Exam on Monday and thesis presentation next Friday. I’m nervous as all hell. 
I despise my Team Leader.
so we’ve had like 3 straight days off. He’s hollerin about he’s bored. Then he goes “well since we’re bored…”
WE’RE??
Me and my other teamate does not share the same sentiment of being bored, as our team leader does. But we can’t say that tho, due to rank/position and all that jazz.
“…I think we’re going to start doing busy work around our AO”
So he makes us do fucking POLICE CALLS(cleaning up around the outside, picking up trash etc.) around our AO(area of operations). How gay is doing police calls picking up trash in iraq???
This motherfucker is the ONLY one bored, he’s probably bitter cause he doesn’t have anything entertaining to occupy himself with cause he watched all his movies.
So now he says we’re going to ******(it’s another city in Iraq, but sorry readers i wont say where, cause anyone could be reading this shit) to get our truck fixed. Me and my teamate we thought that going to ****** was a good idea in the first place. However our team leader goes “you guys are probably going to hate this, but we’re going to ****** for a couple of days”
When we actually don’t and we wanted to go there for a lil bit in the first place. But he’d never know because he’s too self centered to ask his own teamates what they think about anything that’s happening over here, unless by way of one-sided counceling statements(Ducky, you know how monthly councelings go anyway, they’re one-sided).
Can I join the Late Night, or is it invitation only?
Got a dinner date with the ex-professor and his daughter tommorow, which is hot from what I am told, so I’ve been working on some material last night till 2am. Professionally, I’ve got alot of work ahead of me since intern finding is going to be challenging. Especially in the T-Dot. PHP, JSP, XML, AS 2.0, and ASP.NET will be my new women this week.
Slide: what type of leader is he?
Bear Ryoma: E-6 Staff Sergeant. And leader of our 3-man psyop team.
And annoying. There’s alot of other stupid shit he says and does, but i don’t feel like typing all that stuff out right now.
Slide - my performance counselings are actually 2-way everytime. It’s useless to counsel someone without their input. I have my soldiers carry around a little notepad. Everyday, they have to write down something they did well and something they need to improve on. At the end of the week, I have them pull it out and show me what the most important thing they did best on that week, and the thing they need the most improvement on that week. At the end of the month, I have them pull out that notepad, and they show me the four things they did very well and the four things they need the most improvement on. I put those things on the monthly counseling along with things that I view as important too. This way, the soldier himself is also monitoring his own progress.
I mean, there are one way parts in the monthly counseling, but these aren’t really things they can input on, just things I saw from them that month… appearance, hygiene, punctuality, PT, etc. I will change what I write sometimes based on what we discuss during the counseling session - as in, I have the soldier down late for a few formations, but I understand he had some personal problems, so I will change that, for example.
A lot of NCO’s aren’t doing counselings correctly. It’s a very small thing that makes a huge impact on soldiers, and it really pisses me off when I see NCO’s doing it wrong. Too many times have I seen an NCO just give a written counseling to a soldier and told him to sign it without even discussing it with him. Then again, things have changed a lot in the past few years and a lot of NCO’s were taught incorrectly.
You might not be able to change the way he does things, even if you tell him about it, but in the future you just have to make sure to do things the right way so you don’t repeat the cycle.
Sgt Ducky: Yo man this style you do your counselings, is totally unheard of where i’m at. It’s a shame too, cause just from reading this post it shows me that you’re probably x10 the NCO most of the NCOs i’ve ever run into have been.
My own team leader talked to me about how counselings work and how it’s only good when you show the improvement in each counseling etc. Talking as if he really knew how to work them. Yet this mofo is so self centered, he shows me and my other teamate his self centered in everything he says so much to the point to where we won’t tell him anything. Mainly because he doesn’t ask anyhow.
Check this, we went on a coolguy mission with some Navy SEALs at some point last week. The mission was lame and shit cause we didn’t do any cool SEAL shit, it was a bullshit mission for everyone involved, including the SEALs. Now, before we got to the gate, my team leader tells us, he goes, “make sure you guys act like you know what you’re doing”
WHAT THE FUCK, YOU MOTHERFUCKER
I lost respect for him right then and there. The respect was already dwindling and skating thin ice anyhow cause of his mannerisms toward us. He never shows me and my teamate any respect. Micromanaging us every sec. Telling us to make sure we do shit that we’ve already gotten done, showing us that he doesnt even trust us to get the shit done on our own.
I think the fact that this shit is called a Tactical Psyop Team is misleading. It shouldn’t be called that anymore, it shouldn’t be called a team. Cause he definintly doesnt treat it like that. Rank and position aside, we are just a team of 3, and you gotta respect your teamates and trust them to be able to play their part.
If we were in garrison that’s a different story. But we’re are out at war, where our lives aren’t gauranteed everyday. And he’s pulling this bullshit.
More later. This shit is pissing me off.
I’m gonna send you some stuff over springbreak. Anything you’d like? any funny movies or shows?
To Mar…ahem I mean Roxie: Hey.
I can’t really think of anything off the top of my head, that we don’t already have over here, i mean as far as funny movies and shows are concerned.
HOWEVER, oddly enough, we do not have Chappelle’s show over where we stay, but since i’ve seen it and already own it back in the states that’s a no go.
Umm, i think i gotta get back to you on that. :looney:
I’m sorry that the NCO’s that you have right now aren’t the best leaders. It’s really hard to be a good NCO - I mean, you don’t really get it right if you didn’t get taught right and if you didn’t have good leadership as a junior enlisted.
The problem with counseling is… well, the older NCO’s don’t really get it right since they were taught a different way then NCO’s are taught today. Also, we’re all human, so everyone is guilty of cutting corners. The problem with it is that a lot of NCO’s treat counseling as a 1-way street… it is, in some aspects. You think about it, a counseling will tell you exactly what you need to do to improve yourself and get promoted. There is no other organization out there that does this. When you get yourself a job at Circuit City or something they don’t tell you every month what you need to get promoted - your manager would rather you not take his job. As a supervisor, you pretty much already know what your soldier needs to improve on; but the thing is that you might not know what you need to improve on. If you tell me where you are weak, you know and admit it - it has much more effect than just telling you that you are ate up in certain areas.
I will admit though, in the field, I will be pretty annoying since I will do pre-execution checks nonstop and always ask you if you are confident in what you are doing. From what you tell me though, this sergeant is simply a dick. You should never tell your soldiers to “act like you know what you’re doing” - they should already know what they are doing if you did your job to train them to standard. I do ask my soldiers if they are confident in their tasks and drills, since knowing how to do it and actually doing it under pressure is a different thing. He should be checking you like that for every mission though, not just to show off for SEALs. It sounds pretty dick but it is our responsibility as NCO’s to be like that sometimes… but sounds like he just wanted to look good for that one mission, which is the wrong answer.
In any case, you don’t have to like him to work with him, but when it comes down to it you must trust each other with your lives. Just make sure you get back alive and have faith that when the rubber hits the road, he’ll cover you when you move. Learn from him, his mistakes, and when you become an NCO or supervisor, make sure that you don’t repeat them. That’s pretty much all you can do at this point.
…you could always give him an on the spot correction if he is wrong though. Sometimes people forget and fuck up, and you can give an on the spot correction to any rank without any problems.
Good God man you have no idea how right you are. My Technical Communications teacher was a former army officer. As far as how she looked, let’s just say I would be sucking dick a lot sooner than having mine anywhere near her poon puff.
I’ll bet 100 bucks that she’s a virgin. If not I’ll give the money to that poor man along with a hug to stop the tears and a firehose shower to cleanse his defiled soul.
Well it’s 1:00 AM here, so I’m out. Remember to keep the dream alive and always stick it to whitey. (Ronin not me)
damn that was good. thanks for the laugh man.
-Starhammer-
@ Ducky: If what you say is true, then that’s more reason for me not to become an NCO. I actually don’t plan to be one anyway. I’ll only step to E-5 if the points drop back down to in the 300s(in psyop) like they were a year and a half ago.
But I’m only doing the reg 4 years of service man. If i DO choose to reenlist, it’s Special Forces or CID.
Your analogy about Circuit City; in the army they tell you what to do to get promoted, but what does that matter if it’s timely anyhow? How else do total screw ups get put into those leadership ranks. You can just stay under the radar and get promoted no matter what. Until you get to the points scale.
Then in some cases they FORCE the promotion on you, and it’s only forced cause they need the specific rank/position in order to fill in certain quotas and job requirements while staying within guidelines. And by them thinking they know what’s best for you, without even knowing you at all.
Asking someone if they’re confident with what they’re doing, is not annoying at all as far as I’m concerned. You treat your joes with respect you get the respect back. You can still be in the leader position and respect those that work for you, while enforcing rules and guidelines. Which you seem to do just fine, by the posts i read of you NCO duties. When my team leader told me and my teamate to “make sure you guys act like you know what you’re doing” that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
We DO know what the fuck we’re doing. We know more about our equipment pertaining to our job, than he does. He doesn’t even know how to operate our main components for being out there(loudspeaker and manpack loudspeaker systems).
In a team, you play your part, and trust and expect your fellow teamates to do their part without giving any indication that you think they aren’t capable. ESPECIALLY when they’ve already shown that they are MORE than capable.
All my life i’ve had trouble with those above me wether it be family or bosses/supervisors that made many mistakes, and i only learned from them by doing what they DON’T do.
That’s why i’m so critical, and have so much trouble with authority.
And it’s not like i’m crazy or something either, because my teamate agrees with me on the dislike of our team leaders words and actions.
Slide - yeah, the Army is rushing people to fill slots for the most part. They let dirtbags pass through because of bad leadership… I mean, if I have a joe that could be a waiver for E-4, but is a shitbag, I’ll make him wait 24 months before he even sees a chance and even then I might still hold him back from promotion. Too much of the leadership nowadays is pushing them through anyway, which is wrong. We need the people there but you can’t make a leader out of someone who isn’t ready to become one. I noticed with the older NCO’s, a lot of the senior leadership, they feel that you can just pin the rank on a soldier, sprinkle a little water on them, and watch em grow. This is just the wrong mentality… but we’re becoming such an understaffed organization that they do it anyway.
It’s rough that you have some shitty leadership, but I have it here too. I don’t think any unit in the military is free from bad leadership.
One of the reasons why I won’t reenlist… I can only do so much and it’s wearing me out already. Even though I’m on top of my MOS, they are pushing me to reup, even though it’s very possible for me to make my E-6 in a few months… I just can’t do it. I won’t let them force it on me again. There is so much wrong with it all and I’m just like you, tired of the bullshit.
The point system is pretty flawed IMO. I mean, it works for the people who can do it… I have a lot of points from college and other classes, but it also makes it easy for shitbags to get promoted without being proficient in their MOS. I have a belief that has held true for the most part - you have a soldier who does outstanding at boards, is a PT stud, a decent shot, and who looks good in uniform all the time - he’ll get promoted even if he doesn’t know shit about his MOS. That’s not right, but that’s how shit works. I can’t stay around and be part of that shit.
You ain’t crazy, you just see the bullshit and don’t like it, nothing wrong with that.
2 years left, I’m done with my 6, and I’m out too. Special Forces and CID couldn’t make me an offer that would make me stay if they tried.
I aims to please. :wgrin:
Well I won some money from my frat brothers in a game of Texas Hold’em. It’s only the second time I’ve ever played either. I had probably the luckiest draw possible on the last hand of the game. I’m the chip leader and my buddy who I’m playing is all in before the flop comes out, so we both show our cards and let the dealer do his thing. I’ve got a 4 of hearts and a 2 of diamonds. He’s got an Ace of Spades and a 3 of clubs. The flop comes and I’ve got a pair of fours. Then the turn comes and he has a pair of Aces. I think I’m fucked but then the river comes out and it’s a…2 of spades bitches!!! I won that hand with 2 pair by the skin of my teeth. For a 5 dollar buy in making 6 times my money back in about 2 hours is pretty damn good.
Well I’m exhausted so it’s time to call it a night. Later
Good ish with the winnings. Take em for all that they are worth.
Took my stats/probability test today… I fucking hate that class.
Program in Algorithms due on Friday and a test in that class as well. I’m just gonna take it easy tonight and grind it out all day tomorrow.
Now it’s time for some Futurama and Family Guy. Then it’ll be sleepy time.
Peace!
God, I FINALLY fixed my broke ass computer after like a month. I’m hurting for a pr0n fix
Snap, dawg you be back!
Hmm, Rinoa av. Kinda low quality though.
ughh…what did I do last night?..ewww? stentch of Canadian Beers plague my mouth. Sleepy.
Development gathering with free booze and pizza. Got lost downtown and probably laughed my ass off before I got there. My proffs were there and one of the big hitters of the industry were there. Shook hands.
Proffs daughter is hot, give her a B++.
So much work to do.
Buddy no! Don’t talk like that.:sad: