Oh, the memories I had bouncing around the unit showing off my little one stripe. I would be oblivious to the world until the Chief seen me and seen an opportunity to brief me in his own words of what I should be doing. As I stood at Attention fighting the urge to defend myself verbally as I remained still like a statue. My Chief ran through me like a Mack Truck ensuring that no fault went unnoticed. This happened literally almost everyday until I sewed on E-5. Things changed then in my attitude and the way I was viewed by not only by my peers but that Chief as well.
As I look back at those “one way briefings”, and I can say thank you to that man till this day. Those opportunities that he took to guide me through ass chewings upon ass chewings were valued by me through the respect I had for this Chief. That was 14 years ago. Since I last seen him no one has ever been able to match that. I have been stationed on Air Force Bases, Army Posts, Camps in Joint Assignments, and not even a Marine was able to reach me through a good ole ass chewing. What’s my point in all of this?
Through years of erosion in the ranks, as we make what we really do kinder and gentler, we have lost this art not only to do it ourselves but to teach fellow NCO’s how to reach our troops. Even through humor other sergeants can’t even do it just in an act of a joke. I know many reading this will say,”I can do it!” Can you? If you honestly can without a doubt then I can say to you, please start teaching those under you.
Our brand new troops aren’t getting the true military feel. We are tucking them in a night and asking them to come to work on time. I am not saying to be mean, but we are what we teach, and we need to toughen up as a whole in the days that we are at war or just preparing for the next one.