Can you just send over a bunch of big GPS-guided weapons?
If I had any. =) We're the nasty guard--we just turned in our muskets for M-16A2s a few years ago.
We had the unpleasant experience of counseling a junior soldier in the company about the commander's intent to discharge him for unsatisfactory participation. He's been with us three years without being able to pass the physical fitness test; we SHOULD have discharged him a year and a half ago. He gets an attitude with his first-line leader, is habitually late, and is just generally a poor example of a soldier, even by our relatively undemanding standards.
And yet... He's a nice, likable kid. When he's sober and on time, he does decent work without complaint. He's been unemployed for two years, other than his one-weekend-a-month, and has a wife and two kids, plus another for whom he's paying support. This is his best shot at getting out of the hole he is in. But he won't take it.
We did everyone the regs required and quite a bit more to get him marriage and financial counseling. My supply sergeant has gone way above and beyond to try to convince him to help himself. But ultimately, it is his responsibility. None of us feel good about it at ALL because he's a part of the family, even if he's the shady cousin who nicks the silverware. You can't save people from themselves.
If you do the paperwork right (which is a big if), it's relatively easy, though time consuming. Sadly, he could be JUST a complete dirt bag and the chain of command might insist that he stick around. But since he's a kinda dirt bag who can't pass his APFT, the regulations require us to give him the boot.
In the military, you can't fire someone or even pass him up for promotion for "being a dirtbag." You have to quantify the behavior.
"Has been late X times in the past 3 months"
"Did not pass the physical fitness test"
"Has come to base unshaven"
"Uniform shirt was improperly buttoned and sleeves were rolled up not according to standards despite three previous warnings" (I still remember how to roll up US Army uniform sleeves... You can't just roll them up)
You can't write "has a bad attitude." You have to give specific examples of behaviors that exhibit bad attitude such as breaking protocol, using inappropriate language, yelling at colleagues in situations where yelling is unwarranted...
It's actually not bad to think that way.
Today seems to be a day of high-powered stupidity.
It's as if there's some cosmic rays spraying our customers with gamma radiation, but instead of turning into The Incredible Hulk, they just turn stupid.
If I sit still, very quietly, and listen, I can hear the drool running down their face.
Yep. Today was filled with stupidity.
On my way home from work, a lady stopped her car in the middle of the road (in the dark, with her lights on), honked her horn as I approached. I couldn't get around her car, so I was stuck. She then got out of the car and scooted some ducks off the road. This went on for about a full minute.
I wanted to get out of the car and kill the ducks, throwing their remains in her car.
Generally speaking, birds are very difficult to hit with a car. You'll always find exceptions, of course, but as a general rule, you can't hit them with a car.
Have you ever had someone, in the dark, stop their car just on the other side of a hill on a busy road?
Now *there's* an image.
"Oh oracle, wise and all-knowing, please tell me how I may achieve never-ending happiness in my life?"
"Not now, son... I'm hunting goslings!"
Actual conversation at work last night.
Dim bulb: uh, Dan, is it normal for your nose to start bleeding for no reason?
Me: No. (disbeliving tone to my voice)
Dim bulb: oh. I must have bled a gallon of blood.
Me: Maybe you should ask a doctor about it.
Dim bulb: Nah. I'll be okay.
Me: Well....if it happens again go see a doctor.
Dim bulb: Okay. I left a puddle of blood in the back. Should I clean it up?
Me: uh...yeeees...I don't want to. Could you not leave the bloody rags on the floor too? k...thanks.