‘It got stupid’ and the many other reasons troops chose to leave the military
“I stopped feeling like I mattered. Like what I was doing was insignificant."
By Haley Britzky May 13, 2021
There are a million reasons why someone might choose to leave the military.
That was made clear after Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston opened the floodgates on social media earlier this month when he asked to hear “some of the most preventable reasons” soldiers have left the Army. Hundreds of responses hit a variety of issues: racism, sexual harassment, work-life balance, height and weight requirements, an overabundance of red tape, and the lack of control some soldiers feel that they have over their lives.
We wanted to hear more, so we asked you, our readers, why you left the military. And you delivered. While some responses pointed out things like bad leaders — “A senior NCO made the decision real easy for me,” said one man — for others it was much simpler; as one person on Facebook put it, “it got stupid.”
All in all, the responses lay out a road map that can show leaders exactly why their troops might not be eager to reenlist for a few more years, and instead consider their next chapter in the civilian world.
One deciding factor that came up frequently was family: one woman said abuse of family care plans “is a real thing.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/why-troops-left-the-military/
