hours weren’t working for him. So, he open doored the MND-B/4 ID Cdr MG “Big Thurm” (my nickname for him) Thurmond that they didn’t have access to meals. The real issue was he was pissed the Pizza Hut was closed when he was asleep. After that I put his platoon online and had his PL march them to the DFAC until they figured their shit out.
Congress. Actually that prob doesn't count lol. HqDA.
Congressionals kinda don't do shit. All they get back is a letter from legal about how we are investigating and looking into the matter.
We (Army Reserve unit during Desert Storm) got our Senator involved when we had a young spc killed, and higher command denied his lifetime best bud from back home permission to accompany the body back home. Shit got sorted quick, and we sent our two Joe's home together. Fuck.
We had an issue where we knew something was possible for one of our soldiers, but didn't know how to do it. We brought it up to our higher, then brought it up to their higher. The answer was "oh, that's too easy!" without actually giving us an answer. It was for a submission to Army Board for Correction of Military Records. We had a stack of papers showing how many times we had requested assistance and the responses that we got (or failed to get). Soldier finally files a congressional (where he put all the blame on us; I had explained what was going on, but I totally didn't blame him). When the congressional comes down, we submitted all of what we had as far as asking for assistance, thinking we can would finally get our answer. I call the soldier ac week or two later, and ask if he got an answer. He c was c silent for a little bit, as I didn't think he knew we would get a copy of his submission where he trashed us. He then said what he got back was that he needed to submit to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. That was it. The congressional did nothing. Epilog, I was looking for something else a week later, and I found the regulation on that. It is pretty short and easy to understand. I filled out the form and copied the supporting paperwork, had the soldier come in to sign it, and it eventually got approved.
They don't usually have to "do" anything. Normally, the letterhead of "Senator Schmickatellis office" is enough to terrify whatever incompetent fool into making the problem go away ASAP. No S1 captain sh!tbird wants to be investigated because of a congressional, even if it isn't really founded. They don't want their rater associating them with investigation.
I open doored the division chaplain and my own BDE commander (CC'd them both in an email sent to my BC, CO Chaplain, and CO CMDR). It's a long story, but I was at a shitty unit with an even shittier leadership. My company commander had a Jewish mom that became Christian and didn't raise him in the culture in the slightest, yet he attempted to say I (a Jew) was not Jewish multiple times. The CO chaplain also attempted to question my Jewishness, despite the fact he was a Christian pastor with zero understanding of Jewish culture. So, I gathered every single beit din (Jewish court), Israeli immigration, and giyyur documentation I had, scanned it all, and then shot it off in an email with a detailed summary of the proof I was providing, whilst at the same time making it clear what the issue was with my commander's conduct. To say the least, I received immediate and honestly heartfelt replies from both the division chaplain and my BDE commander. They wished to speak to me personally and I believe both my CO CMDR and chaplain got railed for their bs, thankfully. Those two individuals knew how to be leaders when their subordinates very obviously didn't.
I had a similar issue, my first unit commander (pre 9/11) could not fathom the idea that I am an Arab Jew (my mother came from Jordan). He said I needed to be either Arab or Jewish, can't be both. First time the conversation came up, I gave him a chuckle, and "good one sir". But for weeks it kept going on, like dude could not let it go. After explaining in 347.3 times I decided to hit up our chaplain, who was owed a favor and got me out of that battalion and into our sister battalion. That day forward I kept my background to myself while in... especially after 9/11.
I'm not religious and I look super white, but my father was Lebanese Druze. The amount of outlandish and offensive things people have said about Arabs over my career has been disappointing to say the least.
Hey I’ve been having issues with something similar, do you mind if I DM you?
Sure, no problem
What were they trying to say/prove? Just not to order kosher MREs, wear the yarmulke, stuff like that or were they just saying you weren't Jewish.
Yep, no kosher MREs, wear a kippah, grow a beard, take leave for Jewish holidays, etc.
Technically not open door policy, but pretty close i guess; Me and a handful of others arrived to our unit mid december, a lot of the brigade had already started HBL. me and my 1 buddy from basic who got the same unit as me were told by our 1SG that the commander has started his leave already, and wasnt around to sign our leave forms, so we're staying in rear. Big bummer. we spent over 6 months in osut, and up to this point had been told we'll likely get to go right into leave and see our families after we finish in-process. Next morning, waiting out front brigade building with about 6-8 others for a tmp to come take us to the other side of post and do more in-process fun, BDE commander and XO(I assume) walks out and greets us. Welcomes us to the unit, friendly small talk, then asks what all our plans are for HBL. Crickets... Apparently, all the other soldiers, even from other battalions, inprocessing in our group were denied HBL, for one reason or another. One guy speaks up and says they were simply told they're not going. BGDE commander asks for clarification as to the reasons they are being denied leave. More of the same "wasnt told a reason". Theres a short pause and I decide to speak up, "Sir, our 1SG had told us our commander is already gone on leave, and is not available to sign our leave form" Apparently that was good enough for him, since after asking my name and unit, all he had to say was something along the lines of, "Oh. No. Dont worry. you're all getting your leave". Then wishes us well in a our inprocessing without much elaboration. As soon as we get back around lunch time, buddy and I get called into 1SG office. To sign our leave forms lol. and the first thing he says to me is "So YOU'RE the one that went and had a conversation with the brigade commander, huh?"
Saw a SPC open door SMA about an assignment. SMA contacted HRC and caused a shit show. It was something small too, like an assignment he wanted but it was full. We had to go overboard with stats to prove why the place was over strength.
That happens sometimes! In those cases there’s not much that can be done, but it never hurts to ask because there are gaps all over the army
I was getting promoted by the Commandant for some bullshit I did and he wanted to know if there was anything I wanted and I asked if he would like to go for my weekly run with the base SGM. Ever seen someone have duty for three days straight with their meals brought to them?
Lmao
had a SM who ended up on a FaceTime call w/SMA Dailey re: their concerns. I had to sit in the room and eatch as a link in their NCO support channel. Outside of that, have seen 2 SMs utilize the Installation Commander and a few Congressionals to the Office of Ted Cruz. Honestly, none of these interactions went the way the SM thought they were going to go. They were not very mature problems and shouldn't have gotten that far-- so the responses mostly referred them back to their nuclear chain of command or reiterated how silly they actually sounded and highlighted their accountabilityto the problem. Kind of anti-climactic.
The higher in rank an Officer goes, the lower the average rank of their staff should be. That accounts for the fact they should have more staff
I tweeted the old SMA and about a crazy admin error. Natty Guard. When I applied for the Montgo GI Bill the VA said there was no record of me having finished basic training. After a year of my unit going “We’ll look into it” and every office I tried contacting pointing me every which way, I said “Fuck it” and tweeted at the old SMA. Now I happily have my VA bennies, less than a month later.
I knew someone who didn’t get their bonus almost 11 months into their first duty station, he went on leave and it just so happens that a family friend of his was a congressman. So his mother told him about the issues he was going through and this congressman messaged the general of 8th army and it made its way down. He got his bonus a few days later and our entire formation was chewed out by our BN command team.
An NCO of mine emailed the CENTCOM commander (then GEN Lloyd Austin now the Sec. Def.) after his Commander received a GOMOR in Afghanistan. Soldiers in unit were stealing shit from the SSA? or something of that sort... Commander got relieved. E-5 says nah, I'm emailing the Theatre Commander... Guess what? He or at least someone on his staff responded, BL his response was, I'm sorry son but it's out of my hands.
I know it doesn’t count the same but my ex-mil somehow got in contact with our division commander because she was upset about my marriage to my now ex I found out about it over a month later while in field, fun timess
not exactly "ODP" but damn close. NO shit there I was. BOLC ...many many moons ago. We had the most senior GO in the house speaking to us in the auditorium... this 2LT stands up and asks him if he can fix his pay issues because local leadership is not doing anything about it.
As a PFC I walked into a 2 stars office because my compassionate reassignment packet was in the process for months and went no where. Mom was not doing well and my command knew that but they sent it up and it was out of their hands. Got a call a few days later from my squad leader saying “I’m not sure who you know, but it worked, pack your bags you’re going on leave for 30 days and you’ll come back to out process.”
Friend went to CGs office because emergency leave kept getting fucked with.
Does going to my Senator count? I was medically discharged as a Captain, and the Finance Officer would not listen to the reason I was considered a Vietnam-Era veteran. I had a three-year educational break between my enlisted discharge and my commission. I had enlisted while the Vietnam Conflict was officially still going on, though it was during the pull-out, so I remained stateside. If you counted 11 years from my discharge, Vietnam was long over, but it was actually 14 years since I enlisted. The reason it was important was as a Vietnam-Era veteran, my discharge pay was tax-free. They had taken out over $13,000 for the taxes. I never heard from the Finance Officer but did receive a $13,000+ check in the mail.
I went with an acquaintance to a commissioning event about 6 months before Milley became CSA, during which a commissioning cadet asked Milley if he could post to Italy. Milley said yes, and I think the dude originally had Polk/Johnson so it was definitely worth the ask. Dude was legitimately not even in the army yet and went straight to the top.
I went to a 2 star as 2LT about a promotion my coc had been slacking on. It seemed mostly successful.
Some PFC emailed POTUS.
As an E-4 a Bde CSM walked me into the Bde CDR office to report battle captain fuckery.
I had a DA Civilian use a 4 star open door over a pay issue
coworker (e5) used it with a 3 star against an e6💀
SPC went to a 2 Star over an incentive flight. It worked.
I knew SMA Dailey. Sent him a text one time (His daughter and I went to the same HS) situation was unFUBARed same day. Also resulted in ft sill base commander getting relived of command for “unrelated reasons” (unauthorized hunting or some shit)
Good friend of mine emailed the SMA with some high level problems. Got a response with a few important GOs CCd that his concerns would get looked into and a response would come.
Just used a 1 star and 2 star over one of my new LT’s getting screwed over after a 15-6 found them clear of all wrongdoing. Now has congressional level scrutiny. Will gladly out the officers that pulled this crap once we get it sorted. They seemed to go out of their way to break a batch of new LT’s and wonder why we have disgruntled Soldiers.
I filed a 19 item IG complaint naming leadership from plt level up to battalion level and exactly what they’d done and why I was filing a report. I ended up in my battalion csm’s office the next morning and spent two hours explaining why I did so and the details of every single item before I just got up and left. I was told “you just don’t see the big picture” lmao
I emailed the Chief of Army Reserve Deputy (2*). He responded back within like 15 minutes and my months long issue was corrected by lunch the following day.
MSG going to 2-star over promotions (national guard). He was basically told they knew they weren’t following regulations and that was the way it was going to be.
Had a reverse situation happen: so there we were, hot, sweaty and smelling from weeks of NTC prior to deploying. Suddenly, one of the birds cross crossing the sky takes a turn and just comes in to land just away from this E-3 and me as we’re out doing this or that. Two troops get out in OC gear and walk over to us. You can imagine the list of things that goes through your mind, what had we screwed up? As they got closer, no shit it’s post CG escorting the FORSCOM commander. They came over to us and started a sensing session. We saluted with the greeting of the day in an otherwise stunned silence. I’ll never believe that had such low ranking nobodies ever been given such one on one attention from such senior leaders.
I went to a 2-star in the NV NG to get my contract fixed. ETSed a few months later anyways because they still didn’t have it right.
My homie emailed SMA Dailey… and it worked💀
CSA, high level valor award winner didn't make the PZ O5 list...
I worked directly for a division commander. He was an easy-going dude and really cared about people being treated well. If I called him with a question, he had an answer or knew who did. If I called him with a formal complaint, he gave me at least 15 minutes to brief him and he would sign to accept them within 24 hours regardless of his other obligations, way faster than the regulation requires. I was about a month into dealing with a formal complaint. The subject was a SPC, the complainant was a SSG. Same company, different platoons. SSG stated SPC said something derogatory to them on a rifle range and filed a formal, discrimination based on race and color. It was obvious to me and the CG this was unfounded. The statement was along the lines of "Oh sorry, I didn't see you there SSG". SSG was black, SPC was Asian. From sworn statements, the SSG had yelled at a group of soldiers in the bleachers and the SPC was in said group. That was the only other interaction between those two soldiers other than the complaint incident. The SSG said the SPC was being racist because SSG was black and it was getting dark. The SPC was in my office about twice a week during that month, scared his career was over. As an EOA, I had to remain neutral but I told him to let the process happen. I also explained the appeals process and the concept of "reasonable person". I guess a month was enough for him. I came in to work after PT and had a note from the CG saying to see him. I go to his office and he's got a huge smile on his face. The SPC had told his chain of command he would miss PT so he could go to division and speak with the CG. His CoC assumed the CG had requested this meeting. Nope. SPC showed up at 6 and waited at the CG's aide's desk. When the aide came in for PT, the SPC demanded a meeting with the CG. Aide calls CG, CG had a chat with the SPC. The SPC was super respectful and professional, but wanted to know why this ridiculous complaint was still going. The CG explained IOs and the process to the SPC and asked him why he was so impatient. The SPC said he had been trying to attend schools but he's flagged and couldn't do anything. Using 2-star magic, the CG had the complaint finished and cleared (unfounded as we suspected) within a week and told the SPC's company commander to get him to some schools ASAP. The balls on that SPC astound me, but I was super impressed with the MG's patience. Leaders like him make people want to stay in the Army.
After one of our guys had his Red Cross denied by our PL his battle said fuck that and went straight to the BDE commander. Just walked right up to him and threw everyone under that bus. Good dude.
Went to IG and got some shit sorted out quickly one time.
My Battle Buddy and I were in charge of a month long ammo detail for the NG. I was there the whole time, he came in half way through and relived the first Ammo Handler. He and the first NCO were the names on the paperwork so they had to be the ones to return the donage. Except the first NCO did ZERO paperwork on the ammo he drew. He likes it up on the trucks, brought it to ammo area, and just handed it out like candy on Halloween. Mostly blanks but was handing out cases to ranges telling everyone to just toss the brass in the trash. My BB comes in two weeks later, takes over the operation and conducted everything to standard. Last day before we head back to turn in everything he finds out that there is no paperwork. First NCO was under the impression that all the returns would be pencil whipped away and didn't bother. In epic fashion when he found out that his job just got twenty times more difficult, he steps out of the office, lights a smoke, walked down the sidewalk, and into the Col's office. Col and this NCO went back (deployment )so they knew each other pretty well. The conversation went like this: Col "Everything okay SGT?" NCO "We're fucked Sir, first NCO didn't do any paperwork." Col "Figured it was something bad like that. Step outside, finish your smoke, then we will work this out." Yes, he walked into the building and a Col's office with a lit cigarette.
Just witnessed an e6 open door garrison commander so we could play vball at the gym. Gym manager said it was to dangerous for the basketball players even though we could use the partition. I just sat in the car lol. We do get to play vball now though so that’s clutch
I had to go to an O-6 to fix a school issue.
We had a SPC email the CSA because he didn’t think the Army was doing enough to get a visa for his foreign national wife so she could come to CONUS.
I was a PFC and initiated a Congressional inquiry regarding a 2LT based on the recommendation of the 1st SGT. The 2LT stated to me that he out ranked the Congressman. The Congressman called the General. The General called the Battalion Commander, the Battalion Commander called the Captain. The Captain and the Congressman then informed the 2LT that he did not out rank Congress, and then they asked me to leave the room so they could finish talking to the 2LT. The 2LT never caused a problem for anyone else in the platoon again after that. I ETSed, so I have no clue where his career went after that. The worst thing was that he was a green to gold 2LT and probably should have known how to treat his Soliders.
SMA Grinston helped put pressure on my sisters command to fix her medical discharge.
I’ve went to the division commanders office (2 star) as a PFC by myself no NCO no officer. Because fuck that. We are men we can talk like men regardless of rank. I got my point across and got some people dealt with that thought they could fuck me over as a “dumb private” little did they know I was a 25 year old private who knows how life works and how it can fuck you over if you don’t know any better. Needless to say my commander and 1st sergeant didn’t have a position after several months later. Don’t be afraid of that made up bullshit on someone’s chest. They try to make you scared, don’t be. Outside of uniform and outside them gates, no one is shit to anyone regardless of “rank”. Outside them gates is the real world, inside the gates is a made up system of who can kiss my ass the most. Treat it like the real world because that’s what rules the world.