Lieutenants

In every aspect of the army there is a commissioned officer who is in charge of it. In the platoon level there are Lieutenants, the rank of 2nd Lieutenant (pay grade O1) and 1st Lieutenant (pay grade O2) are the commissioned officers assigned to handle all the major planning, logistical, and enforcement of army regulations for said platoon. They are expected to take command and lead the way, they receive advice and guidance from the Platoon Sergeant (SFC/E7) to help govern their command decision. They are expected to be in excellent physical shape, handle stress, utilize their platoon effectively and efficiently, account for all their equipment, and lead from the front.

Whats strange about Lieutenants is that they are likely not much older than the lower enlisted soldiers and most likely younger than their Squad Leaders and Platoon Sergeant. The usual age is 22-27 years of age of many newly commissioned Lieutenants. Also they considered by the enlisted as the privates of the Officers, which means most NCO's don't trust them. In conjunction this lack of experience is the true litmus test of how these officers take the lead. Most excel at it since they utilize logical decision making and risk management analysis which they learned in college and their respective commissioning school (ROTC, OCS, West Point). The rare few make mistakes at bad times, let their commission get to their head, or neglect the fact that there are 30+ people under them who are trained to fight and remove characteristics such as self preservation from their psyche. These Lieutenants, while they may have their mind in the right place are simply spiraling into the world of reprimands, reassignments, dismissal, massive debt from lost equipment or possible severe/accidental injury (returning a salute while a sniper is present is an example).

Aw man, LT is at it again.

Some officers through lack of experience, stress, or just pure dumb will get themselves into trouble and in turn hated by their soldiers. Things such as giving soldiers crap for not being motivated when its 116 degrees or more outside, excessive inventories, crappy Drill and Ceremony skills, making an erroneous decision that gets soldiers screwed over, tapping their USMA ring on the table and so forth. Certain things can't be helped, but others can be avoided by taking a step back and thinking.

"Based on my experience.."
-When uttered by a LT this is a foreboding that shit is about to hit the fan.

In any military organization you will always hear an enlisted soldier of any rank say "Fucking LT X blah blah blah." Lieutenants are always disliked and that will not change, Joes will always look back and see the LT giving direction from the office or the rear causing scorn. Some officers take it in stride and persevere. The ones that don't eventually see their careers end or are thrown off to a Battalion or Brigade staff job that sucks the big one. Figures show that many officers separate from the service after just one contract. This may be a fact that they can secure better paying civilian jobs or they are so tired of dealing with their soldiers. Being an officer is an understandably stressful job with a likelihood of alcoholism.

Oh you're in the Army? What are you? A Plumber?!

In the US Army, there are many Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). Many are pride filled and proud positions such as Infantry,EOD, Artillery, Armor, Medical and Aerial. For the others, there are other jobs. The jobs no one else wants such has Human Resources, Pharmacy Tech, Plumber, and others.

When I was transferred after failing EOD school to Plumbing school at Sheppard AFB I remembered back to viewing Army MOS videos on YouTube before I shipped to Basic Training. One stuck out when I  viewed "Army MOS 21K Plumber" and thinking "man, that must totally suck as a job but at least they do some regular combat engineering training." I snickered a bit then went back to watching clips of Hurt Locker, how silly I was.

Going through class was odd, a multi-branch school run mainly by the Air Force. I heard our instructor, TSgt Taylor, say many a time "I don't know what they do in the Army, but in the Air Force we do..." We actually asked our Army Platoon Sergeants/Instructors about such scenarios....we were duly informed that we will likely never plumb again after AIT and to be ready to be second hand carpenters. Along with this we will not be going to Battle Focused Training (i.e. no combat engineering/battle maneuvers training)....man I got the short end here.

This plumber is watching everything learned go down the tubes at a standard 10 degree pitch.

I was discouraged at hearing this, but we were also told to get ready to deploy because by god there is two wars going on so you will most likely deploy and wreck those Al Qaida dickheads!

You'll totally fucking deploy!

After I graduated plumbing school I took my orders to head to Fort Polk. From that point on is where I'm will chronicle the things that go on at 178 Engineering Company.