cbt clk said:
Engineers give everything in blood sweat and tears. But you can only give so much. I've heard the same thing from every single engineer who wants to release or is releasing, the exact same thing!! "I'm tired of being treated like sh_t!!!"
Not Op tempo, not PT standards, not a posting.
They are tired of being treated like a piece of garbage.
Engineers stop treating your troops like they are disposable, they aren't!!
Wow.....I see by your profile you are in Petawawa, so I would assume your buddy is in 2CER. I would honestly like to know exactly what they mean by "I'm tired of being treated like sh_t!!!". While I will admit a few of the leadership at 2CER hasn't a clue as to how to treat a soldier properly, I will have to say that there are probably a few reasons why they are saying that (as I'm sure has already been mentioned):
1) they are a bag of hammers and are bringing it upon themselves. I have seen many a troop being given AMPLE opportunity to sort themselves out, and they just don't get the hint. So because they are a drag upon the remainder of the unit, we're supposed to coddle them and keep giving them chances? I don't think so. I'm willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but if they can't or don't want to sort themselves out, obviously as the old saying goes, s**t's gonna roll downhill.
2) they don't grasp the concept of their employment. As 043's, we are there to
support the remainder of the brigade so they can remain mobile and train realistically, PLUS honour the remainder of our tasks elsewhere. With the current shortfall of soldiers at 2CER (TF3-06 is already trolling the ranks of Roto4 for pers to go in August :-[ ), we have been steadily running flat out at times. Does this equate to being treated like s**t? Unfortunately some of the younger guys think it does.
Now, where does the blame lie for that? I place it in a few different places:
- CFSME for not allowing course staff to "stress" QL3 candidates out where they can handle working a couple weeks straight and weird hours without a day off, so that they can best prepare for worst case scenarios (it used be "our QL3 course was much worse than standing in this freezing cold river putting this bridge pier in"
) I'm not saying treat the incoming guys like subhuman dregs, but at least "condition" them for the long and arduous hours they may have to put in when they get to a unit.
- the individual's Troop leadership starting at the Section 2 IC level. I may be getting a little too big for my britches here, but I try to always get my guys even a few hours off to compensate for the extra long hours they've either worked already or will be working. I know for a fact some Fd Tps' leadership doesn't see it my way, and they keep asking without giving anything back. However, that being said, days or time off doesn't always happen, and that's just the way it is. We are there to support everyone else, and unfortunately we just "have to make it happen" regardless if we're understrength or not.
- the leadership that does indeed treat their troops like crap. While these guys are few and far between in 2CER, some of them feel the need to be saucy and downright degrading to their troops. Why are they like this, I have no clue. It's not hard to tell their soldiers don't want to lift a finger to help them. And all because they can't simply treat their men like men. There have been attempts by many in this unit to sort these last few out, but unfortunately, it seems to fall on deaf ears and nothing is ever done until these guys "shoot themselves in the foot", figuratively speaking of course.
- the individual themselves. Some of these guys just "don't get it". As I've mentioned earlier, our whole existence in life as a CER is to
support everyone else. Some of these guys think they're being treated like s**t because some of them have to work long hours while they see some of their buddies in other Tps / Sqns working normal or semi-normal hours. While I agree it's a bit of a downer, it's just the way the cookie crumbles.
On top of that, an important thought was brought up to me the other day on the range by a guy from 3RCR. He says to me after something happened that shouldn't have, "Wow, you engineers are hard on your guys when they f**k up, aren't you?" Back to the old, "nobody f**ks an Engineer like an Engineer".
That got me thinking, 1) are we just hard on our guys for screwing up for the hell of it, or is it because 2) we have to maintain a high standard to ensure everything flows smoothly so the other arms can carry on operations with no interruptions? For me, I hate getting pissed off or having to come down on my guys for no reason, so I think I can safely say I'm not into #1 at all, so it must be #2. The remainder of the BG and / or Bde needs our "things" (for lack of thinking of a better word) to work everytime so they can advance, so there is very little room for low standards and / or sloppiness. I would also not hesitate to say that some of the younger guys take a long time to understand the difference between being forced to operate to a higher standard to ensure everything flows smoothly and being forced to do something just because, as a MCpl, I can make them (which I don't). The sooner these guys understand what a CER is there for and CFSME pounds it into the incoming QL3's, the sooner the retention rate will rise.
