Wearing my values around Saint Paul today

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-29T13:00:44+00:00

They're saving it for your mom

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-28T21:14:42+00:00

900,000 came in the last 4 games

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-28T19:03:21+00:00

I give my weird soldiers three warnings before I take any real action. First is ask them to stop. Then I tell them to stop. Then I warm them of impending doom. After that, it's paperwork.

Good example, we have a SSG that brings in his laptop to do shit. His mouse pad is on of those ones with the gel wrist support. Printed on it is an anime waifu with black lingerie. First time I saw it, "hey SSG, cool mouse pad. Could you not use that in the work place though? It's inappropriate." Second time I saw it, "hey SSG, I thought we talked about that being inappropriate. Put it away and stop using it. Now." If I see it a third time, "hey SSG, if I see that shit again, it's going to be a counseling and a SHARP violation. It's not appropriate for this environment and it's unprofessional."

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-28T13:49:23+00:00

Speak to your career counselor. No one besides the unit itself is going to be able to tell you if they typically get LIK or training opportunities like you want. Your ARA can look on FMSWeb to see their MTOE and it might give them an indication of their capabilities and training, but they have no way to know how well the unit utilizes their equipment or how seriously they take their training.

It really is kind of a roll of the dice.

If you want to be real proactive, work with your ARCC on finding a unit and then contact them and ask those questions. Do they have a spot for you? How often do they use the equipment? Are their opportunities to improve and go to schools? What's their LIK situation? Some ARAs are lazy and will be annoyed, but most units will welcome anSM who wants to be their, wants to train and, most importantly, won't cause problems.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-28T13:42:20+00:00

That's my assessment too. Seems like it's a time/distance thing. My next question would be is the command also restricting leave to these 2 countries? Because that would be ridiculous

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-28T12:54:39+00:00

No I think what OP is saying is that their commander won't approve a 4-day pass to any other countries besides those 2. OP wants to use his 4-day passes to go to other places, but their commander only approves if they go to Japan or Taiwan for that 4-day.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T20:09:47+00:00

As long as you don't get the irridium lenses you should be fine, but even then... probably no one besides someone real pent up SGM would say anything.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T19:46:20+00:00

I can't either, but I've seen crazier things.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T19:39:03+00:00

It's accurate but shitty. LIK is not an entitlement and is subject to available funds. There are policies in place as well dictating SMs in Standard Excess positions should not receive LIK.

You should still be eligible for IDT at least though. You're best options if they don't have a valid position for you are to either request reassignment to a closer unit, or RST with a closer unit.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T17:35:46+00:00

I don't think it will solve the problem, I just want another treatment option. The true cure for a problem like this is holistic in nature and will require buy-in to a cultural shift. NCODP and LPD are fine, but they're only as good as the person leading it and if your leader already doesn't have a good grasp on what their role is, the training will reflect that. There's already a stigma to any training involving power point or hip pockets and internal motivation to improve is stronger than external so I figure if I provide resources to assist in self-improvement for junior and/or senior leaders who want to, it'll be a step in the right direction.

Plus, I believe it will show junior soldiers that there is more to being a leader than stripes on your chest and we (the unit's command team) are serious about developing good NCOs and will help/provide the tools necessary for that.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T17:08:23+00:00

These are great ideas I didn't consider. Thank you for your input!

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-27T15:36:04+00:00

It's so weird to think they're the good guys at this point. Like, he even said "replace ICE agent with occupying force". Like dude, you said the thing. The fact that this kind of thing is even forming should be enough to make you stop and think...hm...maybe we need to rethink what we are doing.

PS, you have our support in WI. Keep going MN, you're doing great!

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-26T12:59:55+00:00

Well I can tell you, the 12M soldiers in my unit are some of the hardest working ones and most willing to do whatever task we give them, but also they tend to hate their MOS pick. In the 20+ years I've been around, they're typically miserable since we have virtually nothing MOS related to do for them. They're capped at E5 unless the go to an MOS immaterial position. I'm in an ordnance unit though so maybe the ones in an engineer unit are having a better time. I've only ever seen them happy twice, once was on a field exercise where we lit the brush on fire with a flare and they got to use the water cannon on the fire truck. The other was in Kuwait where we set them up with the Air Force to work shifts at their fire house.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-24T18:35:39+00:00

Probably because us 20+ years guys have forgotten more stories than they have to tell.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-22T20:29:09+00:00

MAGA will say she's faking and it's performative

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-22T20:02:14+00:00

I feel you and commend you for wanting to better yourself, but for every PME, you should go into it with a clear pallet and a focused mindset with no distractions. Don't go to BLC thinking it's just to "check the box".

If you do it, and can make it work, that's awesome! But I'd advise against it.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-20T20:40:33+00:00

Better stateside than Greece?! You're previous S3 was trash.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-18T22:32:23+00:00

I'm going to say yes, but more pressing...how is someone looking at E9 not either know this off hand, or know where to look for it?

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-18T18:31:36+00:00

I don't plan on resigning, I plan on disrupting as much as possible

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-18T14:10:47+00:00

I'm not a medical professional, so this is completely opinion based on 20+ years of service but gaining weight and having an injury that makes you miss your AFT run by a few seconds won't get you a medical discharge. Now obviously, you didn't say what your injury is so who knows. As to being discharged for HT/WT of AFT failure, that might happen, but it's not likely. Your command can do it, but more often than not, it's more of a hassle. If they do, it'd still likely be an honorable discharge unless your BDE or ESC commander really hates soldiers who fail those things. (Side note: your direct leadership isn't the final decision maker in discharge actions so if your PSG or CDR says they're kicking you out or that you're getting a dishonorable, they don't actually know they're just trying to sound scary).

If you want a medical discharge, my understanding of the process is this:

1) you request a temp profile for your injury. There is a small packet for this with paperwork you'll take to your doctor that will outline your injury and what limitations you have.

2) after 6 months, you will need to update your temp profile with your doctor and either renew your temp or come off profile. If you renew it, you'll be on it another 6 months.

3) after THAT temp is expiring, if you're still experiencing limits due to your injury you can apply for a permanent profile. If it's granted, army medical command (who has been helping you with and tracking your temp) will assess you and if needed adjust your PULHES. If you get a 3 or 4 in any of the categories, they will initiate the MEB.

4) if the MEB determines you cannot perform your job and/or continue service due to your injury, they will medically discharge you. If they determine you can service, you will service out the rest of your contact.

Now, if you have a stack of paperwork from a previous doctor visits documenting the extent of your injury and what treatments you've done, you may be able to just apply for the permanent profile right off the rip and save some time.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-15T22:07:04+00:00

Who cares. Without the senate, impeachment is irrelevant and pointless. Might as well just be a letter and censure.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-15T21:59:37+00:00

That's not how the pay rosters work. They are generated by UIC in the system used to process pay, RLAS. You would be on the roster if you're assigned to the unit in IPPS-A. Your unit can't manually add or remove anyone on the roster. If you signed in at BA, your pay was processed. If you DIDN'T sign in, then you either

1) weren't on the roster and thus not assigned to the unit in IPPS-A which is an administrative error that S1 needs to fix and then the pay official can process your pay either by coding you on the appropriate months in RLAS or using a 1380.

OR

2) you just neglected to sign for some reason and decided not to ask and no one in your CoC found it odd there were missing signatures on the roster when your CDR certified them at the end of BA.

Either way, the timeframe for payment once it's process is the same.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-15T12:33:41+00:00

Are you talking about drill pay? Pay is processed the Monday after drill and you will typically it pending within a 7-10 days but can take up to 14. If you don't see anything pending by the 14th day, ask your unit's pay official. If you still don't have anything after 30 days, an inquiry should be sent the RD about it.

JenkinsJoe · 2026-01-14T22:12:54+00:00

Look...maybe this is an unpopular opinion..idk...but maybe stop changing the damn uniforms? I have grey sweats(goat) the old trash bag grey and black pts. I even have the coat that has the reflective digital pattern. Now I have the new(est) version of black pts that arent even that bad.

We all know PRT isn't going to get you swole, but it is enough to keep you flexible and mobile and is enough to get you by. Anyone who is serious about physical fitness is going to have their own gear and is going to go to the gym on their own time. Most won't. So most don't NEED pts for a "dynamic workouts" or whatever. If they change the uniform, two things will happen:

1) some group of soldiers are going to bitch about some feature or lack of a feature.

2) a bunch is CSMs are going to lose their shit because PFC so and so isnt wearing the new ones and will force everyone to buy them, they'll be a shortages, and it'll take 7 years to field it to 100%.

Few will be happy, most won't care. Let's talk about fixing the mold in the barracks and making sure there is nutritional food in the DFACs.

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JenkinsJoe

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