The Fail of the National Guard Bureau Enlisted Soldier

I started my Army Career in the year 2000.  Once I became a Non-Commissioned Officer(NCO) I was given three Soldiers.  Being a leader was one of the most amazing experiences of my life I must say.  One of the great things about being in The Big Army is they do a pretty good job of weeding out the bad leaders.  For example, a nine man infantry squad consist of the squad leader who is normally an E-6, two team leaders that are E-5's or E-4's and the rest of the Soldiers are E-4 and below.  Nine times out of ten, if your squad leader is a dirt bag, one or both of those team leaders are rock stars.  As soon as they get the opportunity to get rid of that E-6, they damn sure will.  The higher up's in the company won't keep him around for shits and giggles.  Its all about job performance and they wont hesitate to send his ass somewhere and give him an average to below NCOER.  So anyway, once I left big Army I joined the National Guard and became what they call an "MDAY" Soldier.  What that means is that I drill one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer.  One of the things that I realized when I started drilling on the weekends is that the standards were a tad bit less than big army.  A lot of the NCO's were average to below and seemed only to care about themselves.  There were more supervisors than there were leaders which was something I struggled to understand .  Once I left MDAY status and became full time I went down to work at the place where all the decisions are made for the National Guard.  It was very common to meet NCO's who had never led troops.  I remember talking with one E-8 who said he had avoided having Soldiers under him as much as possible because he only wanted to have to worry about himself.  One of the other things I learned very quickly is the object of the game wasn't mission first...it was how fast can you get promoted.  As if its some sort of competition to see who can progress the fastest.  I remember the day I told the Soldier in charge of me that I was diagnosed with PTSD and had been seeking treatment for the past year.  I was fired 2 days later and sent to another section and not even allowed to pack up my shit.  How the fuck is that taking care of Soldiers.  Of course the person that fired me was an E-8 who had never deployed...imagine that.  Most of the Soldiers there have never deployed.  The fucking war has been going on for over 10 years, how the fuck have people not deployed.  Granted there are some situations where you have not been selected to do so and I get that, but come on...its been ten years.  Another reason is people look at deploying as a  , "I need it to get promoted or just to have something on my right side".  That's the wrong answer and as we use to say in the old days,  'Thats as wrong as two boys fucking".  I've never in my life seen so many shitty enlisted Soldiers consolidated in one area in my life.  Soldiers walking around looking jacked the fuck up.  Uniforms fucked up, stomach busted out, hair out of regulation, and the list goes on.  I'm not in the best shape but one thing i can guarantee is that i will never fail a pt test. I mean I'm not getting 270's and above like I used to but I'm also not doing a job that requires me to be in top light fighter shape either. You got Soldiers riding medical profiles like its going out of style.  How in the fuck do you go and get a profile a week before the PT Test?  And don't get me started on the, "The good ole boy network".  A bunch of ratchet ass senior Soldiers that only take care of their piece of shit buddies.  Only in the Guard Bureau will a motherfucker turn down a First Sergeant position because its in another state.  We got First Sergeant positions that aren't even being filled because nobody wants to PCS.  I got news for you dip shit,  Big Army PCS's all the time at the need of the fucking army.  Granted I don't expect you to volunteer to PCS but if you get orders to do so, you damn sure better do it.  Another thing you will find is a Soldier that's E-7 and above that has like 9 years of active left before he reaches 20 years to retire.  So for example, in Big Army when u have reached the rank of E-8 or E-9 you should normally have less than 5 years left.  But in regards to the Guard Bureau you will have a SGM with years left and we all know the higher the position the less there are of them.  So know I gotta wait for the 50 year old SGM to fucking die before a position opens up.  If he doesn't die, he will continue to move around into other E-9 positions which prevents others from moving up.  However they have recently had a leadership change and I'm sure he will be able to fix a big portion of these things.  So here is an example of a conversation.

-The conversation is about a promotion in the Big Army

Big Army: I know you are stationed in Bragg and you are a promotable E-7 but there is a 1SG job at Fort Hood. Do you want it?

Big Army Soldier:  Hood sucks, but I will take it (I'm so looking forward to being a 1SG)

-Same Convo just at the Guard Bureau

GB:  We have a position in Fort Hood for 1SG.  Do you want it?

Soldier:  Oh no i can't. We just got a house here and my kids like the schools they are in, plus my wife has the flu.  Are there any positions within a 20 mile radius of here because I can't really go anywhere.  Also can I still get promoted to MSG?

The positions and ranks change but the type of conversation remains the same.  Do understand, the Guard Bureau has a few amazing rock stars working there.  The problem is they are the ones that get fucked over the most.  They become victims of performance punishment.  That's when you are good at what you do so people give you more shit to do.  Then they wonder why the rock stars wanna leave and go work somewhere else.  They lower the standards for shit bags but raise it for the rock stars.  Amazing shit isn't it.  Some of you may ask, well why the hell do you stay in the guard?  I stay in the Guard because i believe i can offer something that they need badly....A LEADER.  So i will continue to do my part, take care of, and mentor Soldiers.  If your a Guardsman and you found this blog offensive...do the Soldiers who give a shit about the Army a favor....Find the nearest balcony and jump the fuck off...  make room for people who wanna make a difference.

Stay Thirsty my Friends