Thought for the weak

Not long after we started here last month, some messages were sent out from senior leaders reminding us to adhere to standard uniform policies.  What follows here is a direct quote from one of those messages (and was originally sent from a Sergeant Major), with a few points of clarification in brackets:

"All:


"I notice this morning an international students was riding his bike without a jacket.  I couldn't turn around in traffic to stop him, but there were several ILE students [some of us] who walked and rode past him.  So if students are not policing each other then the violation continue.  Not to be preaching, but when an enlisted Soldiers ask me 'can we ride our bike without our ACU jacket [uniform top] or wear other backpacks that are not authorized'.  How do you response except with the truth.


"We have a systemic problems with the wear of the uniform from the students which needs to be address.  I'm sure it has been, but maybe they don't care.  So when I hear the CASCAL survey [???] about 'Soldier are not discipline,' its start with them.


"Maybe we need to do a lamp [our august newspaper] articles on standard uniform wear.  I'll work that piece.


"Thanks you all for your support.  Hooah!!"


Mind you, if I understand the intent of this, this esteemed senior noncommissioned officer is right in that Field Grade officers should set the example, and should know better than to even ask those kinds of questions.  Uniform policy is an accepted fact of soldiering -- an artifact of our culture, if you will.

Apparently however, correct English grammar and spelling are not -- assuming, that is, that the SGM is not a foreign soldier himself (his name doesn't appear foreign, anyway).

The senior officer who initially forwarded the verbatim comments -- who, ostensibly, is himself a CGSC alumnus -- should have known better than to embarrass the NCO corps by forwarding the exact message, thus detracting from the heart of the message itself (which apparently was: wear your uniform like a professional).  More importantly, the senior NCO -- as a professional -- should set the example himself and either get professional help with his writing skills, have someone smarter screen his messages before blasting them out, or else just not bother.  The message is lost, largely because the NCO tried too hard to sound smart.

Especially in this environment, where we thousand-plus Majors are expected required to get it right the first time.

This is nothing new.  Maybe it's just that our Army has left the professional writing skills exclusively up to us officers for far too long.