Originally Posted by
JRB
I have a few buddies that are USAF. A mix of Security Forces and Red Horse.
They all tell me that being an E5/E6 in those orgs is a nightmare because you're blamed for everything that goes wrong and you're not given any authority or effective tools to solve those problems. In particular, lazy/toxic first line leaders are abundant in the E6/E7 range and O2/O3 range.
I've heard lots of stories of E3's and E4's, even E5's going AWOL and otherwise saying 'Fuck this' when perpetually toxic senior NCO's and O2/O3 officers can't stop doing toxic, morale-sapping shit or otherwise doing unprofessional crap like obvious favoritism, taking full credit for work their subordinates did, etc.
The lack of upward promotion opportunities and new assignments make that a real motherfucker too. There are posts and assignments that an active duty E3 or E4 Airman can expect to spend their entire first enlistment at, and routinely that's in the same unit and same command.
If you're deep in some toxic suck, and you're going to be in that suck for the next 3-4 years guaranteed, and you don't see any way of fixing or improving your situation - that's exactly and precisely the environment in which suicide, alcoholism, AWOL, etc thrives.
Take care of your joes and they'll take care of your mission. Give them the credit for the work they do and what they get right. Hold them accountable for what they fuck up and hold yourself accountable to make sure they get it right the next time.
So easy to write in a few sentences, but so damn difficult for so many NCO's and Officers to actually *do* every day.