The Young and Stupid - For Military Folks

[imported_Devine]

Originally posted by: Wapp

Originally posted by: broon

Originally posted by: Wapp

Also, I have ten dollars that the douche bag was a green rope in tech school.

The only people worse than the green ropes were the Sgts in charge of the dorms.

Word. The blue ropes were assholes. Where did you go to tech school? I was at Keesler in '01. 336 TRS. You were lucky if you made it out of there without doing RMT at least once.

Well then I must be lucky cause I never had to do it

 

[5to1baby1in5]

Him - I'm the PTL with BlahBlah flight, the only PTL out here right now, and you need to leave this track now or I'll be reporting you to SSgt Brown for failing to follow my orders and AF regulations.

Isn't he supposed to shoot you for disobeying a direct order. We are at war after all.

 

[fitzov]

What is it that bothers you the most:

--that you outranked him but he was technically NCOIC, or
--that he was attempting to enforce a regulation that didn't apply?

 

[AndrewR]

I don't mind the shorts because you can always wear a very large size to make them decent (I think I have XL though I normally wear M to L for shorts). I'm not sure what diminutive race of humanoid they used to size the new uniform, but whoever they were, they were related to pygmies.

The worst part about the PT uniform is two-fold: 1) It's WHITE inside the jacket. Um, we PT on the grass quite often and/or sweat, which is likely to stain a nice, white fabric. Brilliant choice. 2) Those damn sweatpants are like "gangsta" style fit, and they "swoosh" every time you take a step, whether running or walking. I hate them so much I just froze my legs when I was in Baghdad going to the shower because we either had to wear the PT uniform or DCUs all the time.

I firmly believe the AF uniform board is composed of functional idiots. Actually, I can be almost positive that it's composed of pilots and aircrew who don't wear most of the stuff and just find the most outrageous designs to laugh at all of us groundlings. I hate to admit it, but the Army does much better in all aspects of uniform changes (well, apart from that stupid decision about the beret and then sourcing them to China initially!). The Marine Corps also has the process down quite well.

As for the OP, you should have dressed that cocky Airman down, taken down his supervisor's name, and then followed up with said supervisor to ensure that the Airman at least received verbal counseling from his chain of command. Not to be blunt (well, ok to be blunt), but you are an NCO and that's your mandate. Yes, he screwed up, but so did you in letting it go.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: Devine

Originally posted by: thepd7
if I interpret correctly, either the OP is ranked above or this is like a newly commissioned 2nd Lt in the Army trying to tell a 15 year non-commissioned officer what to do.

My brother is Lt in the army and I asked him about ranks and stuff whenever I visited and he said while technically he outranks all NCOs, he would get his ass kicked if he tried to order some of them around.

From what I understood the OP is a SSgt or E-5 and the PTL is a E-1 thru E-4 because the OP said the guy addressed himself as airmen which is E-1 thru E-4. So the OP outranks el duche bago PTL. Your right though, officers outrank all enlisted even if your an E-9 and have been in the military for 25+ yrs an O-1 on the first day of their military career outranks you. Now you gotta be out of your mind to think that means diddly squat cause for the most part until you hit O-3 you dont really run anything, or at least this is what I have seen in the AF.

yea, the SFC (Sergeant First Class) that instructs my first year ROTC class said that while a fresh 2LT will outrank any NCO, that you will likely be consulting many NCO's for knowledge and to treat them with respect. And that while you'll get NCO's that treat 2LT's like sh!t, you should respectively order them to respect you. Meaning, don't try and put him in his place, just talk to him and try to gain some respect through showing that you respect him.
I know for sure I'll never try to pull anything off like that once I'm a 2LT.

While what that SFC said is entirely true, there is an offshoot problem which is NCOs thinking they outrank everybody and can do no wrong. It's not particularly common, especially among more senior NCOs because they've been weeded out at that point, but I have seen it even in E-9s. The best NCOs don't demand respect -- they earn it through their actions and attitudes. Ditto for officers. Regardless, you do have to respect the rank even if you don't respect the person, and that goes up and down. If you don't like that fact, separate and remove the uniform.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: Devine

Originally posted by: thepd7
if I interpret correctly, either the OP is ranked above or this is like a newly commissioned 2nd Lt in the Army trying to tell a 15 year non-commissioned officer what to do.

My brother is Lt in the army and I asked him about ranks and stuff whenever I visited and he said while technically he outranks all NCOs, he would get his ass kicked if he tried to order some of them around.

From what I understood the OP is a SSgt or E-5 and the PTL is a E-1 thru E-4 because the OP said the guy addressed himself as airmen which is E-1 thru E-4. So the OP outranks el duche bago PTL. Your right though, officers outrank all enlisted even if your an E-9 and have been in the military for 25+ yrs an O-1 on the first day of their military career outranks you. Now you gotta be out of your mind to think that means diddly squat cause for the most part until you hit O-3 you dont really run anything, or at least this is what I have seen in the AF.

yea, the SFC (Sergeant First Class) that instructs my first year ROTC class said that while a fresh 2LT will outrank any NCO, that you will likely be consulting many NCO's for knowledge and to treat them with respect. And that while you'll get NCO's that treat 2LT's like sh!t, you should respectively order them to respect you. Meaning, don't try and put him in his place, just talk to him and try to gain some respect through showing that you respect him.
I know for sure I'll never try to pull anything off like that once I'm a 2LT.

While what that SFC said is entirely true, there is an offshoot problem which is NCOs thinking they outrank everybody and can do no wrong. It's not particularly common, especially among more senior NCOs because they've been weeded out at that point, but I have seen it even in E-9s. The best NCOs don't demand respect -- they earn it through their actions and attitudes. Ditto for officers. Regardless, you do have to respect the rank even if you don't respect the person, and that goes up and down. If you don't like that fact, separate and remove the uniform.

yep... the SFC said exactly that, that E-8's and E-9's tend to be cocky and will try and make any O-1's life living hell. He said that the best thing we can do is approach them, pull them aside and talk to them about it, respectively. i can definitely see this happening, and I fully expect to have to approach senior NCO's about it. I have a lot of time left in ROTC before I commission, but I definitely expect to be able to be a strong officer, with the proper training. Without training I realize I'll be nothing, and I am far from cocky.
I do look forward to commissioning though, but I know I am far from ready.