The sad state of our current military

[vito]

I participate in a website called "Rally Point" in which current and/or former military pose a question and then the rest of us get to provide input. Today I read a question from an Army active duty E-4 that I hope was a joke, but I suspect was real. He stated that he had appeared before his local E-5 promotion board and had been denied their approval to be considered for promotion. He was then informed by a superior that the reason he had been voted down was that in answering a question posed by the board he had referred to a fellow soldier as "he" rather than "the soldier". The use of a "gendered pronoun", he stated that he was told, was the reason for his being turned down.

I am aware, just from what I read in the news, that senior military leadership has fully bought into the entire "transgender" insanity, and I have assumed that these generals and admirals really know better, but go along with this stupidity as a means of advancing their careers, even to the detriment of the Mission. But it was a bit stunning to know that this delusional thinking has worked its way down to a local, low rank promotion process. I can't help but believe that this is emblematic of the decline in our military, and bodes poorly for the eventual conflict with China in which we are likely to get our asses badly kicked. Whether this nation will even survive such a war is questionable. This is just another, and I hope not the final nail in the coffin of military capability. Bad enough that the Navy keeps crashing its ships into each other, that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thinks "White supremacy" and "climate change" are the biggest threats to national security, and that all of the services are obsessed with advancing "disadvantaged" racial groups over all others, but now to see that this gender ideology has rotted even the lowest levels of the Army is more than discouraging.

 

[contender]

If it's true that a lowly E-4 was denied a promotion, due to his choice of words like that,, is truly sad.
But unless the Board of Review process & promotion process has changed,, it may be just a PART of why he was denied.
When I was active, we had a "scoring system." Points were assigned to a soldier based on many things,, such as education, or such. But the BOR was also worth about 150 points max. Promotions were based upon the "cut-off scores" AND the recommendations of the Board.
Example; In my job,, they would keep the cut-off score very high, (I recall it staying 865 points) until they needed a certain number of people to be promoted into a position. Then, they might drop the cut-off score down to say,, 600,, and if you had the points, and the BOR recommendation, you'd be promoted. One little point not often known was that you were NOT required to have gone before the BOR,, BUT,,,,,, you did have to have your Company Commander's recommendation. But the BOR was a way to get a lot of points.

Now,, it may have changed, (very likely,) but maybe not. And yes,, the idea of the whole "woke" process & such is just one of the many things that is WRONG with society nowadays.

 

[Colonialgirl]

I was 4th on the promotion list for E-5, the three ahead of me had more time in grade. We were a TO&E outfit and had to wait for stripes to comedown from the 8th Army Hq in Seoul, Korea. We finally had an E-5 get demoted BUT before the Battery Commander could had out the stripes he got transferred and the new guy ( a watch-a-ma-callit that made from enlisted to Officer) said he wasn't handing out any stripes because he didn't know anybody in the unit. Later got asked if I wanted to "re-enlist" and I told the Sgt to take a flying leap (He was really a nice guy).

 

[RC44Mag]

Sure glad I did my time before all this current insanity. Honestly, I wouldn’t join up today if I was a young guy which is sad, I considered it an honor to serve.

 

[pyth0n]

In my time in the USAF, board scores were for E8 & E9. The promotion board only looked at records. There was no face to face meeting.
As pointed out the cut off was determined by the number of promotions needed.
A squadron commanded could red line your promotion, short of demotion, for administrative reasons, misconduct or substandard performance. Depends on the severity of the offence.
I don't know what effect the new wokeness & pandering to the new gender confused service members.
I truly hope none of these mentally defective individuals has access classified materials & systems.

 

[vito]

I served for 24 years, retiring in 1990. Recently a grandson of mine decided that college was not for him, and he dropped out after his freshman year. In the past I would have immediately encouraged him to consider military service, both as an honorable career and for the training available. I no longer even think about recommending a young person join the service and instead encouraged my grandson to consider a trades apprentice program to develop a marketable skill.

To me, the most pathetic part of all of this is that I know that virtually everyone involved knows that this entire "trans" worldview is delusional, and that despite changing clothing, hair style, taking hormones, or even undergoing surgery does not "transition" a male to a female or a female to a man. But all of these people are terrified of what would happen to them, their careers and more if they speak the truth. So they all go about acting as if they believe this nonsense. This is exactly like what happened in China during the "Cultural Revolution" in the 1960's where anyone who spoke out about the insanity risked "canceling" as best and death at worst. It seems that any ambitious NCO or commissioned officer that does not aggressively support these delusions is signaling the end of their career. Worse than pathetic.

 

[JiminMaine]

I retired from the Navy in 1991 after 22 years. Once you make it to the selection board, along with all the others that are qualified, the boards job is to find an excuse to not advance you. The second time I made the selection board for E-8 I had a friend on the board. There over 100 of E-7s that made the board for my rate and that year they were only going to advance 6. . Before the board even started looking at the records the board members were told that 2 women, 2 blacks and 2 Hispanics would be advanced. As a white male I didn't stand a chance.

I guess now if I "Identified" as a Female black, hispanic lesbian who presented as a male I would be a shoe-in.

 

[Watertender]

I know there is at least one tranny in OCS for the Army right now. It was born female. When asked my preferred pronoun I laugh and then string together a bunch of cuss words. I am usually only asked once by any particular person. JiminMaine I have dealt with the scenario that you said you ran into in the Navy. By the time the flavor of the day gets promoted and preferred treatment there is nothing left for either you or me...

 

[vito]

The practice of the military showing favoritism to certain groups has long term impact on the quality of leadership at the highest levels. Back in the late 1960's and into the '70's and '80's I had a good friend who was Black. We were both Captains at the time. This friend was a good guy, and looked great in his uniform even if in reality he was not in great physical shape. And while we were good friends, I have to admit that he was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. But the Army was determined to push Black officers ahead, so while I made Major in the normal time frame, he made it through early selection. He then was one of the few Black Majors in our branch, and because of that he easily was promoted early to Lieutenant Colonel. By the time I made Lieutenant Colonel he was a full Colonel. I saw the same thing happen with some marginally capable female officers. The Army was so determined to show their "progressive" attitude toward women that they were pushed ahead of their male counterparts. The early beneficiaries of these policies then were virtually guaranteed to move quickly up the ladder. I have no doubt that by the '90's and beyond we had a large number of barely competent individuals wearing stars on their uniforms, solely because they were Black or female and had been in the service at just the right time.

Add all of this to the current obsession with "trans" rights and their sensitive feelings, and the focus seemingly on anything but the primary mission of engaging and defeating an enemy military force, and it bodes very poorly for how we will perform when things get down to bullets and bombs. During the pandemic when a Navy Captain took his aircraft carrier offline because of the death of a single sailor from Covid (supposedly) and was praised for doing so, I knew we were getting into dangerous waters.

 

[Ka6otm]

Ah yes, the many reasons why I refused to work public sector and started my own company as soon as I could. Retired from it too.

I had the honor a couple of times to tell people to go pound sand with their political correctness and Affirmative Action.

 

[Tom in Ohio]

Maybe it’s different in the Marines. I was on active duty and the reserves from 1993-2009 as an infantry officer. I left as a Major and never did anything to get promoted. We had education requirements I never met on purpose, and still got promoted. Every time I said I was leaving, I got promoted and sucked back in. Maybe it was just the times.

 

[volshooter]

It is extremely sad that our military is going woke. Our world for that matter. The US armed forces are the best of the best and it sickens me to hear this crap. Our young troops are, for the most part, patriotic, brave and been raised right. Race nor gender has anything to do with character or commitment to the USA. After saying that I will admit I don't like the idea of females in "boots on the ground" situations.
I've bought a-many of meals for retired and active duty service members and hope to buy many more.

 

[Hvymax]

The Transgender Forces of America are on the case.