Soldiers ‘frustrated‘ by rules, policies

[Jason Jarvis]

This article shouldn‘t come as much of a surprise to the members of this forum, and even less so to those who are serving members of the CF.

As a strong civilian supporter of the CF, I‘m very interested in what members of the CF think of this article, the study and the conclusions.

Soldiers ‘frustrated‘ by rules, policies
Army troubleshooter pins blame on inertia, prevailing attitudes

a journalist
The Ottawa Citizen

Monday, June 23, 2003 - Canada‘s soldiers are tired and frustrated, hindered in doing their jobs by myriad rules and inertia in the military, says the army‘s top troubleshooter.

"Overall, the single greatest emotion encountered was frustration," wrote Col. Bill Brough after touring bases last year to take the pulse of the army.

"The soldiers, NCOs and officers of the army are incredibly dedicated and talented, but tired because of personnel tempo and frustrated at the myriad of rules, policies and inertia that impedes achieving what they know has to be done."

Col. Brough, the land force command inspector, also reported that the army‘s budget crunch is producing "counter-productive short-term decisions."

Those observations were included in his first annual report on the state of the army, written in November and recently released to the Citizen under the access to information law. The command inspector is considered the army‘s troubleshooter and the eyes and ears for its senior leadership.

Col. Brough noted that much of what the army does is positive. But it must make very clear that people come first in the organization and attitudes that treat soldiers as just another resource must be changed, he wrote.

Also of concern is recruiting. Col. Brough warned that the army is accepting more than its share of recruits with less than high school education.

That situation will cause problems and expense later on, he predicted, when the army has to upgrade education levels of those troops.

While he was generally impressed with new soldiers being brought into the ranks, Col. Brough noted there were some glaring exceptions. Some recruits were guaranteed to become administrative burdens, he said, while others were so old that they had little time for service in the army before they hit retirement age. He said in those cases the army‘s return on its investment in training the soldiers is marginal.

Col. Brough recommended that the service conduct a complete review of the recruiting approach.

Efforts must also be made to prevent the appearance of a high-living military force. The command inspector suggested the army issue orders that any purchase of civilian vehicles for use by soldiers be middle-of-the-road, four-wheel drive trucks.

"The army cannot afford the perception that our new vehicles are top-of-the-line, spare- no-expense purchases," he said.

He also noted that the army has to do more to connect with the public. In southwestern Ontario, with a population of three million as well as numerous media organizations, the army only has one public affairs officer, the colonel wrote.

Army spokesman Lt.-Col. Réjean Duchesneau said a special group has been set up to work on the colonel‘s recommendations and observations.

But in some cases not much can be done about some of the problems identified by Col. Brough. For instance, it does not appear that soldiers will be getting a break anytime soon from the high level of operations.

The federal government committed the military to a one-year mission in Afghanistan that will start in several months.

http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=909DA7A2-C4A3-4863-ACE2-01C1F11F0BAE

The one thing I want to add is that I believe the CF deserves the best equipment available.

I certainly wouldn‘t have any problem paying more income tax if it meant that the men and women defending my freedom had the equipment available to do their jobs appropriately -- and come home safe.

 

[Fader]

The command inspector suggested the army issue orders that any purchase of civilian vehicles for use by soldiers be middle-of-the-road, four-wheel drive trucks.

Here is an example where "middle-of-the road, four-wheel drive trucks" would be a massive improvement. Still, we can get the job done with an LS (although we normally have to worry about spontanious vehicle combustion, carbon monoxide poisoning, complete engine failure, and absolutly no chance of survival in the event of a collision).

As for the frustration, why do you think I don‘t care anymore about most things? You get really frustrated if you try to live by ALL the rules the military sets for you, so if you just live by the most important ones (eg: the ones that keep you out of trouble), you‘ll normally not get to be frustrated. Besides, those rules are normally the easiest to follow.

 

[klumanth]

Lui, they‘re not talking about the rules you live by, such as, personal dress and deportment. Those rules have been around for a long time so get used to them. They are talking about the rules and policies concerned with your job. Like the mound of paperwork it can take to order spare parts. Or being denied spare parts altogether because they are class B so whenever something comes into the shop needing that part it has to wait on the shelf until the part comes in which can take forever. So yes, frustration certainly plays into a lot of people jobs. Simple tasks seem to take forever. I also agree with his point on the recruiting process. They are letting in people who are guaranteed to be an administrative burden. Even on BT and QL-3 training, the amount of paperwork it would take for the course staff to have someone released is phenomenal. It just doesn‘t happen anymore even if you are a complete thudf**k, they won‘t kick you out. The worst they generally do nowadays is not offer you a new contract when your 3 yr BE expires and for that you have to be pretty bad.

 

[Fader]

Actually, that‘s true. Me being a Peo..err Private, Class A mostly, I don‘t see much of the bureaucratic nonesense; I hear about it alot though and I see traces of it. That, I can imagine as being very, very frustrating actually. That‘s also why I think the clerks who run the OR are probably the most deserving of respect out of our unit. They probably have the hardest job to do.
I guess that‘s also my incentive to never climb the ranks, above Corporal; I hear there‘s a lot of paper work for a Master Corporal to do.

 

[rolandstrong]

THey are not talking about the LUVW as the "middle of the road truck". They are referring to the purchase John McCallum just stamped for the GM Defense 3/4 ton Crew Cab 4x4 pickup with Duramax Diesels. These will be distributed to the reserves apparently.

http://www.gdlscanada.com/products.asp?ProductID=10

 

[Deleted member 585]

Well, it was a pretty good slag of the LSVW nonetheless.

 

[Thaedes]

Also of concern is recruiting. Col. Brough warned that the army is accepting more than its share of recruits with less than high school education.

True, and while this will cause financial burdens when these people upgrade, what happens to those men and women who really need the help of the forces to turn their lives around? The second chance if you will? Toss them away? Let them go become unproductive members of society and be a futher detrament to the forces by being a drain on the Canadian enconomy (eg. welfare) - thus an endirect drain.

Life is demanding, and if you arent sucessful on your first pass your often not given a second. For many people, the only way to continue to finish their high school education is to either join the military, or get into prison. Thus removing many financial demands. Where would you rather have us?

 

[Fader]

The mighty LSVW... maurads across the battle field... striking fear and terror into the hearts of all who glance upon it... except the enemy, who keel over laughing thier asses off.