How would you feel working under these conditions?

[Zvinny]

I'm in the military, and we just got a new Commanding Officer who has implemented some changes in our working hours.

Typically in home port when not doing a training cycle or some type of drill, our working hours were based off of our maintenance work list and qualifications. If you were fully qualified in your job and all your equipment was signed and verified as being up to date on maintenance, you would have a 6 hour workday 5 days a week, and a 24 hour duty day where you would stand a security watch once a week. The actual time you got sent home would be in the hands of your senior enlisted person in the division.

Our new CO decided that that wasn't enough. We now work from 5am-8pm, mandatory, every day. Every third day we will not be authorized to go home at all, so we will stand 2 watch days a week instead of 1, and will also work from 6am-4pm on Saturdays which previously was always a day off unless you had security watches.

Not sure of my napkin math, but that puts us at about 95 hours a week, minimum. This will continue until we deploy to the middle east again, which is a good ways down the road, IE a year plus. I've had trouble justifying the working hours to the guys underneath me, especially since much of the work we're doing is considered "busy work." Sweeping, mopping, painting. We've even started to break down fully functional equipment just to rebuild it again to have something to do.

How long would you be able to work almost 100+ hour work weeks? How would you motivate the people underneath you?

[diddle]

Didn't realize commanding officers were able to demand mostly illegal working hours in non-war situations. Sorry man.

[Deleted]

How long would you be able to work almost 100+ hour work weeks?

Not a single week. And frankly, I also would not even try to do it.

[glo]

Your math is wrong, if you add up all of those hours it comes out to 109. 168 hours in a week minus 109 working hours = 8 hours a day that you're not working (actually less since you have that 24 hour day thrown in).

Honestly, I don't believe you. Being around the military life, I've never heard of 15 hour work days with 24 hour days mixed in with absolutely no days off.

[Zvinny]

Your math is wrong, if you add up all of those hours it comes out to 109. 168 hours in a week minus 109 working hours = 8 hours a day that you're not working.

Honestly, I don't believe you. Being around the military life, I've never heard of 15 hour work days with 24 hour days mixed in with absolutely no days off.

Well, we still get Sundays off. I may have been unclear on that in my original post. And you've never seen 24 hour days? What command were you at where you didn't stand duty?

[glo]

Well, we still get Sundays off. I may have been unclear on that in my original post. And you've never seen 24 hour days? What command were you at where you didn't stand duty?

I've heard of 24 hour shifts, sure. My point was that I've never heard of such insane hours, everything combined. That said, adding in the day off makes it even more insane. More maths:

109 hours / 6 days = 18.1 hours of work per day. Mix in having to get up, shower, eat, go home, etc and you end up with something like an average of 4 hours per day to sleep until you have your single day off. That's why I find this unbelievable. Either something isn't adding up or your unit is straight up going to start dying from exhaustion after 2 weeks~. The body can't survive that kind of repeated sleep deprivation for long.

[Zvinny]

I've heard of 24 hour shifts, sure. My point was that I've never heard of such insane hours, everything combined. That said, adding in the day off makes it even more insane. More maths:

109 hours / 6 days = 18.1 hours of work per day. Mix in having to get up, shower, eat, go home, etc and you end up with something like an average of 4 hours per day to sleep until you have your single day off. That's why I find this unbelievable. Either something isn't adding up or your unit is straight up going to start dying from exhaustion after 2 weeks~. The body can't survive that kind of repeated sleep deprivation for long.

Well, those are the hours we have been given. I'm just trying to find some way to make it a little less miserable for the guys underneath me. The things I've seen people do to adapt have been pretty depressing as well. If you go down to berthing at lunch or dinner, you'll typically find 10 or so guys sleeping, and many have stopped going home all together, and have started sleeping on the ship or borrowing a guy living in the barracks couch now since it's not even really worth it to go home.

[diddle]

Well, those are the hours we have been given. I'm just trying to find some way to make it a little less miserable for the guys underneath me. The things I've seen people do to adapt have been pretty depressing as well. If you go down to berthing at lunch or dinner, you'll typically find 10 or so guys sleeping, and many have stopped going home all together, and have started sleeping on the ship or borrowing a guy living in the barracks couch now since it's not even really worth it to go home.

I know that in the military the culture makes reporting bullshit very hazardous to your career, but pretty sure what is going on isn't legal if there's not an all out war or something.

[glo]

Well, those are the hours we have been given. I'm just trying to find some way to make it a little less miserable for the guys underneath me. The things I've seen people do to adapt have been pretty depressing as well. If you go down to berthing at lunch or dinner, you'll typically find 10 or so guys sleeping, and many have stopped going home all together, and have started sleeping on the ship or borrowing a guy living in the barracks couch now since it's not even really worth it to go home.

If you're comfortable with it, request redress and go for a 138 if nothing happens. I'd rather have shit talked on me than risk my life, personally. A less aggressive approach would be to talk to your nurse about it and express your concerns for your health.

Out of curiosity, is this some form of temporary punishment for a fuckup in the unit?

[Zvinny]

If you're comfortable with it, request redress and go for a 138 if nothing happens. I'd rather have shit talked on me than risk my life, personally. A less aggressive approach would be to talk to your nurse about it and express your concerns for your health.

Out of curiosity, is this some form of temporary punishment for a fuckup in the unit?

No, not a punishment. Just our CO getting fed up that "work isn't getting done." We've specifically asked what items need to be addressed as our sailors are working hard, but the answers have always been very vague. And I think it's going to come to that. We've already had a person go UA out of the blue which hasn't happened in a long long time, and have had several DUI's.

And they can shit talk me all they want, I got a DD214 coming soon enough.


Also, I just googled what a 138 was under the UCMJ. How the hell have I never been told about this? I must have sat through a million powerpoints about the UCMJ and all the ways it can fuck me into a big chicken dinner, but I've never once seen this. Wow.

[alduron]

Possible to run it up the chain?

[Zvinny]

Possible to run it up the chain?

I know the chiefs mess is trying, but I've yet to see anything done.

[alduron]

Can take time, as his superiors have a conversation with him, see how that goes etc.

[xenogear3]

I'm in the military,

Military has its own law and court.

Soldiers really do not "work" except training during peace time.

[Deleted]

I don't know about the US, but most countries pay their service personnel by the hour, 24 hours a day. Aka, you're at their disposal and regular hours are a courtesy, not a right.

[GKLeatherCraft]

I'm in the military,

Military has its own law and court.

Soldiers really do not "work" except training during peace time.

How do you come to that conclusion? If they're working, they're working, Saying it's only if they train during peace time is completely incorrect.

[cuafpr]

sounds like a shit CO trying to make a name/mark for himself to help his career at the expense of his troops, I saw it some when i was in the AF. those hours do suck i've worked them before but only for a week or so during nuclear code change or inspections, deployment was rough to with 14+hr days 7 days a week but its deployment you expect it. good luck getting it changed gonna take someone getting to the CO and getting it through his/her thick head that breaking your troops is not how help anyone including themselves.

[xenogear3]

I don't think soldiers are paid by the hour.

During the war time, they are 24/7.
They will all be millionaires that way.

[Deleted]

I don't think soldiers are paid by the hour.

During the war time, they are 24/7.
They will all be millionaires that way.

No. They're just paid far less by the hour but still get what they'd get as if they worked a 9 hour shift, basically.

[Revi]

This sounds absolutely insane. I'd actually do what Glo said and go to the nurse. Express concern for you and the people below you, because if this is your hours it's definitely a health concern.