• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Historical Rules / Regulations - Fine the way they are, or archaic and outdated?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Dkeh

Member
Inactive
Reaction score
0
Points
210
A previous discussion on here (about beards) got me thinking about some of the rules and regulations that the military has.

There are many rules and regulations that have deep seated roots that are still in effect today. The goal of this thread is to have a discussion on whether they still have a place in the modern military (and if so, what is the benefit of them), or if they should be moved to the history books.

Next comes a metaphor that is pertinent-

In Harlow’s experiment (which would not pass any ethics committee nowadays), five monkeys were put into a regular monkeys’ cage, with a banana hanging high on a rope from the roof of the cage (outside the reach of the monkeys). The researcher then put a step ladder enabling the monkeys to reach the banana. However, whenever one of the monkeys attempted to climb and reach for the banana, ALL monkeys were sprayed with freezing ice cold water. After few attempts, they all learned the association between reaching for the banana and the group collective punishment of being sprayed with freezing ice cold water. If they want to stay warm and dry, they better not reach for the step ladder. From now on, none of the five monkeys tried to reach for the banana anymore. There was no need for the water treatment from that point on.

At this stage the researcher replaced one of the five monkeys with a new monkey. The new monkey, not aware of the icy water treatment, tried to reach for the banana. Within fraction of a second the other four monkeys pounced on him and beat the hell out of him – again and again, till he stopped and did not try anymore. Note, that icy water treatment was not used anymore. The same process was repeated, one of the four monkeys who experienced the original icy water treatment was replaced by a new one, and again all the monkeys beat the new monkey to submission. Finally, the cage was populated by five monkeys of whom none have experienced the icy water treatment. The experimenter then introduced a new monkey to the cage. When this monkey tried to reach for the banana, all five monkeys jumped on him and beat the hell out of him. None of these monkeys knew about the collective punishment of icy water, none knew why they are not allowed to get the banana, but somewhat along the way they learnt that reaching for the banana is not allowed. They become the guardians of this rule without knowing its purpose.


http://clearwater-uk.com/MyBlog/2010/02/28/five-monkeys-a-banana-and-corporate-culture/

The reason this is pertinent to this subject is obvious- A Master Corporal will berate a private for having his hands in his pockets (just as the MCpl was once berate), but does the MCpl understand why he is giving the lecture? What is the reason hands are not allowed in pockets? Is it an issue of professional image? Is it something that was once an issue, but is no longer an issue? (This is just an example)

What sort of Traditions / Rules / Regulations do you feel could use a re-examining? For the more senior / experienced members, if you have a reason why a particular rule / regulation exists, please let us know!

I will start with one that has always confused me- Polishing the boots in the field, or polishing boots to a mirror shine. Don't get me wrong, I understand that boots should be blackened if you are appearing in the public, as it is a large part of our public image. However, I do not understand why some Units / Senior members insist that boots be polished in the field (no, I do not have specific examples, just random water cooler gossip), or why some DP1 courses require a mirror shine on Combat Boots (as mine did). In fact, that seems counterintuitive to me- wouldn't a dusty boot reflect less light at night than a polished boot? I am not advocating not CLEANING the boots, I just don't see a need for excessive polishing. If someone could enlighten me, I would greatly appreciate it.

If you have any other policies that you feel are outdated, post them here!

 
Dkeh said:
or why some DP1 courses require a mirror shine on Combat Boots (as mine did). In fact, that seems counterintuitive to me- wouldn't a dusty boot reflect less light at night than a polished boot?

Anything that happens on DP1 should be taken with a grain of salt. If something doesn't make sense, its there for pure "cock" value.
 
Try doing a search. Most of these 'rules' have been discussed at length already.

There's no need for yet another thread on the same topic(s).

Milnet.ca Staff
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top