SMA Brief - Afghanistan

[Eagle5US]

Found this posted on another site and thought it was interesting:

Anyone interested, some notes from the SMA brief in Afghanistan recently:

Summary of Brief given by SMA in Afghanistan.

Retirement:

The current retirement program we are under is not going to change for those
already in the Army. He said that he can't find one Congressman that
supports changing our retirement plan for those already serving. Less than
1% of US citizens serve in our Armed Forces and our nation owes us this for
standing up for our freedoms. Our Nation would be breaking a commitment /
agreement to those that volunteered to serve our nation.

The SMA said that the Chief of Staff and him trust us to do the right thing
and we need to trust them with this issue. The SMA also made it clear that
the Army does not control this. Congress does. He also gave examples of how
the military pay has changed in the last 30 years. Final pay to high three
and the 1990 Redux.

Drawdown:

The Army will be drawing down. This will be accomplished through less
retention, a selective early retirement board for those that are retirement
eligible and by separating Soldiers for mis-conduct.

Average Performers:

NCOs / Soldiers that are just average performers may find it difficult to
stay in the Army or in their current MOS when it comes time to re-enlist.
For those that receive a no on the values portion of the NCOER, receive a
poor NCOER, DUI, or Article 15 may find it difficult to stay in the Army.
If they are allowed to stay they could be forced to fill a MOS, other than
their current one, that the Army needs help in filling. He used the phrase
"Tightening up the ranks" a lot tonight.

NCOER:

NCOERs are over inflated. NCOERs will be changed to be in line with FM 6-22
(LEADERSHIP). More responsibility on the rated individual along with
stricter counseling requirements that are documented.

APFT:

The new APFT is under his review. He stated that the run will not be 1.5
miles. He would like to see it changed to 4.0 miles. He is also reviewing
two of the new events, broad jump and the shuttle run, and a proposal for
the new APFT will be submitted in February 2012. Another COA would be to
just keep the current one, but I feel the run is going to change due to his
comments concerning overweight NCOs/Soldiers in the ranks. Age groups are
also being discussed. Possibly just one age group or two. Under 40 and over
40. The standards will remain different for males and females.

Overweight Personnel:

We have the highest tolerances for body fat % in the armed forces. I am
tired of being last and want to be first. Personal appearance will be
addressed in the upcoming new version of AR 670-1 that will be released in 6
months. We are going to "Tighten up the Ranks" on overweight personnel and
he feels that it is a leadership failure for a lot of the overweight
personnel in our ranks. We should be conducting more counseling, monitoring
PT training plans, and getting rid of those that do not comply. SMA Quote "
can't look like a stuffed summer sausage in your ACUs".

Tattoos:

A change is coming on tattoos that service personnel may have. No Tattoos
above the neck or past the wrist area. The uniform should cover all
Tattoos, "no red lips on your neck". For females, if you get a Tattoo on
your calf, then you will not be able to wear the Army skirt, you will wear
pants, so the Tattoo may not be seen. If you get a Tattoo that is visible it
could become grounds for separation from the Army. You are a professional,
and if you want to serve in the Army you will look professional or leave our
ranks.

Grooming standards:

Haircuts. Photos are coming showing what proper haircuts can look like.
There will be an authorized short, medium and long haircut. As a uniformed
service, we should look uniform (a like). Females included.

Side burns. No pointy sideburns. Reg's not changing, just enforcing the
length, shape and density.

Fingernails. No long finger nails for men and no finger nail polish for
females in duty uniform. Polish in ASUs will be neutral tones or may go away
completely.

Earrings for females while wearing the duty uniform. This reg is being
reviewed and may be changed to allow female Soldiers to wear studs while in
duty uniform.

Sexual Assault/Harassment:

Must conduct sexual assault training, 95% of sexual assaults are males
against females. He sees on average 2 sexual assault / harassment cases
concerning E-9s per week. He feels that if training and counseling were
conducted more Soldiers would be ID'd early in their career and separated
from the Army if this type of behavior continued.

There will be a reduction in the civilian work force for US Army Bases. For
example, Soldiers manning gates and cutting grass, FT Stewart is already
doing so.

[Dragbag036]

Thanks for the post. I will pass along as well to some of my guys.

DB

[lindy]

So, I'm reading that me and my brothers are not doing our jobs as SNCOs. Not happy about the over-40 standards for APFT either!

[2018commo]

IMCOM is serious about personnel cuts, there is a lot of war-gaming going on over what really is an acceptable level of support.

[PRB]

Good info/post.
Direct, no double secret probation.
The comments upon the retirement system are important to squelch rumors...I can't see the SMA/CofS ever doing less than that.
How can we draw down from the size Army we have now?
The thing I hate most about this kind of rift is..."We could use you during a conflict but now that that is over, we don't need you anymore"

[1stindoor]

Thanks for the post. It was good to see that he addressed the retirement issue. When I read some of his remarks in the Army Times a few weeks ago I was irritated (though not a bit surprised) that he took the time to talk about tattoos and haircuts...but not pay and retirement.

As for his APFT comments concerning age...it comes as no surprise as he is a runner. Most of the senior leadership I've known over the last 25 years that were serious runners...thought that was the gold standard for physical fitness. If we're going to go to a simply under 40 and over 40 age bracket why not erase the female/male difference as well?

Concerning tattoos, I think that genie is already out of the bottle. All you can do at this point is change/rescind the policy...and then punish people that get new tattoos until those in uniform retire or ETS.

Haircuts...more of the same. Again no surprises here. It shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone that's in uniform.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by PRB

The thing I hate most about this kind of rift is..."We could use you during a conflict but now that that is over, we don't need you anymore"

Most prescient sir.

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." —Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Dec. 8, 2004

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Badger52

Most prescient sir.

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." —Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Dec. 8, 2004

This reminds me of the oft used quote from The Centurions

I'd like to have two Armies -- one for display, with lovely guns, tanks, little Soldiers, staffs, distinguished and doddering Generals and deal little regimental officers, who would be deeply concerned over their General's bowel movements or their Colonel's piles; an Army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country.

The other would be the REAL ONE, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, who would not be put on display but from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That's the Army in which I should like to fight.

[Pete]

Soldiers told new rules governing tattoos, grooming standards on the way

http://www.stripes.com/news/soldiers...e-way-1.242828

"JALALABAD, Afghanistan — In the works for more than a year, strict new rules governing things like tattoos and grooming for soldiers have been approved by the Secretary of the Army and are only awaiting a final signature, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler said Saturday......."

Not long now....

Tramp Stamps are OK - but no little roses on the ankle.

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

This reminds me of the oft used quote from The Centurions

Hasn't the latter always been the role of SF and the source of angst to the former?