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Ironically the military is one of the worse places for usage and wastage of time. There is tons of accountability for some stuff ("How much diesel did you put

Ironically the military is one of the worse places for usage and wastage of time. There is tons of accountability for some stuff ("How much diesel did you put in that jeep?") but very little for people's time ("Let's have 300 infantry here an hour earlier than necessary before an event, even though it costs X per hour per person for them to be standing around doing nothing.) It's also the same around some safety stuff ("Everyone wear a reflective belt going on a run") vs time base safety stuff ("That platoon has just been on exercise and barely slept for 72 hours and everyone is now driving home.") Don't get me started on the overall wastage the military spends on talent management. Doing an extremely expensive and complex course that takes a year+ to complete? Cool, you might often be actually fullfilling that role for one/two years max afterwards before your moved on to next role doing something different elsewhere.

jimmygrapes 5y ago
The key here is that military members are salaried; the situation where they are told to stand around for x hours doing nothing changes nothing financially. It might make the people upset, but what can they realistically do? No show is punishable more strictly than a civilian speeding ticket, AWOL is potentially akin to a DUI or murder charge. And it's rare! Why is that? Because the vast majority are indoctrinated? Or because they truly believe? Somewhere in between? What makes it work (because it does work, usually)? Without getting too political the underlying answer, in my experienced opinion, is not "I have no choice" but rather "this gives me something to do that matters" even when it isn't "what I want to be doing right now."
- Aditya_Garg 5y ago
  The fact that they’re salaried doesn’t matter. It’s still costing the government x dollars an hour for people to stand around doing nothing when that time could be better spent. In fact I’d say if you were actually paid by the hour, you’d probably see less of this type of waste.

jimmygrapes 5y ago

The key here is that military members are salaried; the situation where they are told to stand around for x hours doing nothing changes nothing financially. It might make the people upset, but what can they realistically do? No show is punishable more strictly than a civilian speeding ticket, AWOL is potentially akin to a DUI or murder charge. And it's rare! Why is that? Because the vast majority are indoctrinated? Or because they truly believe? Somewhere in between? What makes it work (because it does work, usually)? Without getting too political the underlying answer, in my experienced opinion, is not "I have no choice" but rather "this gives me something to do that matters" even when it isn't "what I want to be doing right now."

Aditya_Garg 5y ago
The fact that they’re salaried doesn’t matter. It’s still costing the government x dollars an hour for people to stand around doing nothing when that time could be better spent. In fact I’d say if you were actually paid by the hour, you’d probably see less of this type of waste.