How to uphold standards in the National Guard?

I did reserve training for ten months before I went active duty. We stood inspection first thing both days of drill each weekend. Do you know how to holler and get red in the face? I knew several chiefs who could do this on cue, then go right back to a normal conversation. Make them stand inspection and get up in their grills. This is not a trip to the mall people, this is the military and you damn well better act like it.

These things are all very important to unit cohesion and morale. Another thing the Guard can do is be more selective about transfers in from the Regular services. Many Guard units have become repositories for old crocks (like myself) trying to dodge medical profiles or retirement. This has been cleaned up to some extent, but still exists in many states. The old regulars may help in terms of appearance and customs, but are a detriment in terms of actual readiness of the unit if called upon.

I understand the need to take training seriously, and the need for professional dress and appearance, in order to maintain unit cohesion and a level of competence. However, speaking as the wife of a (now-former) national guardsman, part of the reason that the troops are inattentive and shabby is because at least for us the armed forces, and the national guard in particular, are inefficiently run. This is merely our experience, and not indicative of the whole culture. However, most weekends, my husband and his colleagues would arrive, go through inspection, and then sit around for 4 or 5 hours while someone tried to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. For men and women who come from the civilian world where that kind of disorganization would result in firing, it’s difficult to respect the system.

Now, before anyone jumps down my throat about this, I totally respect what the Guard does, and I—mostly——willingly gave up my husband for the year of his deployment. However, there has got to be a more efficient way of doing things. Even the Family Resource meetings were poorly organized, overly repetitive, and usually unhelpful.

Regarding the OP’s idea of requiring inattentive members to take the training on their own time, it seems like it would work to me. Many of the training sessions my husband went through during regular weekends and before their deployment were just a series of powerpoint slides, which he could have gone through more thoroughly and efficiently on his own time. I feel like the weekend time should be devoted to hands-on exercises that need to be done as a group, rather than lectures that could be read through on one’s own.

That’s why the military still uses Article 15, non-judicial punishment.

Public lashing