Let me tell you something about what is non-existent in the military: honesty and integrity. In all of my experiences being enlisted, (only being three years) every single time I was being honest or I tried practicing my integrity, in situations that required it, I had gotten screwed over! Whether the punishment was getting yelled at, getting smoked, doing somebody else’s job for them, extra duty, counseling statements, or the infamous Article 15. In fact, in my opinion, honesty doesn’t get you anywhere in the military. That is why in numerous and countless occasions, I have watched and witnessed our “so-called” NCO’s do things that were inappropriate and try to be sneaky about things and not admit to it right away or even at all, because they know it too. They know just as well as I do that if you do something harmless, yet funny or whatever, but is not okay according to the Army regulations, you will get in trouble or if you are lucky, you will get away with it.
So, why do we do things like get naked outside of our CHU and have another person pour water over them to take a “shower”? Why do we try to sleep in a place where you think no one will find you ON THE JOB? Why do we play ping pong during the time we are supposed to help out our fellow comrades with other duties? Or, why do we have other people take pictures of our privates while still in uniform? Possibly because of boredom, or possible because we simply think it’s funny. No matter what the situation is, I know no one person in the military that has not lied to get away with something or made some excuses to defend themselves, because the things they did actually were not that big of a deal…at least in their minds it wasn’t.
Never the less, I do have to say that there are time when honesty and integrity does come in handy such as, when you actually do witness something that needs a sworn statement or writing and NCOER.
I am definitely not saying that I am person in any way, but...