Monday, February 12, 2007

Insane policy by insane people

Skippy is right; try treating people like adults.
"For all other 2ID Soldiers who choose to consume alcohol, they must do so responsibly at all times. Specifically, they will moderate their alcohol consumption and not consume alcohol to the extent that their blood alcohol content (BAC) is above .10."
That means that you, an adult, can be off duty playing poker with your Dad and the Army tells you that you cannot have a BAC over .10. Insanity. GI Korea also is right on the result.
In the years I have been following USFK issues it seems like every time a new general comes in they face the same problem the commander before them faced and the new general issues blanket policies similar to the last guy that didn’t solve the problem then and won’t solve the problem now. Former 2ID commanders General Honore, Wood, Higgins, and now Coggin have all had their fair share of alcohol related incidents and underage drinkers. Mass punishment policies that have a short term impact that looks good on Powerpoint slides are always implemented, but in the long run the same issues will persist and rise again at the expense of the morale of all the soldiers in Korea.

Any bets that the next 2ID commander will be facing these same problems when he takes over? It seems nothing ever changes except the name of the commanding general.
Nanny-state rules are simply Indications & Warning of a broken system. Period. Then again, our silly national drinking age and paternalistic policies do not help. That is the real problem.

The lack of moral courage and leadership that drools out of this policy is astounding. This will fix nothing - and will make any progress more difficult - personal responsibility; unit cohesion; team building? Fugetaboutit.

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