"I am thoroughly opposed to the Army as a whole, and the war in the Middle East"

Dear Traveling Soldier,

I was promoted to Sergeant less than a year ago.

Although I am thoroughly opposed to the Army as a whole, and the war in the Middle East (I spent 15 months over there for no good reason), I decided that I could take advantage of the system and become one of the few Non-commissioned Officers that refuses to buy into the Army BS.

Goodness knows we could use more of those.

I was leaning heavily on the example set before me by some of the best Sergeants I had worked with, all of whom hated the Army with a fervent passion, but got their jobs done no less effectively.

I respected them because I could relate to them, and I would have taken a bullet for them without a second thought (whereas I would have had to take a moment to think about it for all of my "hooah" super-goArmy-high-speed NCOs).

With this conviction in hand, I PCS’d to my current unit, ready to show soldiers that leaders can be normal people, that being an asshole doesn’t come with the stripes.

Within a few short months of coming here, I was forced to realize that if I don’t lead their way (ordering the privates around like dogs and treating them as if they had no ability to think for themselves), then they would find a way to bust me down a peg.

I had already developed common ground with my soldiers, a level of trust that most leaders who demand respect and obedience rarely ever experience. But since this was contrary to how the Army (and those so-called "leaders" who value regulations over sincere trust and respect) does things, they set out to take me down.

I was mentioned by name in a unit anonymous survey for a charge that could have legal consequences if it were even remotely true. Although this accusation is minor, being anonymous and lacking evidence as it was, the message was all too clear to me: "Continue treating your subordinates like real people, and you will soon be one of them."

I refuse to conform to this.

I firmly believe that, as a leader, if you want to develop the trust necessary to survive in a combat zone, it requires you being a member of the team in garrison.

You can’t bark orders and turn your back one day, and then expect a soldier to take a bullet for you the next.

That’s not how it works.

For all of you Privates out there reading this, know that there are Sergeants who hate the Army just as much as you do.

Sergeants who would rather be at your side when the shit hits the fan than standing over you expecting you to handle it alone.

There are Sergeants who would rather lose their rank than conform to the Army’s expectations of dictatorship in leaders.

Your leader and friend,
SGT A

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