Indigo Trillium

[Ex Ranger Instructor]

This thread makes me angry.  On the one hand, I agree with Bintheredunthat on the basis that a mistake of terminology is not neccessarily the biggest deal in the world.  Lots of people say dumb things that they haven't thought through properly on a daily basis.  I'm one of them.  On the other hand, (and more importantly) the idea that reservists are "merely there to earn a buck" is a cancer that has steadily eaten away at our credibility as soldiers over the course of the past few years.  I am a reservist myself, and I tell you this: if you are only in the reserves to make a buck, then you should be ashamed of yourself.  We don't need you.  Release immediately.

As my slipons have become heavier over the years, I have done my best to ensure that all my soldiers take their jobs seriously.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with having fun while training, so long as it is accepted that fun is not the aim of training.  Misguided though Bintheredunthat seems to think I may be, I attempt to instill that idea in all of my troops on an everyday basis, and I'm willing to bet good money that any soldier I've ever trained would agree that that is a fair statement.  While the multitude of shitty leaders we currently have in the Comm Reserve bear a heavy share of the burden of blame for the currently poor standard of attitude, deportment, and competence that our members have attained, the above described "out to make a buck" mindset is also important in that regard.  The way promotions are currently working in this organization, it is the shitty soldier of today who becomes the shitty MCpl of next year, so I don't think that it is unreasonable to demand professionalism, dedication, and technical and tactical competence right from the get go. 

To summarize, I say this: this isn't the parade square, and if someone types out a half baked post then it isn't the worst thing in the world, and perhaps they should be cut some slack.  After all, the internet isn't really the home of the well thought out idea.  On the other hand, to those who become indignant after having been corrected on a legitimate point: perhaps you should consider the fact that professional soldiers, both Reg and Reserve, get angry when they see evidence that people who wear the same uniform as they do just don't get it. 

 

[Bintheredunthat]

Willy - I agree with your statement above - 99 percent of it.  The one part I don't agree with is that if we could have every person who shows up to sign the paysheet and "turn it off" take a release - then the Reserves would quite probably be cut in half.  Ok - that's personal experience.  May not be the same for your unit - but it does seem to spread like wildfire.  And it's the role of the leaders to extinguish it.

I've been at recruiting events where students and other young people are targetted as potential candidates.  And I've seen the "wrong approach" taken to recruiting on several occasions.  Sometimes even recruiters are doing their best to get people in the door by saying stupid crap.  "Oh yeah you can work whenever you want to" or "We get paid to show up and sit around in the back of a truck."  I think unit CO's should send young spys into recruiting events to hear just what some of these Class A/B Ptes,Cpls, and MCpls are really selling.  This whole tuition reimbursement thing really drives me crazy because you get to see just how many people are showing up as little as possible to get their big cheque at the end of the year.  Pisses me off - BIG TIME.

I've read a few other posts discussing things like this R291 trade about to come in - and I personally think that the Reserves need a complete overhaul before any new stuff is introduced.  I agree with the idea of being able to support operations using Reserves to augment the Reg Force, but not if they can't do the same damn job.  And being able to do the same job will result from equal training.  How is it that someone is supposed to do their Basic one summer, QL3A next, then QL3B, and a QL5 course.  And of course we need a PLQ for those moving to to become MCpls - so just how many summers are we talking about in order to get a detachment commander here?  That's right - 5 by my count.  That's a lot of courses for someone straight out of high school.  Will it work - I don't personally think so.  I think the R291 trade will probably resort to slapping on some of those "acting lacking" ranks in order to avoid a trade full of Cpls.  I'm sure some people will want to give up 5 summers in a row - I wouldn't.  Reserves like to do those 3 summers in a row right now - usually take a year off (easy summer tasking) to chill out and find themselves, then MAYBE they'll decide to go the leadership route and carry on for another year or two.  But what is the life expectancy of a Reservist nowadays?  That I would LOVE to know.

I believe in setting the right example for the young troops, and training them properly.  But sometimes you just have to work with what you've got.  Maybe you'll have more next weekend - depending on who has homework to do.

Bin