DISRESPECT IN THE MILITARY

Disrespect in the Military

Disrespect in the Military

Introduction

Respect is something that can be earned just as easily as it can be taken away. To earn respect you need to give respect. In the Army Soldiers are expected to respect senior leadership as well as others, unfortunately in today's Army respect is overlooked even though it is just one of the seven Army values. Without respect how can you have discipline? It is our job as Noncommissioned Officers and leaders to ensure the Junior Enlisted Soldiers respect others, but if we are disrespecting each other then that is what they can perceive as being okay. These days Junior Enlisted expect to get respect from their leaders without earning any and when they don't get it in the form they want, such as praise in front or other Soldiers, they disrespect their leaders almost as pay back. We as leaders need to do better at enforcing respect and discipline within each other and within our Soldiers. (Ambrose, 1999)

There are times that soldiers are punished with some sort of corrective training but what we need to watch out for is making sure that when we give corrective training that we are not demoralizing an individual. When you demoralize an individual you are publicly disrespecting that individual. Respect can be a touchy topic because what might be perceived as disrespect to an on looker can be perceived differently from others.

Disrespect can be in all different forms. When an individual sexually harasses someone they are disrespecting that individual. When discrimination takes place, such as race, gender, or background, disrespect is once again in play. When we as Soldiers interact with other culture we need to ensure we are accustomed to beliefs and courtesies. We have to make sure we know their art, music, literature, and related intellectual activities as a way to help interact with others. As an example we are still fighting in Iraq and being deployed in Iraq we have a constant daily interaction with the Iraqi people who has a lot of different customs then the American people. One of the ways to help us win over the Iraqi people is to show respect when we are in their state for their culture if we show no mind to how their social etiquette how can we as Soldiers expect them to trust us. For example a form of respect when meeting with an Iraqi group is to greet the Senior ranking individual first and do not shake a women's hand unless she offers it. If this custom is not taken into consideration when meeting with Iraqi's then we just disrespect them and their culture. (Cohen, 2001)

The Military runs smoothly on trust. You have to have respect for each other in order to build a trust with each other. No one can really know if someone feels disrespected unless the individual speaks up. Respect is a feeling or attitude of admiration and deference toward somebody or something such ...