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Being on Call

tyler.kim

11–20 of 140 posts

Re: Being on Call

#11
post #9
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author is in the military - I've read a fair few things by current and former service members and two of the most common themes are: - the disregard for health and wellbeing of each soldier - being required to do nonsensical things that are counterproductive and likely compromise medium-to-long term goals of the outfit you're attached to So I agree with what you said - there is very likely a way to schedule these…

The author says he’s in the ROK (republic of Korea) army: https://tyler.kim/army-review

OH I should amend my post then! I suspect that this sort of stuff is international anyway

Re: Being on Call

#13
post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

I'm not military, but worked with them for two years, sometimes with similar schedules.

My view about being a soldier, a serviceman has changed drastically during that projects. The cause is noble, and the thing they're doing is very hard. Make no mistake here.

On the other hand, they're stripped of their emotions and humanity to an extent. They become something else, an hardened being after some time.

Because, they need to do what has to be done and they shouldn't think through it, but just act.

I'm a grandson of a commander. I love soldiers, but this is how they're trained, and this is how they should be to be able to perform this duty.

Re: Being on Call

#15
post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

Military organizations tend to detach personal for long shifts so the remaining unit can stay somewhat functional in their normal schedule.

When I was on guard duty it was usually a 24h shift followed by a 24h break for a group of 8 or 10 privates and 2 NCOs. That means that roughly a quarter of the company is permanently detached. If you switch to 12hour shifts, you have to consider that normal operations take place during daytime. At any day you then have three groups unavailable: One on duty, one resting from the night shift, and one preparing for the night shift.

Re: Being on Call

#16
post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

I'm not military, but worked with them for two years, sometimes with similar schedules. My view about being a soldier, a serviceman has changed drastically during that projects. The cause is noble, and the thing they're doing is very hard . Make no mistake here. On the other hand, they're stripped of their emotions and humanity to an extent. They become something else, an hardened being after some time. Because, they…

Imo, whether being soldier is noble depends very very much on which army you are in and what are current goals and conduct of said army.

Re: Being on Call

#17
post #7
post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

The author is in the military - I've read a fair few things by current and former service members and two of the most common themes are: - the disregard for health and wellbeing of each soldier - being required to do nonsensical things that are counterproductive and likely compromise medium-to-long term goals of the outfit you're attached to So I agree with what you said - there is very likely a way to schedule these…

One particular experience that stands out when I was in the Air Force was some Sergeant changing our physical training time from after work to 5:30AM. As in everyone commutes to the base and is in formation at that time. It was just sadistic torture essentially lol

Re: Being on Call

#18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not military, but worked with them for two years, sometimes with similar schedules. My view about being a soldier, a serviceman has changed drastically during that projects. The cause is noble, and the thing they're doing is very hard . Make no mistake here. On the other hand, they're stripped of their emotions and humanity to an extent. They become something else, an hardened being after some time. Because, they…

Imo, whether being soldier is noble depends very very much on which army you are in and what are current goals and conduct of said army.

One could argue the qualities of a soldier or officer (individuals) transcend their organisational context (groups) and time. In other words: politics, technology or best practices change, not the responsabilities. The ability (necessity, even) to adapt to that fact defines a fit-for-service soldier/officer.

So, I contend you find remarkable soldiers even in terrible groups, and that they (individuals) should not be judged on their group but on their own qualities of service.

Whether you find those parameters noble is entirely subjective and not mine to question but I do believe anyone who sincerely understands and accepts these obligations deserves respect, as an individual.

Re: Being on Call

#19
post #2

“Five more on-call shifts will age me by two years.” “By dawn, I can feel my internal organs are rotting.” “Just gotta rinse and repeat till I’m out.” Is the point of this entire post to invoke an existential crisis in readers? Why would you glorify hurting yourself like this?

> Why would you glorify hurting yourself like this? You sound disapproving, incredulous, or perhaps mystified, but you probably have similar dynamics in your own culture that you hardly notice. Do you not see the parallels with crunch coding, or all nighter heroics at law firms and brokerages? Or even the obesity that inevitably results from lifestyle advertising for junk food?

I see the parallels, but I don't do those either, fuck that, there's no reward for that. It's a subculture that a small percentage of people are able to follow, and often only while they're young.

Re: Being on Call

#20
Sounds like an absolutely lazy and incompetent person. People need to really think about their job situations in the broader context that sometimes you just have to be there and be ready to work and be available. Not every job is a "creative" 9-5 job that you can work remotely, there are many types of applications where it is required that someone can be there to resolve issues as they come up. And theres nothing wrong with that.
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