I Hate the Army
For a couple of weeks, I actually felt guilty about wanting this... but every single day that guilt dissipates more and more. I'll start with my background story.
Since I was a little boy, I could not wait until I was old enough to join the military. Upon completing high school, I decided it would be a wise idea to go to college and get my degree so that I had something to fall back on in case the military didn't work out for whatever reason, and also so that I could eventually pursue a career as an officer.
I shipped to reception September of 2010 and I was so incredibly excited and motivated I can't even put into words. I ended up enlisting into Air Defense Artillery. At the time I was enlisting, there were few jobs to pick from and I didn't want to go straight into an officer position as I wanted to gain experience and develop my leadership skills before leading soldiers.
Through basic training, there wasn't one single day I wasn't motivated about my career, how much I couldn't wait to get to a unit, deploy, and further develop myself to excel. However, very shortly after getting to AIT, that motivation began dwindling after seeing how the other soldiers acted around our undisciplined and unprofessional instructors. Our weekly safety briefings were incredibly asinine. The fact that these acts occurred so often that they had to be reiterated to us on a weekly basis blew my mind away. This included, doing spice, other drugs, drinking and driving, beating spouses, children, etc., and many other things that contradict simple common sense. After 6 long months, I was finally graduated and back to being incredibly excited about going to a line unit as, I was sure, that motivation and professionalism would be in full effect. How wrong I was...
I got to my first unit, where I currently am, and within a week I began hating life. I was treated like a complete *** because I came straight in as a Specialist... many individuals felt I didn't deserve it, earn it, etc. The absurd amount of slack given to women because of how much they flirt with the higher ranking males made, and makes, me absolutely sick. Frankly, the amount of racism present is ridiculous. I.e... our First Sergeant, who is actually only a Sergeant First Class, is black. When it comes to females, other black people, and more specifically black females... they talk to him without going to parade rest, talk with no professionalism whatsoever as if they are best friends. When they make mistakes, he laughs it off. Now someone like myself, who is white, as well as many others who are also white, receives a tremendous amount of flack about the most miniscule mistakes. We get dropped if we even look at him the wrong way, such as if he feels we give him a disrespectful look. If one were to make the mistake of calling him Sergeant on accident... don't even get me started.
There is a complete lack of organization and communication within my unit. There will be a handful of tasks that need to be completed throughout the day and/or week. The individual in charge of these tasks fails to communicate these issues to others, therefore either the work doesn't get done at all or gets done incorrectly. Thus, the entire battery will stay at work until 1900 or later until it is completed.
95% of our NCOs and Leaders are self pretentious, arrogant, and incompetent ******. No matter what, even with proof, you CAN NOT prove these individuals wrong. Their ego simply will not allow it. They have always been there and done that so they know they're right. No matter what you say, their experience is or was much, much worse. They care much more about how they look and the advancement of their careers than they do about their soldiers. One example is during our last FTX, a soldier herniated 3 disks in the process of moving a weapons rack. Our commander fought tooth and nail to keep her there because, and I am only assuming this, that it would make her look bad. Either because someone was hurt under her watch for something that shouldn't have been taking place in the first place, or because she would be one soldier short. This poor girl had to stay in the field for 2 days in agony before the Battalion Commander caught wind of it and ordered her to go back. She was diagnosed with 2 herniated discs and received a profile for no PT, no lifting, and NO FIELD EXERCISES. Our commander actually took the effort to find a loophole to make this poor girl attend the next FTX.
From what I have witnessed both first hand and through my friends, the health care system is horrific. I had a friend go in with a knee injury. Anyone without a medical degree could see how incredibly inflamed it was and how much pain he was in. The battalion surgeon had to gall to say, "I think it's all in your mind. Take some ibuprofen." His condition worsens every single week. I, myself, incurred a back injury during basic training. I didn't want to be recycled or discharged, so I sucked it up until recently. The pain has become so incredibly severe that it greatly affects my quality of life. I have severe pain that radiates from my lower back, down my legs and into my feet. When it really flares up, my feet will actually go numb. I am pretty certain I have disk issues, however... after recently going to see a civilian doctor a the TMC, I was told otherwise. After explaining my situation and symptoms, the man told me, "well luckily it sounds NOTHING like an issue with your spine or disks. It sounds like a strain in something muscular. Go see a chiropractor, here are some high strength ibuprofen." I objected, saying that I really felt it was a disk issue and I would like to see a specialist. He became angry and said, "son, I've done this far longer than you've been alive, so I'm pretty confident I know more than you." I became angry, swallowed my pride, and left. My condition, also, is worsening every week.
We have a field training exercise for the next 2 weeks, which I am severely dreading for many reasons, mostly because of the amount of pain I am constantly in. When we return, I am IMMEDIATELY going to see another doctor and assertively push to see a spine specialist. I am PRAYING with every ounce of my being that I am right about my back and I get discharged ASAP.
I never in a million years thought that I would resent being in the military, more specifically the Army. However, I feel this is the single greatest mistake I have ever made in my entire life. I refuse to subject my body to further injury and miss any more time with my family than I already have for such an incompetent group of people who quite obviously do not give a damn about me or most other soldiers. I really could continue my rant for several hundred more words, but I shall try to save it for another post.
The reason I posted this is because I am hoping that individuals who are currently considering joining the Army will come across what I have said, as well as the others here, and truly, deeply reconsider their decision before going through with it. Thank you everyone for your time!
Since I was a little boy, I could not wait until I was old enough to join the military. Upon completing high school, I decided it would be a wise idea to go to college and get my degree so that I had something to fall back on in case the military didn't work out for whatever reason, and also so that I could eventually pursue a career as an officer.
I shipped to reception September of 2010 and I was so incredibly excited and motivated I can't even put into words. I ended up enlisting into Air Defense Artillery. At the time I was enlisting, there were few jobs to pick from and I didn't want to go straight into an officer position as I wanted to gain experience and develop my leadership skills before leading soldiers.
Through basic training, there wasn't one single day I wasn't motivated about my career, how much I couldn't wait to get to a unit, deploy, and further develop myself to excel. However, very shortly after getting to AIT, that motivation began dwindling after seeing how the other soldiers acted around our undisciplined and unprofessional instructors. Our weekly safety briefings were incredibly asinine. The fact that these acts occurred so often that they had to be reiterated to us on a weekly basis blew my mind away. This included, doing spice, other drugs, drinking and driving, beating spouses, children, etc., and many other things that contradict simple common sense. After 6 long months, I was finally graduated and back to being incredibly excited about going to a line unit as, I was sure, that motivation and professionalism would be in full effect. How wrong I was...
I got to my first unit, where I currently am, and within a week I began hating life. I was treated like a complete *** because I came straight in as a Specialist... many individuals felt I didn't deserve it, earn it, etc. The absurd amount of slack given to women because of how much they flirt with the higher ranking males made, and makes, me absolutely sick. Frankly, the amount of racism present is ridiculous. I.e... our First Sergeant, who is actually only a Sergeant First Class, is black. When it comes to females, other black people, and more specifically black females... they talk to him without going to parade rest, talk with no professionalism whatsoever as if they are best friends. When they make mistakes, he laughs it off. Now someone like myself, who is white, as well as many others who are also white, receives a tremendous amount of flack about the most miniscule mistakes. We get dropped if we even look at him the wrong way, such as if he feels we give him a disrespectful look. If one were to make the mistake of calling him Sergeant on accident... don't even get me started.
There is a complete lack of organization and communication within my unit. There will be a handful of tasks that need to be completed throughout the day and/or week. The individual in charge of these tasks fails to communicate these issues to others, therefore either the work doesn't get done at all or gets done incorrectly. Thus, the entire battery will stay at work until 1900 or later until it is completed.
95% of our NCOs and Leaders are self pretentious, arrogant, and incompetent ******. No matter what, even with proof, you CAN NOT prove these individuals wrong. Their ego simply will not allow it. They have always been there and done that so they know they're right. No matter what you say, their experience is or was much, much worse. They care much more about how they look and the advancement of their careers than they do about their soldiers. One example is during our last FTX, a soldier herniated 3 disks in the process of moving a weapons rack. Our commander fought tooth and nail to keep her there because, and I am only assuming this, that it would make her look bad. Either because someone was hurt under her watch for something that shouldn't have been taking place in the first place, or because she would be one soldier short. This poor girl had to stay in the field for 2 days in agony before the Battalion Commander caught wind of it and ordered her to go back. She was diagnosed with 2 herniated discs and received a profile for no PT, no lifting, and NO FIELD EXERCISES. Our commander actually took the effort to find a loophole to make this poor girl attend the next FTX.
From what I have witnessed both first hand and through my friends, the health care system is horrific. I had a friend go in with a knee injury. Anyone without a medical degree could see how incredibly inflamed it was and how much pain he was in. The battalion surgeon had to gall to say, "I think it's all in your mind. Take some ibuprofen." His condition worsens every single week. I, myself, incurred a back injury during basic training. I didn't want to be recycled or discharged, so I sucked it up until recently. The pain has become so incredibly severe that it greatly affects my quality of life. I have severe pain that radiates from my lower back, down my legs and into my feet. When it really flares up, my feet will actually go numb. I am pretty certain I have disk issues, however... after recently going to see a civilian doctor a the TMC, I was told otherwise. After explaining my situation and symptoms, the man told me, "well luckily it sounds NOTHING like an issue with your spine or disks. It sounds like a strain in something muscular. Go see a chiropractor, here are some high strength ibuprofen." I ob
We have a field training exercise for the next 2 weeks, which I am severely dreading for many reasons, mostly because of the amount of pain I am constantly in. When we return, I am IMMEDIATELY going to see another doctor and assertively push to see a spine specialist. I am PRAYING with every ounce of my being that I am right about my back and I get discharged ASAP.
I never in a million years thought that I would resent being in the military, more specifically the Army. However, I feel this is the single greatest mistake I have ever made in my entire life. I refuse to subject my body to further injury and miss any more time with my family than I already have for such an incompetent group of people who quite obviously do not give a damn about me or most other soldiers. I really could continue my rant for several hundred more words, but I shall try to save it for another post.
The reason I posted this is because I am hoping that individuals who are currently considering joining the Army will come across what I have said, as well as the others here, and truly, deeply reconsider their decision before going through with it. Thank you everyone for your time!
By:
august06
Age:
22-25
