Today was a relatively slow day, no training scheduled. I did get to spend some time working in the Orderly Room, which is a nice change of pace. I saw the progress of the last few months while updating our Mobilizing Unit Training Tracker (MUTT). As more columns go from blank and red to white with a date, all the craziness and nonsense since September is finally paying off as we get closer to our final validation prior to mobilization. If all goes according to plan, we should meet all of our training objectives on the timeline we laid out nearly 10 months ago. Sometimes, with the right direction, an Army unit really can do what they are supposed to.
This day, however, may have been the last such day for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow seems to be a day full of wonderfulness and a lot of typical Army nonsense, i.e. having to pack our stuff off of a packing list and getting it all checked to make sure that we read the list and actually packed the majority of the stuff. Apparently, it is simply not enough to sign a contract to join the military; you also have to give back a few decades of life and be treated like a child. I really do enjoy being in the Army, but sometimes the ridiculousness of everything gets to me. I also understand the idea of Pre-Combat Checks/Pre-Combat Inspections (PCC/PCI), but sometimes it borders on insane.
I hope someday when I am in a position of leadership, I can affect a culture where my Soldiers feel like I trust them to do what is right. If they decide to cut corners and not pack a non-critical item, then they should be the one to suffer the consequences. If it means they are a little colder because they forgot their gloves, so be it. When I first entered the Army, this is how it was. But now with the kinder and gentler Army, things are a bit different I guess. Some Soldiers need to be coddled a bit, and because of these few, the many tend to suffer the consequences. You would think after over nine years I would be used to the nonsense, but I guess there are some things that are hard to completely get over no matter how long you deal with it.
Robert Writes About... 