82nd

 I have a few grievances regarding the 82nd Airborne.

First: today, being Sunday, my husband was called into work to pull weeds! The reason for the weed pulling was because someone in a the troop got a DUI. So they've decided to punish everyone.

Secondly: the stance they have on PT is let's run a 6 minute mile, every mile for 8 miles. And then once we are done running we will yell at everyone that fell out of the run. Correct me if I'm wrong, but not everyone can run that fast for that long. Not everyone is a runner. Oh and they do this every day!

Thirdly: the tape test. The tape test has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. First off, to determine BMI correctly you need to do the test correctly. Taping someone's neck and abdominal area is ridiculous. What does the neck have to do with anything? The way I see it a tape test should only be performed if you can't pass your PT test. Plus it needs to be revised. Do they not realize that the way people eat and live is a whole lot different to what it was in the 1950s?
 
 Fourthly: the late hours they keep. There are days that my husband doesn't get home until 7pm. And on the "payday activities" day when they're supposed to be off by noon, my husband doesn't get off until 3 - 5 pm.

Is it not more important to be up to par on your job then to be able to run a 6 minute mile? Because when you are in combat your job and knowledge and skill is what is important not the quickness you can run. There is a sign in the office of a Captain that my husband works by that says "work to time not to standard". Shouldn't they be working to standard? Are the 82nd's views so skewed that they are more concerned about running and willingness to jump out
of planes? Shouldn't they be more concerned with work knowledge, training and teaching. The 82nd is the worst duty stationed I have ever been to. The last base we were at was bad and had poor leadership but the leadership here... Well it's demoralizing. There have been three suicides this passed month, all on the same day.

Getting yelled at for something that had nothing to do with you is wrong. Promoting people because they can run and not because they can do there jobs is wrong. Fort Bragg needs a massive overhaul. The leaders need to follow the standards put down for them. They need to stop demoralizing there soldiers. Let's face it in a combat situation your MOS is priority, your knowledge.

People getting these DUIs or in general screwing up, are bringing everyone around them down with them.

One last thing... I think the people in charge need a taste of there own medicine. I'd hate think how they would react if they were forced to pull weeds for someone else's wrong doing.