 Now is you don't order your troops to work on Saturday without telling them why. Now it used to be that, you know, you gave the order and that was that. But now a guy in my position as spec four, he gets, he gets into where his CEO tells them why. You may not agree with it, but at least you know that the guy's got a reason. I think that the priorities are changing and I think these young people today that are blocking at many of the things in the army today are going to be the people that are calling the shots in the future, and this is what we have to be aware of. We have to be aware of the changes around us and what's happening. I don't think that the fundamentals of human nature have changed, but the environment has changed so that I think it's fair to say that a youngster coming in the army today is better educated. He's been exposed to more information, not only in school but through television, so he's different there. He has more ideas and therefore has more to offer. He also, and I think our whole society is this way, is more willing to talk about the things that bother him. What is today's army? To find the answer, one must listen to the individuals, both officers and enlisted men who serve in it. Are you think my hair would be this short if I weren't in the army? I mean, you know, I hate to bring that up because it's, you know, supposedly a silly thing, but it's not, you know, it's a symbol to me. I really resent that. The length of my hair has nothing in a world to do with how good a job I'm going to do as a soldier. Not the first thing. Our most important commodity, as a matter of fact, are people, are individuals. And the leaders, the so-called establishment, has to take into consideration that this is our commodity. We have to look out, take care of the people itself, both in policy that we make and the decisions that we make. And we have to take into consideration that they're individuals and that they no longer are the type that you can tell them to do this, not because it's right, but because I told you so. The vast majority of people in the army, they feel like they're giving up X amount of their time in their life. And I don't think that's right, you know. We got resources in the army that are just unbelievable. You know, we've got problems on the outside that are even more unbelievable. Why don't those resources and those problems get together? I feel that some of the things that we're doing and attempting to do to better the lifestyle of the soldier, I think it's good that we do this and cut out a lot of the Mickey Mouse things that have been tradition in the army. But I also think that in doing this, we don't throw out our disciplinary standards. Discipline is a state of mind. And I think this is something we're going to have to educate our own leadership, our officers and non-commissioned officers on, that we can require high standards and still treat soldiers like they're human beings. What is today's army? Today's army is made up of individuals who reflect the complexities, contradictions and strength of America today. These soldiers who come from communities across the country speak in different voices and seek different goals. They represent a diversity that has made America what it is. Today's army is changing to meet the needs of its soldiers so that they will be able to fulfill themselves while contributing to the defense of the country. The army reflects the nation itself, which is why many have chosen to serve in it. The lifestyle changes have been meaningful and they have indicated self-discipline. This allowance of beer in the barracks and allowance of no... Specialist 4th class David John-Jose is the chairman of an enlisted man's council, a new kind of organization which the army has started so that soldiers will have a means of expressing their ideas and needs directly to command. Where do we as a council line? How does this affect us and where do we go? Being involved with this kind of change that's occurring, liberalization, improved lifestyle or anything. I mean where is our role fit now from here on out? We've seen since the council started, we've progressed from a point initially where we handle a lot of petty gripes. And we've sort of gotten away from those now. They've subsided somewhat and we're to a stage now where soldiers are giving us ideas that apply either for a battalion or the entire post. Well in the 7th or 4th where I am, we are getting minor incidents concerning racial problems. And with the council, we feel that we can go in and talk to company commanders and first sergeants on behalf of the troops that feel that they've been prejudiced against regardless of what color or... Command established the racial harmony council. He was letting it be known definitely that they were interested in this thing and very concerned. They wanted proper feedback about what was going on here with whether there was a racial problem or not and by just barely forming the council and having a forum in which to speak. The racial harmony council is an organization which allows all soldiers to voice their complaints and suggestions directly to command in a free and open manner. No one's devised a better way. The policeman came up to me and said, well he was standing in town with another officer. He came up to me and said, don't you know there's no ladder in here? I said, no I didn't. He said, yeah, so you're not supposed to be standing in front of this place. What I need is the time, the number of that policeman's badge and exactly what he said. And what I need, if I can get it, is the same statement from another soldier with you. Sign and sworn to and boy, I'll go to downtown with it. I'd like to know if there can be any transportation provided for Indians on the post to the lone Indian council power they have every month, if I can guess. I'd sure like to try to do it. How about just let them start to build a window where what the distance is and so on? And I don't see a reason why they can't. About the black handshake, sir. Now if you were in my position, what would be your policy on the black handshake? It would be just like any other handshake. That's my policy. Next question. The first thing is, and I'm not insulting your intelligence, but I want to say something very strongly because if we understand this, something can be done about this. And if we don't understand it, all we're going to do is sit around and bet you about it. Understanding the problems of today's youth is one way the army is creating an organization that can respond to the personal goals of its soldiers. It is examining many of its traditions in the light of the needs of men who have been brought up in a dynamic and changing society. These men have many talents and a desire to express them in a creative way. The army wants these men and wants to create an atmosphere that will encourage them to contribute what they have to the army and the country. The opportunities and challenges are there and these are the men who can meet them. The army knows that. The army is changing today because society is changing. America is just not the same. Its institutions are being forced to change by America's youth and there is no going back to a previous time, so the army is going to move forward also. And the army is responding to this change in society. It is responding to its young as it must. And one of the responses is that it is making its lifestyle of the soldier to be more in line with the lifestyle that a soldier should expect as he participates in the army as a young man coming off of a community or from a community in which he was a citizen. But within broad parameters where the young soldier should have an opportunity of free choice, we are giving him that choice and command is responding to us very favorably at all levels. One level of response are domestic action programs where the army serves the people and soldiers like specialist fourth class Lee McGahn can gain personal satisfaction in doing a job he cares about. In center we are involved with a number of different kinds of specific actions that are being done within the community. Many of these projects and actions have resulted from the fact that the army has taken an interest in the community. The kind of things we have been doing have been pretty wide range. For instance we have been working at the old city dump, old in the sense that it is being closed although it is still being used at the present time. We have an army bulldozer out there and two operators who work every day going out to the dump, getting on their bulldozer, digging some holes in the ground and taking a rubbish trash that for the last 20 years or so has been piled on top of the ground without much control, pushing in the holes, covering it up and essentially reclaiming the land so that it is in some usable kind of situation. So in a sense it is almost an ecology project. We have hauled probably 65, 70 old junk cars all with their windows broken out and no wheels, that kind of thing. We have hauled them to the new dump and then at the same time just any kind of trash, lumber, whatever it amounted to and we have been hauling that away. As we go along we have been knocking down old unsafe buildings with the same loader piece of equipment, old adobe buildings, ones that were unsafe, unoccupied, things that people just simply couldn't afford to have torn down themselves. It is kind of an unusual project in the sense that while we are off an army post working amidst a civilian population in a relationship you probably wouldn't expect within the army. I am working as a coordinator with the people in the city, the city council, the planning commission, the civilian population themselves. That is my primary function. It is the kind of thing that you see that you are accomplishing something. Well Lee there is one thing I would like to ask you. I know that the town is very enthusiastic about this project and we have great hopes for all of it. There is one thing I would like to ask you about is about the army men that are coming in here and doing these jobs. What is their feeling about this whole thing? Well in a way it has kind of surprised me Keith because I think myself and I am sure a lot of the other guys that have come in have felt coming to a small town this is not where the action is. They were looking forward to one real dull time so I think there may have been some negative feeling before the guys got here. But since we have started work while the guys have been pretty enthusiastic I know two of the fellows said that they are afraid they are going to get sent home when their job is finished here and they want to be part of the next phase because they don't want to leave. It is a challenging job because I find myself although at just a lieutenant normally I am not responsible for as many things as I find I am down here. I have to worry about messing with the men, transportation with the men, recreation, everything. It is challenging but it is greatly rewarding. The Army's domestic action programs give soldiers the chance of working with people who need their health while at the same time training in their MOS. The days of make work projects are over. Command is responding to today's soldier by its awareness of his desire to be part of the community in which he is working. As the Army becomes more responsive to the needs of our changing society it also is more concerned with the needs of individual soldiers who seek a way of life that is unique and at the same time fulfilling. The Army has traditionally been a place for those who do not want to fall into the familiar patterns of everyday life. The opportunities for travel and change attract men who are constantly seeking new horizons and a sense of challenge. Staff Sergeant Jim Moran is such a man. Okay hold it up. Okay when you're walking on the side of the mountain the easiest way to walk on the side of the mountain is to put your foot into the mountain. Don't place it straight out in front of you like you normally walk on the street or up on the road. Also be careful not to put your foot down on any rocks that might come loose. Pick your steps before you move. I really enjoyed the outdoor life. I'd rather be outside than inside anytime. You're out in the mountains and the air is so clean and the area is so beautiful and you have a chance to be away from everything. It's like being in an all together different world. I go out on a field exercise and I have all my team with me. It may go on a ridge line or climb a mountain. It may take you maybe all the afternoon. And once you get on top of the mountain on the ridge line you can see for God knows how many miles. Now some people have a hard time get short of breath or something like that from climbing the mountains but the density of the air is so thin up here actually it shouldn't have any problem. Sure unless you're fat like me. You know if you get out and climb up mountains more often you'd lose a lot of that see. You'd lose a lot of that and you wouldn't be able to complain anymore. When I was a civilian it was a regular daily routine. I'd go to work in the morning and get off in the afternoon. I'd run the same machine. It just became a regular routine. Every day I'd get up and go to work and do the same thing on the same machine. And drive the same trucks every night and drink the same coffee and see the same people. Since I come in the army every day is different. It's not the same routine. Stop and think of it you know. There are a lot of good things like school and education. Again I say that my parents could never afford to send me through college. As a matter of fact I never even graduated high school. I only went eighth grade. But since I come in the army I got my high school diploma through GED. And I'm real proud of that. I'd never been able if I hadn't come in the army. As a civilian you know I was just Jimmy Moran. Nobody needed me for anything. At this time I know that if something happens people can call on Jimmy Moran and I can go and do the job that I'm supposed to. I feel like I'm somebody that's important. The satisfaction is knowing that you have the experience and the ability to teach someone what you know. I trained them in map reading. I trained them in how to put up actual road bridges and actual stream crossing. I teach them in all sorts of knots. All the knots that you're required to learn once you're in Ranger school. And just the basic knowledge of repelling and so forth. So these men can be prepared. I have many men that I train who come to me in our company at the age of maybe 19 or 20 years old. And have never conducted themselves in a situation where they had to do for themselves. The man comes back and you'd be surprised. The man is in my eyes and the eyes of many other people actually matured. It is actually made something out of him. He's not a little boy anymore. He's a man. If you come in the Army you have to improve yourself. You're always meeting a constant challenge. And each day you have to strive to make yourself just a little bit better. It's something that not just anybody can do. You do have to work for it. But at the same time you work consist of a great challenge and a lot of fun. The Army is also aware of the needs of a new breed of officer who seeks more responsibility and the opportunity of affecting the lives of the men he commands. Captain Richard Murray is one of these men. Second Vulcan, the 5th quarter, another Vulcan, the APC and the last Vulcan. You ready to go Barrett? One of my principal goals in life is to affect as many people in as many different ways as I possibly can. As a captain there's many ways of doing it. You're right with the men here at this particular grade. You're not divorced. You're not in a Lieutenant Colonel's slot up at the Department of the Army. And this is one of the things that really motivates me. I want to have an impact on people's lives. I want to help them go in the right direction. I feel that in our particular battery, if nothing else, we try to at least let them leave our battalion when they get out of the service with two things. High school education with at least an honorable discharge. As a battery commander, as a captain, when we go to the field our operations are a little bit different than the way they are in Garrison. I have 12 Vulcans I bring to the field with me plus my four armor personnel carriers. The Vulcans themselves cost something like $280,000 apiece. So you can see right there I'm bringing over $3 million worth of equipment to the field. With everything else that I bring out there, I'm certain it's well over $4 million that I bring out there. The satisfaction from seeing a successful field problem accomplished is the knowing that someday we might be actually called upon to perform this way in combat. And then I know personally that my particular unit is ready to go and defend our country and what it stands for. 1-6, this is 6. This is Reflex Bravo 6 over. 1-6, this is 6. I see you coming to our location now. Our present location is in a secured condition. Presently, I am located at the center of the wood line. Your guides are in position and they are ready to deploy with your Foxtrot uniforms into position. Do your Roger over. I'm a firm believer that the second best solution attacked in an enthusiastic manner is a lot better than the perfect solution attacked in a half-hearted manner. So if your solution I might feel might be the second best, but this is the way you want to do it. We'll do it that way and we'll attack it in a much more enthusiastic manner. I'd like to cover next week's training schedule so that the purpose as you're all aware why I cover this training schedule is to let you know why we're going to be doing certain things. Okay, for the first, well, another new policy that was implemented by Colonel Rose, our new battalion commander, was that the first two hours of every working day will now be devoted to motor stables. Basically what these rap sessions are for me and I personally feel that this is the key to command. It lets me tell a lower ranking E4s and below exactly why we're doing certain things. I never hear the comment, well, why the heck are we doing this? Because I tell them why. Secondly, it lets them ask any questions that might be bugging them at the time. And thirdly, I let them make any suggestions that they feel will improve the efficiency of the matter. There are many benefits available to me in the military. Of course, we all know about the commissary, the PX, and the medical benefits. The best thing about the medical benefits that I can use as an example is that it's cost me $19.54 to have three children. Another benefit that's available that I feel as an officer is very essential, the educational benefits, the retirement benefits. Where are we ever going to match the retirement benefits that you can get in the military? At 30 years, you're going to be growing 75%. I can retire at 53 years old and have the satisfaction and know that I am set as well as my wife is set for the rest of our lives. With the new army, the changing army, we only have a five-day work week. We are involved in the civilian world. We're not divorced completely from it. We are able to bring up our children. We are able to send them to the civilian schools, the same schools. They're not becoming, you might say, completely of a military personality. Well, there's no question I get to spend a lot of time with my children. We eat supper with them. We go places on the weekend. We take picnics. We go to rodeos. We go to all sorts of different sorts of entertainment. We do see an awful lot of different types of events and different types of atmosphere. And getting this worldliness, this independence about them, seeing America, seeing everything, meeting different people, they're going to have a worldliness about them, experience, education. The reason that I want to stay in the service is basically because, and why I'm not in the civilian world, is simply I want to play as much of an impact on people's lives as I possibly can. I want to help people while at the same time I want to make the United States Army as good as it possibly can be. Whether an officer or an enlisted man, today's Army offers challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities that have never existed before. The Army has become an integral part of our society, and its members will play a critical role in shaping its future.