Originally posted by Keddrick Corday Thompson:
Its not about the army pay. Obviously as a civilian I make well. Its the principle of me earning my rank that was long overdue. The family argument not being strong enough...Im not seeing how it is not. I don't trust strangers like that with my child. Too many kids have been bruised and molested in FRG care and even Child Care on military installations... ie fort Bragg. So, that is ridiculous to even bring to the equation IMO.
TPU to TPU would be fine if I am able to keep my rank in which I suggested that within the Brigade so I would still be close and a part of the overall command. Certain higher didnt really even consider it.
However it can be pushed to remain rear detachment or move to a temporary space until the unit return is good enough for me. I am just not able to mobilize at this time period. I responded with that as well
Your responses are a part of the reason why your argument, related to your family, is weak. They're weak regarding the IRR and Standby Reserve, but good for a TPU to TPU. It's as if you're trying to find an argument against any solution that the Army already has to address situations like yours.
What I'm reading is this:
"I don't want to deploy, they need to transfer me to another TPU in the brigade while letting me keep my rank. If not, they need to stand up a rear detachment for me to man. They have to set things up so that the solution fits my requirements 100%".
This is not a realistic expectation.
If I were your unit commander, I would be seeing that you're trying to have everything go a certain way... You keep your rank while you avoid deployment. Neither helps your unit nor its mission. It appears that you're not willing to make practical sacrifices that you need to make in order to be able to stay with your family and not deploy.
You're dealing with a lot of "whataboutisms". What about running a rear detachment? What about assigning me somewhere within the brigade? What about assigning me to another unit within the brigade? What about...
I'm seeing that you're refusing to see this from the unit's perspective. Your unit commander has to run the "rear detachment" idea to his/her commander. Once that's agreed to, then the manpower shortfall created by those who remain in rear detachment has to be filled from elsewhere in the battalion or brigade. They have to move bodies around and spend a lot of money doing so.
Your unit commander has his/her hands full doing what's needed to get the unit ready to deploy. Your recommendations would be optional for him/her... Especially if those recommendations are beyond what the unit commander needs to do to prepare the unit for deployment.
Your unit is looking at your situation and seeing that you're trying to get out of activation. Is your family situation going to be dire if you go to Texas? You'd gladly take a rank reduction and transfer to another TPU. If you refuse a transfer that results in rank reduction, then your departure for a year is not as dire as you make it. This is how the Army will see it.
You're not willing to make that commitment, to transfer to another TPU and take a pay cut. If I were your commander, I would see your argument as being null and void. I would expect you to go deploy with the unit. This is seeing things from your commander's, the battalion commander's, and brigade commander's perspectives.
The same thing would apply with regards to a request to go into the IRR (work + family excuse) or Standby Reserve (work excuse). Those that review your packet would be looking at resources available to help in your absence. They would also look at your option to transfer to another TPU to resolve your issues.
If you're not putting in an IRR packet as a result of reaching your 6th year of a 6 x 2 contract, they're going to be finding an excuse to not approve your packet. They'll take action to keep you as a TPU Soldier. What you said to me provides justification for the deciders to disapprove of your IRR request.
You have to explore what you really want.
Do you want to be with your family and civilian job without break? Transferring to another TPU with rank reduction is in the cards for you. Yes, working hard to get the rank that you have on makes it hard for you to give that rank up. But, based on what you said, if I were in your situation, I would make the necessary sacrifice needed to transfer to another TPU.
You would remain with your family and civilian commitments. You could always work to regain your rank from within your new TPU. Your arguments support a TPU to TPU transfer request.
Want to go to another TPU within your battalion/brigade? Then you'd have to put in a TPU to TPU transfer. They can't just assign you at the unit level. You have to actually put in a TPU to TPU transfer request. This entails a loss of rank.
Again, your argument that you presented to me would be justification for a TPU to TPU transfer. This same argument would not be sufficient for a transfer to the IRR. You'd have a good argument for transferring to the Standby Reserve with the critical employee argument. Your family situation; however, would not be a good argument for going into the Standby Reserve.
From a practical standpoint, you have to do a TPU to TPU transfer or deploy with your unit. This is what I'm seeing from your replies.
From an NCO standpoint? Your argument of what should be done would not be seen as something an NCO would argue. It'd be something that a Specialist or a Private would come up with. This is how your unit will see you thinking as.
The longer you resist the practical courses of action, the more your chain of command is going to ponder your decision-making process.
NOTE: I checked Keddrick Thompson's rank and found him to be an NCO. However, I did not notify him that I did this check. Prior to my verifying his rank, I assumed that he was either a Specialist or a Private First Class. I made this assumption based on his statements and demeanor above.
As an NCO, he would've agreed with my arguments. He would've made arrangements for his family, then deploy with his unit. If he wanted to transfer, he would've taken a pay cut to go to another TPU. This is how an NCO would've gone forward. However, he did not have the tone or demeanor of an NCO throughout the duration of our exchange.
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