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**Peregrino** · 07-17-2016, 11:29

I've been actively involved in SF since I showed up at SWCS in May of '78. I've watched standards yo-yo from one extreme to the other the entire time. High standards that make sense and have buy-in from all sides ensure the force receives quality troops. We all know what low standards produce and how long it takes to moderate the effects; I'm not wasting the time to elaborate. Arbitrary standards that don't make sense and lack buy-in damage morale and foster a "guardian of the badge" perception that attacks the ideals of professionalism we're supposed to be imparting on everyone (from the rawest SWCS student to the 3-star at USASOC) across our Regiment. If this new standard is to achieve its purpose, it must be tied to a requirement, sold as reasonable, applied impartially, and supported/maintained for sufficient duration that it becomes a part of the culture. To do otherwise guarantees it will be attacked as "a way to sabotage women attending SFQC" and promptly discarded as a subversive attempt to circumvent policy. Given that anything/everything we do to establish and enforce standards to ensure that we're "Special" instead of just "Good Enough" Forces is anathema to the social progressives demanding soccer trophies for everyone.

And for what it's worth - on the whole today's SF Soldier is the best trained, most lethal version I've been privileged to work with in the last 38 years. Not perfect and a little more narrowly focused that I would like but nonetheless they/you uphold the legacy with honor. As for the outliers - that's a leadership problem and solutions start in the team room. Some of the wisdom shared here and elsewhere gives excellent advice for those who recognize the requirement/responsibility for "fixing ourselves" and are willing to step up and lead.

07-17-2016, 11:29	#6
Peregrino Quiet Professional Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Occupied Pineland Posts: 4,701	I've been actively involved in SF since I showed up at SWCS in May of '78. I've watched standards yo-yo from one extreme to the other the entire time. High standards that make sense and have buy-in from all sides ensure the force receives quality troops. We all know what low standards produce and how long it takes to moderate the effects; I'm not wasting the time to elaborate. Arbitrary standards that don't make sense and lack buy-in damage morale and foster a "guardian of the badge" perception that attacks the ideals of professionalism we're supposed to be imparting on everyone (from the rawest SWCS student to the 3-star at USASOC) across our Regiment. If this new standard is to achieve its purpose, it must be tied to a requirement, sold as reasonable, applied impartially, and supported/maintained for sufficient duration that it becomes a part of the culture. To do otherwise guarantees it will be attacked as "a way to sabotage women attending SFQC" and promptly discarded as a subversive attempt to circumvent policy. Given that anything/everything we do to establish and enforce standards to ensure that we're "Special" instead of just "Good Enough" Forces is anathema to the social progressives demanding soccer trophies for everyone. And for what it's worth - on the whole today's SF Soldier is the best trained, most lethal version I've been privileged to work with in the last 38 years. Not perfect and a little more narrowly focused that I would like but nonetheless they/you uphold the legacy with honor. As for the outliers - that's a leadership problem and solutions start in the team room. Some of the wisdom shared here and elsewhere gives excellent advice for those who recognize the requirement/responsibility for "fixing ourselves" and are willing to step up and lead. __________________ A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (42B.C)
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