Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard Quintravius Miller
UMUC
Improving Military
Discipline within the
California National Guard 1|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard Table of Contents
Page 3 – Introduction
Page 4 – A New Generation of Soldiers
Page 5 – Weekend Warriors
Page 6 - Punishment; It’s Good for You, It’s Good for Me
Page 6 – The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Page 7 – It’s finally Over
Page 8 – Reference List 2|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard Introduction
After serving on active duty for eight years, I plan to serve my country in a
different capacity by joining the California National Guard. I’ve always heard the
negative stigmas, throughout my career, which can be associated with the reserve
components of the Army. However, I never imagined them to be true. We are all one
team, and we are all bound to abide by the same rules and regulations, which are
governed by the United States Army.
This last year I had the honor of serving with the 31th Engineer Vertical
Construction Company (EN VCC) on a deployment to Iraq. Before we even deployed I
had my doubt about the discipline this unit had. Once deployed, my doubts were
confirmed. The lack of discipline and the poor military bearing that these Soldiers had
was something I have never experienced in my career.
In this report I am going to explain the issues that I have come upon, in addition
to, proving some effective, almost no cost, solutions. This will help improve our fighting
force and be an effective part of the total Army mission. 3|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard I think that there are three issues that are the contributors to the problem this unit
is facing with lack of military discipline. The first contributor is the type of soldier that is
now being recruited. The second contributor is the weekend mentality. The third is that
the Army has become softer on disciplining its Soldiers.
A New Generation of Soldiers
Our country is evolving every minute of every day. With that the people of our
country are also changing. Every generation seems to get its own name to identify the
people of that generation. There are two generations that I will be addressing, the
millennials and generation Z. (I personally belong to the millennial generation.) The
Soldiers that belong to these generations have a lot of habits and ideology that have
been developed by their generations over the years. One of the worst things that I have
seen is the sense of entitlement that these Soldiers have. They think everything will be
handed to them and that they should be awarded for something as simple as showing
up to work on time. They also think they have the authority to skip the chain of
command when they have an issue, whether it be personal or professional. These two
habits of these generations of Soldiers is completely undermining the structure of the
Army and the regulations that we have in place. Some might argue that we are evolving
as a military and that we should adapt to these habits. (Hinote, 2015, P131-138)
However, I would like to make the point that our rank structure and chain of command is
there for a reason. If the lowest ranking individual doesn’t like that their Non- 4|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard Commissions Officer (NCO) wants them to clean the motor pool they will feel free to
contact the Command Sergeant Major (CSM), because they might be on good terms,
and that Soldier would then be excused from performing their duties. This presents two
major problems. One, which the NCO has now been undermined by a senior NCO and
the private is aware of this, and will now try to do this every time to get out of performing
a duty. Two, which the NCO will now feel there is no reason for them to do anything so
why even try. With most of the millennial Soldiers, they are now seasoned in the military
and are commanding officers and senior NCO’s. They are decisions makers who are
suggesting and allowing changes to be made to make the Army a better place to work. I
would like to remind you that this is the greatest fighting force in the world, the United
States Army! This is not some social experiment where everyone gets a participation
ribbon. There are real steaks, like Soldiers lives, at risk here.
Weekend Warriors
I think it is safe to assume that we have all seen the Army Reserve commercials
which state “One weekend a month, two weeks a year.” That statement alone is
probably the reason that there is such interest in the National Guard and Reserve
Component services. In the military community they are often referred to as “weekend
warriors.” It is my belief that this is a contributing factor to the lack of discipline amongst
the ranks. A lot of these Soldiers are between the ages of 18 and 25. Most still live at
home with their parents, and with no real job or life experience. These Soldiers are used
to being handed everything and when they don’t get their way they talk back and have
no respect for authority. Yes, these Soldiers have complete basic training and their
advanced military training. However, when they get home and on that “weekend” status
5|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard it’s as if it was all for not. Also, it can be hard for these Soldiers to transition from their
civilian status to being a Soldier. Maybe they are the manager at their place of civilian
employment. They are used to being the boss, people looking up to them, and having
the authority. When they come to drill on the weekend, they are just a Private (PVT) and
are constantly being told what to do. They now develop a chip on their shoulder and
start to get an attitude and talk back to superiors instead of doing what is being told.
Which leads me into the last contributing factor.
Punishment, it’s good for you, it’s good for me
Leaders are now facing a big problem, the inability to properly discipline their
Soldiers. The Army has gone from being able to take someone out back for some good
ole’ “wall to wall counseling” to limiting them to 8, 4 count push-ups that the punisher
must do with the Soldier. If I may be frank, this is just ridiculous. Wall to wall counseling
is a thing of the past and I am by no means suggesting that we bring it back; I am
suggesting that they do allow their leaders to properly punish their Soldiers as they see
fit. When I first joined the Army, leaders were allowed to give a Soldier a good “smoking”
as corrective training. Now, that is seen as hazing and the leader can be punished.
(This is also ridiculous) This is exactly what the Army needs to bring back. No one likes
to get smoked, especially if it is in front of their peers. And the shame from that action
will most likely be the determining factor if that Soldier will ever do what got them
punished again.
The light at the end of the tunnel 6|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard I am proposing some great solutions to the problems that I have brought up.
These solutions will be at minimal or no cost to the California National Guard. The Army
needs to change a few of its regulations to allow leaders to effectively punish their
Soldiers. The National Guard can also define what proper corrective training is and
provide training on what proper corrective punishment would be. The way our leaders
are leading can also be something to be changed. The leaders can be taught what the
habits are of the new generations of Soldiers that are coming in and how to highlight the
best qualities that they have to become a more effective Army. (Hinote, 2015, P131-138)
The leaders also need to enforce the standards. When the Soldiers come to weekend
drill they need to ensure that they are complying with all Army Regulations, and are
being respectful of not only their superiors but also their peers. If there are Soldiers that
are habitual offends of these rules and regulations a plan needs to be set in place for
them to be kicked out of the military for failure to adapt.
It’s finally over
In conclusion, there are some really bad habits that could be potentially
destroying the greatest fighting force in the world. But, if the National Guard can change
just a few of the things that I have proposed, the military should be in a good place…
until the next generation starts to join and messes everything up. 7|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard
References Bertagni, B. & Salvetti, S. (2015). Dealing with complexity in a simple way. How
visualization boosts understanding in learning process. The Z generation
Case. Sociologica del Lavoro, 137, 201-215. Retrieved from:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ 2016.5.04 Hinote, C. & Sundvall, T. J. (2015). Leading millennials. Air & Space Power
(1), 131-138. DOI: Journal, 21 Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ 2016.4.23 Kelty, R. (2014). The millennial generation and national defense: Attitudes of
future military and civilian leaders. Journal for the Study of Peace &
Conflict, 2014, 135-136. Retrieved from:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ Sheffield, G. (2000) Military discipline and punishment. World War One.
Retrieved from: http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/military-discipline Smith, K. A. (2009). Gaining the edge: Connecting with the millennials. Air Force
Journal of Logistics, 33 (3/4), 52-60. Retrieved from:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ 2016.5.04 Tan, M. (2016) Millennials may need drill sgts beyond basic, Army says. Army
Times,
Retrieved from:
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/enlisted/2016/04/25
/millennials-may-need-drill-sgts-beyond-basic-army-says/83274044/
2016.5.04 Thompson, C. & Gregory, J. B. (2012) Managing millennials: A framework for
improving attraction, motivation, and retention. Psychologist-Manager Journal (Taylor &
Francis Ltd), 15.4, 237-246. DOI: 10.1080/10887156.2012.730444.2016.4.23 8|Page Improving Military Discipline within the California National Guard
U.S. Department of the Army. Army Command Policy. Army Regulation 600-20.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Army, November, 6 2014, 23-35.
2016.5.04 Walker, W. E. (1992) Comparing army reserve forces: A tale of multiple ironies,
conflicting realities, and more certain prospects. Armed Forces & Society (0995327X),
18.3, 303-322. DOI: Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/
2016.4.23 Williams, K. (2010) An assessment of moral and character education in initial
entry training (IET). Journal of Military Ethics, 9(1), 41-56. DOI:
10.1080/1527570903523107. 2016.5.04 9|Page

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