By In the prior posting you saw the May 2007 blotter report which shows a small rise in indiscipline problems in USFK. However, courtesy of the Second Infantry Division, the great answer we all have been waiting for to curb the recent spike in indiscipline around USFK has been found. Introducing, the Battle Buddy Card:
Yes, you read the card right that you can be prosecuted under UCMJ if you don’t keep your battle buddy out of trouble. How come someone didn’t think of this great and inovative solution sooner?
Make the soldiers responsible for keeping other soldiers out of trouble instead of leadership. So when soldiers get in trouble you can bring up on charges their battle buddy instead of holding leadership accountable for the discipline of their soldiers.
I also liked the fact they put an entire line on there to let soldiers know they cannot fight the local police. PFC Duprey I’m sure, feels proud that his battle buddy dedication has been immortalized on the Battle Buddy card. Plus there is even a whole line in there to write your battle buddies name down in case you forgot.
The back of the card even has the blood alcohol percentage chart to check and see if you will be brought up on charges before entering the gate for being over the limit as well. The powers that be have thought of everything with this card. Where does the Army find such creative thinkers?
I bet there is even someone right now working on the sexual assault card as I’m typing this.
7:45 am on June 9th, 2007 1
[...] [GI Korea] The Solution to Indiscpline Problems Found Published: Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:43:58 +0000 In the prior posting you saw the May 2007 blotter report which shows a small rise in indiscipline problems in USFK.Â* However,Â*courtesy of the Second Infantry Division,Â*the great answer we all have been waiting for to curb the recent spike in indiscipline around USFK has been found.Â* Introducing, the Battle Buddy Card: Yes, you read the [...] Read More… [...]
10:23 pm on June 9th, 2007 2
[...] This is unfuckingbelievable. Way to pass the buck, eh? [...]
8:19 am on June 9th, 2007 3
This is another giant waste of paper and resources. How about you do some thing actually USEFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really hate it when the "leadership" thinks giving me a card on some subject is going to make me give a shit. Either you learn to be a mature person who is capable of handling yourself with class or you don't. If you don't you should get a 5,000 pound cement block dropped on your chest until you figure it out. leave the rest of us who can actually function as normal human beings the hell out of it.
8:43 am on June 9th, 2007 4
I'm still sitting here, trying to understand this. How much lower can USFK go? Like you said, this is a way to pass the buck and pin the blame on the "battle buddy". WTF!
2:42 am on June 10th, 2007 5
[...] Drop: The Solution to Indiscpline Problems FoundPosted 21 hours agoIn the prior posting you saw the May 2007 blotter report which shows a small rise [...]
10:06 am on June 9th, 2007 6
One way to judge the desperateness of any document is to determine the ratio between underlined and non-underlined text.
Also, did you notice that you can almost substitute "butt buddy" for "battle buddy" and the document still makes sense?
"What is a 'Butt Buddy'?
…More than just a 'social companion'"
Yeah, baby.
J!
12:48 pm on June 9th, 2007 7
I think the card is a bad idea too, but I'd like to see the idea of leadership extended down (as well as up).
First, I'm not a soldier. Never was a soldier in the regular army. So, I am probably talking out my ass – having said that —
—I'd like to see the brass held accountable but also down the chain too. Not in criminal court. But, I'd like to see (somehow) the spirit of peer pressure involved.
The way it sounds from afar, and judging by what you can see in today's society as well, it seems like this idea of "an Army of One" has either sunk in deep and fast or is just a slogan invented to capture the reality at hand.
"Hey, those guys sure are acting like a bunch of jerks….Too bad their Lt. or Sgt. isn't here to say something. I just hope when they finally do something, and they get arrested, their CO pays for it too…."
That is the impression I've gotten over time reading the soldiers comment here, at Lost Nomads, and over at USFK Forums. The idea that a unit is a unit and an army is a unit doesn't seem to translate into people in the street who see stuff going on believing it has a relation to them – at least not enough that they feel compelled to try to do something about it.
That is very much – well – that is absolutely the civilian concept in the US (and Korea). I see somebody acting up in the street, they have to be beating a woman before I'll think about getting involved. "Not my problem…"
But, I thought the concept of "unit" and "leadership" was supposed to connect everybody in the military? even when off duty and out on the town…..
2:41 pm on June 9th, 2007 8
What a great Idea!
Who is the Battle Buddy of the DIP (Darned Intelligent Person) who dreamed this up?
That DIP's battle buddy should be proud!
Somehow I failed to read where it explains how battle buddies get assigned or selected!
Do they volunteer, or are they designated by the first sergeant or Commander?
Do they have to be of the same sex?
Do you get to choose a buddy who has never been convicted of a federal crime, or are you just paired with whomever comes down the pike? Sounds like a trip to the Legal Office & Equal Opportunity to me!
7:04 pm on June 9th, 2007 9
USinKorea, speaking as a retired soldier of 20 years, starting in 1985, I have to say that the slogan, "An Army of ONE" was never a good idea. After its introdution I saw a noticeable decline in the team concept. After all, that was not the message given. In the 80s & 90s, team was every thing. It was hard to find (for me) after around 2000. I was sad to see it leave. When I was an E3 an E5 asked me two questions. 1 "what color am I? I answered with, "Your black Sergeant." Question 2 "what color are you?" I answered with, "I'm white Sergeant. He responded with, "Your wrong Dan. We are both Green!"
The message was clear: No matter what our differances are or were, we are a united group, separated from the mass of aimless civilians out there. A Team with a mission that depends on unit team and united together.
That Sergeant (no such thing as an NCO in those days) was a powerful influance on me. I liked him. He was a "stand-up" kind of guy. The kind that is often in short supply. In those days you either liked your Sergeant or feared him. You liked him because he did his job, which was to take care of you. You feared him because he did his job, which again was to take care of you. Your soldiers can make you look better than you might be. Your soldiers can also make you look worse than you might be. But your job is to take care of them. No matter how much pain that might bring on either one of you. My feeling is that this sprit is lost.
From 2000 untill my retirement in 2005 I missed that sprit. The Army put more importance on what made us different rather than what we had in common. Chain of command only went up. In 2ID in 2002 my 1st Sergeant took a female in my squad and put her on weapons guard without at least letting someone in the Platoon know. But in all fairness, she was special. We had to drag her to the field. She even got a "profile" stating she couldn't carry a ruck sack because of an injured knee. I had an almost identical profile for a knee, but I could carry a ruck. I wouldn't have accepted one that stated otherwise. I mention her as an example of the "Army of One" mentality that was so widely displayed at my date of retirement. For anyone ready to jump me because that soldier was female, I have this: there were other females that were squared away. Most of them were gay and butched out, but hay, they were cool and I could be myself around them without the fear of them being "offended" like the regular females. One was once my weight lefting partner. Mouth much worse than mine. HaHa, too cool!
3:44 am on June 10th, 2007 10
Maybe they could go after the wrong-doer’s parents and other blood relatives? Neighbors?
Or how about the method in that old Kirk Douglas movie (Paths of Glory) about the French army drawing lots to decide who gets executed?
WTF is up with USFK?
3:54 am on June 11th, 2007 11
Here's an idea from another 'creative thinker':
How's about we make all the soldiers wear a name pin with the name of their buddy on it and carry a picture of their buddy in their wallet. There is absolutely no rational reason for doing this except that it will give somebody somewhere something to do to waste the Army's and the U.S. Taxpayers money….which may or may not be a priority.
3:55 am on June 11th, 2007 12
BB#1: "I think I'll just stay in this weekend and watch movies in my room."
BB#2: "Like hell you will. I'm going to get f#$í up and you're going to babysit my drunk ass because my battle buddy card say YOU have to… and you'd better not let my sorry ass get in any trouble because if I do we're both going to jail. Get dressed we're going to the 'ville."
4:49 am on June 11th, 2007 13
That's gotta suck for the Mormons who get paired up with hell raisers.
11:06 am on June 11th, 2007 14
What does it admit about the state of the alliance that a system for American soldiers to go out and have a few in proximity to locals, in the land they are protecting, is termed "Battle buddy" anyways?
3:19 pm on June 11th, 2007 15
Hugh,
The term "battle buddy" is actually a commonly used Army term that is used across the army and not just in Korea. When soldiers go to basic training the term battle buddy is even used there.
8:42 am on June 12th, 2007 16
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2:17 am on June 12th, 2007 17
I have to say that while this idea is unlikely to have the intended effect, because while the command has to exercise some compassionate vigilance, at some point, this is about personal responsibility. What I concluded after 4 years as a JAG in Korea is that commanders and NCO's should be more aggressive about pulling leave and pass privileges. As any NCO knows, it's always the same 10% that makes 90% of the trouble. We used to call them "frequent flyers," and yeah, they always have an excuse that it was someone else's fault, but they're never far from the center of the problem. A commander can pull a soldier's pass privileges without a hearing, a trial, or a TDS appointment (although I'd certainly give the soldier counselings documenting that he had fair warning).
If soldiers know that their NCO's are watching them and will pull their pass privileges for the rest of their tours, just watch how much more careful they'll be. Violate curfew, show up drunk at formation, get into a fight, and you're spending the rest of your tour with your X-Box. As for the command, it can keep that 10% on post where liquor costs more, where they can do less damage, and where the MP's are never far away.
That, or we can pull the Army out of Korea.
4:24 am on June 12th, 2007 18
The army is going downhill, I need to be a mercenary in africa somewhere
2:33 pm on June 12th, 2007 19
Ironsider,
Are you kidding?
You want to wind up in an African jail playing a game of Hide the Boerewors with an overcrowded cell full of HIV positive Hottentots?
…or get your big toes cut off by Mike Hoare?
No thanks.
I'd be going to Iraq where there is immunity, no oversight and a big, fat check from Blackwater every month.
J!
9:26 am on April 14th, 2008 20
[...] as lame as USFK’s "Battle Buddy" term. I wonder if the Marines have to carry a Battle Buddy Card on them like in USFK that your battle buddy and supervisor have to sign? The Liberty Card Policy [...]
11:17 am on December 22nd, 2008 21
[...] You may be about to leave Windows Live to visit a site that Microsoft may not be responsible for. http://rokdrop.com/2007/06/09/the-solution-to-indiscpline-problems-found/ [...]