As long as we are at the Line of Departure, here is a blog post from Carl Prine on the Sergeant Major of the Army and updates to Army Regulation 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia. Three hundred and some pages on everything from how to wear your Aiguillette to what is acceptable in terms of Tattoos.
It seems the Sergeant Major of the Army would like to spiff up soldiers in uniform. Frankly, this is a good idea and as a good idea it rolls around every decade or so. For those of you who have not previously served in one of the Armed Services, the top link might be interesting. Skip the Uniform Regulation unless you are desperate for something to read. But, for Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler, III, it is bread and butter. It is axiomatic that when dress starts to slip, discipline starts to slip.
I wish Sergeant Major of the Army Chandler the best of luck.
Regards — Cliff
3 comments:
The SMA and his "board of directors?" It seems that when a senior enlisted person of E-9 rank gets a title, they think that they are officers and hold corporate positions. At the point that they proclaim "boards of directors" and so forth, they have departed any sort of meaningful relationship with the enlisted force which they purport to represent.
All good order and discipline is local. Period. The AF certainly doesn't need some betitled command chief to do what every NCO is required to do....promote and support good order and discipline. I had many associates who, after shamelessly promoting themselves to senior officers, became "knighted" as "Command Chiefs" or "Senior Enlisted Advisers" and upon their ascension to the throne changed dramatically.....from a Chief Master Sergeant to an E-9. I had two close friends who became CMSAF's, and once in "office" in the Pentagon....suddenly didn't have the time to maintain friendships or connections. They pretty much felt that they were surrogate 4 stars.
Enforcement of standards...uniform, conduct, or operational...begins and ends at the unit level...the squadron level...and within the squadrons...at the shop level.
If standards in the Army have slipped, it's the Commanders who have failed to "energize" slipping NCO to do their jobs. Having some super sergeant miles from the trenches "enforcing" standards is simply a good waste of somebody's time.
When I was on AD, I was First Sergeant for a 2500 person aircraft maintenance outfit....and I can guarantee that nobody in my squadron was noncompliant with dress and personal appearance requirements....because I was fortunate to be blessed with a very competent squadron of dedicated and capable NCOs. I let them do the job that they knew how to do and only offered to provide secondary assistance if and when they required.
Being "squared away" in all fashions and regards is a means to prepare the military mind for the trials of combat.
The assumption is that "sharpness" is vital.
Nothing dulls the military mind like a decade of combat. The polish of boots and the crispness of creases become silly, at some point.
Whatever has slipped in terms of petty expressions of "dress right, dress" will be put back in place as deployments wind down.
When the threat of IED doesn't keep the battle weary sharp, it may just be the threat of Top seeing an "ayed up" gig line that keeps a lid on a variety of evils, pent up in a hundred thousand, walking, talking and saluting Pandora's Boxes.
And, it turns out that Jack, appearing to be cynical, is actually correct. Uniforms and dress codes are a way of expressing the idea that some things are acceptable and some not. When that external discipline and the concomitant internal discipline slips you get bad actions that men and women with access to arms can execute. Or, not going that far, you get folks free-lancing and bending rules and then going rogue in a bureaucratic sort of way.
Regards — Cliff
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