Well, I for one look a bit askance at your claim of it being stolen that close to the investigation just because of all the other stuff. You did not give enough details on that and how it happened and anywho, not my point.
Point = If you think people on a message board are going to read instead of skim, remember what they read and not get all wound up and spout off, well, you are in for a future of everlasting frustration. So, even if it is true, which I am willing to accept, the rest of it is not far enough over the line to get all worked up about. You have no idea what police harassment really is. Try being a big ugly biker who wears colors. I used do do that. Now there is some profiling, microscopic, multi-man trouble. But you must remember, I looked like I had just done something I shouldn’t. If I did not like the attention, all I had to do was shave, wear a helmet, & ride a Honda. And I’d never be bothered again. But I chose not to do that so I spent a lot of time talking to da man.
Back to message boards. They are not going to read the whole thread unless they have all along, get over it. Also, never keep on in a thread that goes over 30 posts. You will never win or even be given any points, it is message board suicide. You will not be getting sympathy now or even understanding. You really should know better…
Hmmmm. When I was in basic training, some of their more preferred pastimes was to tell us maggot trainees that “you don’t deserve to be in MY Army”, or “you’re too damn stupid to be in MY Army”, etc. Looking back at some of the people there, they may have been right.
If a person absolutely refuses to follow orders, then yes there are penalties - article 15, court martial, dishonorable discharge (depending on the severity). If a person leaves, just walks off base and doesn’t come back, then yes they are AWOL or deserters and yes they will face charges. So where was the lying?
Which, of course, were statements made to motivate privates.
So you’re saying that you think the Army bothers to prosecute people that wash out in BCT? :smack:
Here’s hint: the Army doesn’t even prosecute soldiers for lying about their health to get in, and haven’t made any attempts to do so since sometime in 2000. The lying was the fact that the rpivate I described to you was neither punished or given a dishonorable discharge for his actions. See, when someone who knows better tells you that something will happen and it doesn’t, they lied. Don’t fret: the definition of “lie” has always been hard for me, too.
the Army can prosecute an individual if a crime was commited in basic. Doesn’t happen often in my experience, and trainees who simply refuse to participate in training are usually separated for the good of the Army. Could he have been prosecuted for failure to obey a lawful order? Sure, but noone would realistically do so. Just process him out and be done with it. By the way, he was punished: he was kicked out of the Army.
In my experience if someone really doesn’t want to be there, there are easy enough ways to get out. The folks who drink cleaning products, consistently wet the bed, try to open a vein or hang themselves create not only problems for themselves, but for their fellow trainees. I had to deal with all of these on occasion. I think your CSM was trying to put The Fear in the rest of the trainees who might be thinking of doing the same sorts of things. I don’t think your example is particularly compelling or worthy of your condemnation.
I think you got a raw deal from the sounds of things wrt your guns, but I would hope you could see that events such as the sale of your gun, and subsequent theft of your guns might seem a little too “convenient” to someone in law enforcement whose job it is to be sceptical of the stories they hear.
Perhaps I detest mind games more than the average individual; I think it is worthy of condemnation. You would be correct if you were to assume that none of my superiors thought I was a particularly respectful or obedient soldier. Quite frankly, if I were in a position to do so, I would stop making trainees swear in until after they graduated from BCT and outprocess anyone who decided that they didn’t want to continue with training in the meantime.
Of course, if the Army were to do that, recruitment practices would have to be restructured in order to prevent more people from “just trying it out” and wasting thousands of dollars in processing and transportation.
I don’t see why I should treat people that want to fuck with my head with respect. Can you give me one reason I should beyond, “They are authority figures and thus should be trusted or at least obeyed for personal safety”?
I got your meaning, then I asked you why I should respect people who play mind games with others?
I’m not saying that all of the officers and NCOs I dealt with directly were manipulative, but a lot of them used deceptive tactics from time to time. I don’t necessarily find manipulation 100% wrong except when it is intended to harm or coerce another individual into doing something he otherwise wouldn’t (ETA: or would have an adverse effect on his well-being, etc. etc.). When others employ those sort of tactics, it lowers my respect for them. Certainly, some solid, decent people have (or do) deceive others in the manner described above; I am especially saddened when I see that.
actually this is something I would look out for. In my experience these folks tended to be fairly smart individuals who could see through the BS and get the job done. They were usually technically quite competent but had an “attitude problem”. Some were great once you reached an understanding, but others were their own worst enemies.
I used do do that. Now there is some profiling, microscopic, multi-man trouble. But you must remember, I looked like I had just done something I shouldn’t. If I did not like the attention, all I had to do was shave, wear a helmet, & ride a Honda. And I’d never be bothered again. But I chose not to do that so I spent a lot of time talking to da man.