Arcon05 - Company Signaler = the suckage

[jmackenzie_15]

Having not been able to play army all summer, I was really looking forward to this years ARCON.
I got pegged as a c9 gunner, and all was good in the world.
However, being the only competent person with a comms course (seemingly) I was volunteered for company signaler.

Well now, im a private, took this comms course 7-8 months ago, remember nothing other than that I hate radios with a passion, and would sooner quit the army than sit in a CP all day long.

Thats exactly what I had to do, and I had no idea how to do anything.

the first four days,I slept maybe 1 hour... i managed to get everything working and the company online.... the company attack at the end went well comms wise.

Im proud of a job well done, but now I know why the comms guys I run into are always so pissed off and frustrated!
Good on them if thats the job they want to do, but I hated every second of it, and would much rather be in a trench somewhere or a #2  on a c6. Sigh.

I even tried to get switched off with someone else who had comms and didnt like being in the field and would rather be in a CP... there were a few of them but it didnt fly.

I joined an infantry unit to be an infantry soldier.... not to wear an infantry cap badge, sit indoors with several 522s strapped to me and stay up for days at a time living on coffee and yelling at people for breaking my radios.

I did the best I could despite not knowing a damn thing... I guess it went well, everyone was impressed with my work ethic or something and I was commended top soldier in my company, along with another guy, who worked his ass off as transport NCO... he was a corporal and had no idea how to do anything.He had it worse than I did, and he deserved it more than I, but oh well.

My biggest fear now is, that after ive done an "excellent job" as a signaler, ill get typed as such,and end up platoon signaler for every weekend exercise at my home unit and sit in a CP from now to the end of wars.

Anyone ever been in a similar situation? I loved my job being a rifleman.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

Also, isnt this supposed to be a Signals job? as in, the trade?

Apparently i /AM/ company signaler now.This really blows.If I can't get this changed im joining the regs or quitting right there.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Do you honestly believe that every day in the combat arms you get to pick your job?  Trust me, if I had spent 23 years as a sapper doing nothing but running around and blowing stuff up, it would have been a pretty sweet gig.  As it is, I've been a storesman, a Tpt rep, a Tp clerk, an officers driver (how else do you think they keep from getting lost?), and a host of other distasteful jobs.  I'd further venture that almost every member here is in the same boat.  All part of the wonder that is the Big Green Machine....

CHIMO,  Kat

 

[jmackenzie_15]

kat,

95% of the guys in my unit that have been in for more than 5 years have managed it.
Im not talking about an exercise here and there, i mean, im perma-stuck doing this untill the end of time, or someone else who would love to do it, and is amazing at it comes along.

Im just really disappointed, and my morale took a big drop when I found out this is what I would be doing for the next year, after knowing all the training we're going to do.

 

[Kat Stevens]

I understood you.  Most HQ and Adm jobs in reg force Battalions and Regiments are for a year, minimum.  That includes Garrison time.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

great.

 

[Pikache]

Guess what. When you took the comms course, you should have realized that in an inf coy, there are signaller positions and you might get stuck doing that job.
Wanting to pound the ground and shoot guns and killing the enemy is all good, but you have to realize that it can't be all cool stuff. Besides, you can learn a lot from being a signaller which is a very important position.

Make your feeling known to your chain of command, but know that if your unit needs you in a signaller position, perhaps you should be a good soldier by being a signaller for a while.

 

[Gunner]

Everyone does a job they don't want to.   In the end, you will be judged on how professionally you conduct yourself not on whether you liked the job or not.   Suck it up and soldier on.

 

[Britney Spears]

Mmmmm, because none of US here have ever had to carry the radio. I can't wait for your book to come out.

You did keep the C9 too, right?

 

[Kat Stevens]

What is this "radio" of which you all speak?

 

[meni0n]

Hey cmon now, being in a CP got its advantages too.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Everyone does a job they don't want to. 

In the reserves?  I think there are large numbers of significant exceptions, namely, the ones that don't like the suckage and realize they can make more money bouncing at the local bar, etc.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

Mmmmm, because none of US here have ever had to carry the radio. I can't wait for your book to come out.

You did keep the C9 too, right?

Yeah okay, if by carry you mean up some stairs to my desk at the CP?

FYI, i was told i was going on a comms course, 3 days before it even began.I didnt have the slightest chance to get away from it... they did that deliberately because I said I wanted a 2a or a driver course but NEVER a comms course.Har Har, very funny guys.

When do I ever not conduct myself professionally? I hate this job and evreything about it annoys the hell out of me, but I still received a commendation from the CO for my work.

If i wanted to spend my time in the army indoors writing on papers, I would have signed up for the appropriate trade.

And yeah, there are inf positions... section commanders have 521s. A Company Signaler is supposed to be a Sigs guy by trade, and inf battallions are supposed to have sigs units attached to them for these jobs... because thats what they do.Worst case scenario, they all die, but we can still maintain comms because some of the inf guys are trained as well.

That is the ideal situation, but this is the army, and hardly anything is ever ideal, or working like it is supposed to be.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

In the reserves?   I think there are large numbers of significant exceptions, namely, the ones that don't like the suckage and realize they can make more money bouncing at the local bar, etc.

I could have been making more money bartending, since youve mentioned it, but it took up too much of my time in the infantry.
I don't care what it pays, as long as im fed and living decently, whatever.It's what I enjoy doing.

People should be able to do whatever they want, as long as it makes them happy.Being an Infantry soldier is what makes me happy, and finding out im being stuck in a CP eating donuts and writing in logs all day does not make me happy.

 

[Kat Stevens]

"That is the ideal situation, but this is the army, and hardly anything is ever ideal, or working like it is supposed to be."


Congatulations, grasshopper, you just learned the first Great Military Truth.  Two more and we teach you the secret handshake.

 

[Gunner]

In the reserves?   I think there are large numbers of significant exceptions, namely, the ones that don't like the suckage and realize they can make more money bouncing at the local bar, etc.

Reg or Res, if it's not fun anymore, you can always move on.  It's a free country....

 

[Infanteer]

Quit your balling - the military isn't about making you happy, it's about getting the job done.   Quit if you don't like it and stop wasting bandwidth - I'm sure you'll teach the Army a lesson for not listening to your needs....

Having been in a few roles that plainly sucked (signaller is one of them) I'll give you a piece of advice.   The Army is always going to suck - even when you are doing the cool shit, it sucks for some reason.   The trick is to find the cool parts of anything, no matter how shitty it is.   Whether your nuts are frozen to the ground during a stand-to or you are sitting in the CP manning the comms.   I made some 12 hour CP shifts fly-by with reading the Islamic Jihad shit on the walls.

Signaller ain't all that bad - you're right in the thick of things.   You'll know all the details, you get good with a really snazzy piece of kit, you nail down comms procedure (which many have problems with), you get to know 9er and Co., and see how shit above your pay-grade unfolds.

Take the good from any situation, including this one, or the Army is going to chew you up and spit you out as a bitter guy who got out.

Your Choice,
Infanteer

 

[Michael Dorosh]

You'll have to forgive Infanteer; he sometimes forgets why it is he never got promoted to lieutenant colonel.    

But it was close...

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Reg or Res, if it's not fun anymore, you can always move on.   It's a free country....

Let me guess - you're the Unit Retention Officer in a reserve unit?

You really don't see a problem with the "there's the door" mentality?  Peace time army, good civvie economy - lots of options for guys wanting to move on.

Not even just a little smidge of sympathy?  Sure we all do stuff that we don't like doing; and learn to like it (I'm RMS but have been working in clothing stores for a year - not remotely what I "trained" to do but I enjoy it).  So I think we understand the sermon.

Now, what should units be doing about guys like that?  Nothing, in your opinion?

 

[Line Staff]

I'm surprised that nobody jumped on this one.

  "People should be able to do whatever they want, as long as it makes them happy."

    You're in the Army. You might want to re-phrase that.

    I am a Lineman. Bell Canada in green. I am Staff at LFCA TC. Battle school. I'll be doing this for the next four years. Get used to filling holes where the Army needs you to fill holes.

    You did well at a job that nobody else wanted, proving versatility and a willingness to learn a new aspect of your trade. Your superiors will likely take that into account the next time they are looking for someone they can count on. Don't jump ship just because you got put in a position you didn't like. Keep doing a good job and it will likely pay off in the long run.

    Through