Tigers - Extinct, on "Death Watch", or ... ?

[Haggis]

Folks, we CAN save the Tigers!

Isn't it can't skate no more - be a coach, assistant coach, owner, assistant GM, GM, scout, player rep, owner rep, old timer, etc.

:

And it should be.  Not everyone can be on the sharp end.  Those who cannot remain there can be used to develop others who can.  Those who will  not even go, then I say "Out".

After Vietnam, the United States lost a lot of Tigers, too.  They saved theirs by keeping some of the best older ones and using the old ones to usher in a new breed of younger and smarter Tigers, the same ones who formed the US Army of today.  Now I'm not saying we should use their methods, but I am saying we should study their approach.

Much has been said about ticket punching and it's a fact of life in any professional field.  Plumbers, doctors, cops and engineers all have tickets to punch for advancement within their fields.

Let's make our tickets more expensive.  Lets take the time to be more objective during PER season.  Review the PER from the subordinate's perspective (would I follow this person?).  For senior appointments, institute a Peer Review.

The problem of Tiger depopulation is not an Army problem.  It's a CF problem.  Every element has and needs Tigers, be they in a cockpit, a trench or a boarding party.

In another thread someone brought up the old Warrior Program.  Great idea; poorly instituted.  Make it bi-annual and CF wide.  Provide a common-to-all test based on GMK subjects:  weapons handling; NBCD; Fitness and First Aid.  Bring back the Combat Readiness Evaluation.  Make both less onerous and resource intensive for units to admiister ad members to pass. (but pass they MUST!).  Test smarter, then get on with the good training.

Provide different assessment factors for the Navy and Air Force.  In short, remind EVERYONE what it means to be in uniform; what their military and operational obligations are as soldiers, sailors or air force members.  Break the uniformed civil servant mindset that permeates our higher HQs.

Going back to the US approach, every Marine is a Marine first and a tradesperson second.  We have lost sight of that in a major way.

Be a Tiger. Do what you can to save another Tiger.  It's not too late! (sniff) :'(

 

[pbi]

However, I do get a wee bit irate when a LCol is posted in to a Unit as a Commanding Officer from Kingston or Ottawa, and talks about getting his "ticket punched" so he can get posted back and promoted.

I agree with you 100%-this is disgusting, sick and completely unprofessional. I worked for a guy like this, and most of his officers quickly saw through him. My Regtl days are sadly behind me now,   but whenever I am in one of the Battalions I always tell them:" Enjoy every minute of Regtl duty: when it's over, it's over". Of course, a lot don't really appreciate that till they're stuck in some numpty job somewhere.

course there are lazy, self satisfied senior officers â “ too many; there are also too many lazy self satisfied junior officers, senior NCOs, junior NCOs and soldiers in the ranks of field units.   Let us (or you, actually, no one listens to me any more â “ not that they did 15 years ago, either) by all means weed out the slackers and second raters and ticket punchers â “ from everywhere, from every headquarters, and every base and every ship, battalion and squadron, too.

Excellent point. It seems axiomatic that we love to hate the HQ above us. In our Bde, for example, while the relations between us staff wienies and the folks in the units vary from fair to occasionally great, we still have a few units who very clearly regard us as "The Enemy", and think that anybody who is in an HQ is really just a 9 to 3 slacker who doesn't want to do the real work down in the unit. If the bold, self-sacrificing heroes don't kick those Brigade wankers in the ass every now and then--well: My God--they just wouldn't do any work, would they? Sadly, I find this outdated attitude more prevalent in the Army Reserve where for years the old Militia District HQs were dumping grounds for people that the units didn't want. Nobody cared about the MDHQs, and most of what they said was disregarded by the units. I still run into deep-seated suspicion, derision and skepticism from a few of our units. Interestingly, this tends to come from our least successful units.

Cheers.

 

[Infanteer]

I agree with you 100%-this is disgusting, sick and completely unprofessional.

I think this is a universal, enduring military truth - Rick Atkinson recalls hearing it on the ground with the 101st Airborne in the invasion of Iraq; one level up is usually missing the point while two levels up is a complete mess.   The Brigade HQ's would constantly feel that Division wasn't responsive to their situation on the ground and that Corps was a gongshow.   Meanwhile, at 101st Div HQ, the general feeling was that the Corps was dragging its ass and that Army (CENTCOM) was some sort of asylum for Generals with nothing to do....

 

[rifleman]

This is an old topic but as I search for the article "where have the tigers gone" I came across it. I know better than to rant but....


Rant over ....The chameleons are still here. They say things like "yeah I know you are right but what can we do about it" - er Sir, work at changing it?
"The Sgt has been here for a year longer so the new Sgt can't get a higher score" - er Sir, the fact the the first Sgt is a bag of shite might be a reason for it.
"You have to pick the battles you can win" - er Sir, aren't we suppose to set the conditions so that we can win the battles we HAVE to fight?
"Finished all his OPMEs, sold girl guide cookies and became bilingual" - er, Sir I guess I'll be calling him Sir come the promotion Board
...Rant Out.

edited to add one more "yeah he is incompetant, but he'll get promoted soon and you won't have to deal with him"

They are like roaches, how the heck do you kill them?