On 22APR09, PFC Smith was seen chewing gum by SFC Sherill while a block of instruction was being put out by SSG Barnett. It seems to be a reoccurring problem in both military and civilian places where training is being conducted. At the beginning of the cycle, PFC Smith and his class had already been briefed about the rules and regulation of the AMEDDC&S by their instructors. Often times soldiers like PFC Smith tend to chew gum as a measure to stay awake in class. His experience of getting counseled for such an act, PFC Smith showed that he violated and demonstrated The Seven Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.
The Army value that PFC Smith mainly violated was RESPECT. Gum chewing is prohibited and is punishable under UCMJ. She violated Article 91 INSUBORDINATE CONDUCT TOWARD NCO and Article 92 FAILURE TO OBEY ORDER OR REGULATION meaning he was disrespectful by disobeying all the NCO’s who have repeatedly told him class not to take risk of chewing gum in class. This makes it possible to receive greater consequences such as Article 15 or even getting court martial for such an insignificant act as chewing gum. RESPECT is critical when it comes to being a professional soldier. A team cannot be combat effective without the ability to listening to our leaders’ orders.
Although PFC Smith may have violated INTEGRITY in the first place by not spitting out the gum before class, he was able to demonstrate INTEGRITY by respectfully telling SFC Sherrills the truth. During the time he was feeling humiliated and stripped of HONOR in front of class, going AWOL did not cross his mind because he knows it’s his DUTY to be there – to take one for the team and be an example. PFC Smith usually has difficulty apologizing to others so she was able to demonstrate PERSONAL COURAGE by apologizing to SSG Barnett for wasting his time to type up the counseling statement which had been an unpleasant thing for him to do. That is...