Army morale declines in survey

[unhappycamper]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/08/19/army_survey_finds_only_one_in_four_soldiers_confident_in_branchs_future/?s_campaign=MobAppShare_EM
Army morale declines in survey
By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / August 19, 2012

WASHINGTON ­— Only a quarter of the Army’s officers and enlisted soldiers believe the nation’s largest military branch is headed in the right direction — a survey response that is the lowest on record and reflects what some in the service call a crisis in confidence.

The detailed annual survey by a team of independent researchers found that the most common reasons cited for the bleak outlook were “ineffective leaders at senior levels,” a fear of losing the best and the brightest after a decade of war, and the perception, especially among senior enlisted soldiers, that “the Army is too soft” and lacks sufficient discipline.

The study, ordered by the Center for Army Leadership at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, also found that one in four troops serving in Afghanistan rated morale either “low” or “very low,” part of a steady downward trend over the last five years.

But the most striking finding is widespread disagreement with the statement that “the Army is headed in the right direction to prepare for the challenges of the next 10 years.”

[pipoman]

1. I suspect it is also due

to knowledge that many if not most first enlistment recruits will be denied reenlistment..it is hard to be motivated at work if you know you will soon be laid off/fired.

[WooWooWoo]

2. i think morale would naturally be lower among troops returning from war

spending more time in garrison, where they're treated like children instead of men, doing ridiculously pointless check-the-box training on things they already did downrange, making less money and dealing with whatever personal issues arose from their deployments.

When I got out of basic training and was immediate shipped to Afghanistan, I was told that once the deployment ended and I was back in garrison that I would hate it. I didn't really believe it at the time because, frankly, being deployed sucked so much. But now that I've been back for over a year I can see they were totally right.

People at my base are completely miserable. It just all seems so pointless. All the things we do every day, the way people are treated by senior leadership. It just breeds depression and anger.

[Victor_c3]

3. I agree

I got out in 2007 after spending 5.5 years active duty and spending some time in Iraq in 2004. I can tell you that it doesn't get any better if/when you get out of the Army. Life sucks outside of the military. Getting up and going to work everyday for some corporation and being civilian is way worse than being deployed. I hated being deployed to Iraq, but now that I'm out I miss it tremendously. The struggles, even though a lot more is at stake, when you are deployed are a lot easier than dealing with the crap you have to deal with in the civilian world.

At least when you're in the Army you're surrounded by people who've been there and get it. In the civilian world you're just alone. The hardest thing I've had to do in my life is come home from deployment. If I could, I'd drop it all and go back to Iraq in a heartbeat.