Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 9:02am

Army “Optimism” Program Flops

 

Well this is unsurprising:

More than half of some 770,000 soldiers are pessimistic about their future in the military and nearly as many are unhappy in their jobs, despite a six-year, $287 million campaign to make troops more optimistic and resilient, findings obtained by USA TODAY show.

Twelve months of data through early 2015 show that 403,564 soldiers, or 52%, scored badly in the area of optimism, agreeing with statements such as “I rarely count on good things happening to me.” Forty-eight percent have little satisfaction in or commitment to their jobs.

The results stem from resiliency assessments that soldiers are required to take every year. In 2014, for the first time, the Army pulled data from those assessments to help commanders gauge the psychological and physical health of their troops.

The effort produced startlingly negative results. In addition to low optimism and job satisfaction, more than half reported poor nutrition and sleep, and only 14% said they are eating right and getting enough rest.

Go here to read the rest.  Armies that are fighting and winning and have confidence in their leaders have high morale.  None of this is true for the Army under Obama.  Obama leaves to the next President a hollow military.

I wonder what Patton would have thought of an Army “optimism” program?  I can guess what he would have said, but such language is not fitting for a family blog.  Instapundit puts it well:

You know what helps morale? An Army that fights and wins. You know what doesn’t? A $287 million 6-year “optimism” program. An army overrun with sociology grads, “resiliency directorates,” diversity officers, and the like is not an army that’s focused on fighting and winning.

This comment at Instapundit says it all:

 

Ok, this comment is completely biased as a vet who just spent 2 1/2 months in a VA hosp. and spoke at length to many recently discharged vets. They are uniformly p-ssed. The army is currently culling any and all combat vets they deem “not playing well in sandbox with others”. You don’t like the new “Rainbow ” regs, you’re out, point out readiness issues being covered up? Out. Tired of constant chickensh-t diversity classes/re-education? Out. The list is endless and breath taking in it’s effect. Over 15k combat arms NCO’s released from service since 2012 before ETS. Ditto junior officers. Breathe wrong and you’re barred from re-enlistment. There is a truly fundamental transformation taking place under our noses, the warfighters are being replaced by petty bureaucrats and social diversity placeholders. Promotion boards are no longer based on merit, but more closely resemble EEOC hearings. This could be Obama’s most lasting and deadly legacy, an Army that can no longer fight, much less win. This will not end well.

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Foxfier
Admin
Friday, April 17, AD 2015 1:32pm

They spent HOW MUCH finding out that blowing smoke doesn’t raise morale?

Philip
Philip
Friday, April 17, AD 2015 1:48pm

And you want to tell me that Obama is just peevish…a mutant of mass proportions…hummmm. He is our enemy! Nice job America…sarcasm!!!

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, April 17, AD 2015 2:44pm

Some years ago there was a controversy over police misconduct which had (William Tucker, IIRC) interviewing a criminology professor on the subject of administrative measures to contain the problem (for an article in National Review). The reporter asks him about which police departments had implemented the procedures of which he had provided a precis. The reply, “I dunno. Detroit had a pretty good program”.

Its a signature of this and that social nexus around the Democratic Party that they act like parasitoid wasps, ruining and consuming any institution they touch. Professional associations are turned into political megaphones, colleges and public agencies are turned into patronage dumps, police departments fill out reports while the wheels fall off western civilization, and now the military is turned into a playpen for Eric Holder wannabees. Maybe a decisive share of the electorate will catch on to the reality that these people are just plain bad.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, April 17, AD 2015 2:47pm

I suppose it would be jejune to point out that a man whose time in the military and time in institutional leadership approximated that of Madonna Ciccone might not be an optimal candidate for commander-in-chief.

Charlie
Charlie
Saturday, April 18, AD 2015 6:14am

O’Bama and the Circus Clowns who surround him are too dumb to realize what Nathan Bedford Forrest said. “War means fighting. And fighting means killing.”

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