I have always held that using vulgarity was a sign of the fact that your vocabulary was not large enough for you to come up with an adequate word to place there. Be that as it may kids now hear those words daily in music, movies and it has become a part of the vernacular. As to who is at fault it is all of us as a society for not stopping it as soon as it started for being too lazy to say to a person that it is unacceptable language. So now it has become a norm. It will stay a norm until we as a society decide to change it. Lets start with ourselves and make those "On the spot corrections" that need to be done.

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Just my humble opinion!

Mr Joe - thank you for your kind words!!! I am very flattered and appreciative. But I do have to be honest - it is my husband who has close to 20 years in the air force; he and I have been married just a little over two years actually. I must say though that he is a very good leader and so well versed in the ins and outs of the military and protocol that I never hesitate to trust his judgment in military matters, and he is my primary source of information.

And Ironsider - a quick online search resulted in some eye-opening articles that you might want to study up on: http://usmilitary.about.com/sitesear...ary&TopNode=99

According to the Army IET guide, your use of language is a direct affront to the uniform.

Let's start with the Soldier's Creed:

As a soldier, I realize that I am a member of a
time-honored profession—that I am doing my share
to keep alive the principles of freedom for which my
country stands. No matter what situation I am in, I
will never do anything, for pleasure, profit, or
personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my
unit, or my country. I will use every means I have,
even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army
comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and
the uniform.
I am proud of my country and its flag. I will try to
make the people of this nation proud of the service I
represent, for I am an American Soldier.

The Army "Core Values"?
Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

Your initial response in this offensive language post demonstrates that you are indeed lacking in at least three of the army's core values.

RESPECT
In the Soldier's Code, we pledge to "treat others with dignity
and respect and expect others to do the same." Respect to
a soldier simply means treating people as they should be
treated. It means giving others the same consideration we
would like or expect to be given. The Army is one huge
team, made up of hundreds of component parts. There
must be connections—ground rules—so that when one
soldier approaches, works with, or talks to another, it is with
immediate and unquestioned cooperation and respect. Finally,
respect for other people includes not using profanity and
obscene gestures. You are now in the military. What might
have been acceptable in your civilian life may not be
acceptable in the Army.

HONOR
When we talk about "living up to" something, we mean
being worthy of it. We must make choices, decisions, and
actions based on the Army core values. Nowhere in our
values training does it become more important to
emphasize the difference between "knowing" the values and "living" them than when we discuss the value of honor.
Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the
values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity,
and personal courage in everything you do.

INTEGRITY
When we say that someone has integrity, we mean that
person respects the rules of an organization, the country,
and life. Such persons can be counted on to do the right
thing, live honestly, and relate to others without playing
games or having false agendas. Integrity is a quality you
develop by adhering to moral principles.


In fact, obscene language is not only frowned upon, but punishable:

Indecent Language
§ The accused orally or in writing communicated
indecent language to another person,
§ The maximum punishment is 2 years confinement, if
indecent language is spoken to a child under the age
of 16 years; otherwise, the punishment is 6 months
confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.

In short, by displaying such disrespectful behavior and attitude, you are not a soldier, merely a man in a uniform. Your self-proclaimed behavior is a disgrace to the United States Armed Forces.

Perhaps a comprehensive review of the creed, core values, and UCMJ would be in your best interest. If you doubt what has been presented here, discuss it with your commander and see what his interpretation of the Army Standards is.

I have to add: With the amount of disdain and lack of respect with which you treat your fellow countrymen, I shudder to think of your attitude towards the Korean nationals.

I appreciate all of the feedback. Which proved my point, people are going to say what they to want to say. The main stream is not going to correct itself. I understand what Ginger was trying to say about the Soldier Creed and Army Regs and so on. But this is Korea, half of that stuff doesn't apply. When have you ever seen or read someone get articled for indecent language. We are a country at war to be too petty with some of those Regs.

Um . . . hate to break it to you, but the Korean war ended when the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953.

Just proves that you as a leader let's it fall through the cracks....and do not care what happens or how other people react to what is said...

No I have never seen anyone UCMJ'd becasue of language....But then again who knew that it is punishiable?

Either way it does not make it right....Using WAR as an excuse to use fowl words really just shows how indepth your thinking goes....

What people have said here does not prove your point, it actually shows how many people are against what you say...and that we can say things to get the point across without having to use fowl language....

I suspect you and our good old buddy BIFF have the same attitude and may even sit right next to each other. Saying dumb stuff just to get a rise out of people so you can sit around at night all by yourself and say "man I sure rilled up those people on USFK forums today" I feel so much better.

What a leader.............

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Mr Smurf would like to comment - here he is!

I spent ten years on peninsula and have some knowledge of the local culture. Plainly put, unless one is in an extremely stressful situation (i.e. getting shot at), extreme profanity is simply not acceptable, especially in Korea, where we are among a culture more formal than our own.

Like it or not, each one of us (active, dependent, DoD civilian, contractor and even tourist) is an American ambassador charged with presenting our nation in a positive light. We are in Korea not merely to help the Republic of Korea keep the peace on peninsula, our presence fulfills purely American interests as well. Every off-base "incident" puts us in a bad light and gives ammunition and public support to those whose aim is to eject USFK. More than one of these "incidents" has been set off by a mere cuss word on the street. Trust me, in a legal incident off base, you, as a foreigner, will never win, regardless of whether or not you started it.

On or off base, whether I'm in San Antonio, New York or even Suwon, I'd like to be able to walk down the street without hearing a stream of foul language. I suspect most people feel the same way.

The streets of Seoul, Pyeongtaek or even Dongduchon are not the field. A higher level of decorum is expected of us as military ambassadors, by both our fellow Americans and by our hosts. USFK members are ambassadors for America. Act the part.

Well said Mr. Smurf

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Have a Blessed Day!

Michelle

I agree with much of what you have said about the use of foul language etc. in this thread. However, to set the record straight here; the Korean War did not end on July 27, 1953. The Armistice Agreement was intended as a temporary truce agreement pending a final treaty ending the war which has yet to come. We are in the midst of one of the longest truces in recorded history but the war has never been officially brought to a close. There are preliminary discussions to try and agree on when an peace treaty could be signed but there is a difference in the current positions of the USA and ROK on the matter.

You are correct, of course. My point about the Armistice was mainly to enforce the concept that a soldier stationed in Korea is not a soldier at war. Frankly, unless you are on the battlefield in a combat zone, bullets flying, you can't use the excuse of "we are at war" when it comes to language.

I'm still waiting for Ironsider, who is so proud of his freedom to speak obscenities, to post his unit, commander and other identifying information. I'd love to drop a line to his command to get their opinion of their troops statement.

I'm gonna make this simple... FREEDOM OF SPEECH. We are from a country where you can freely express yourself right? I've been to Camp Casey before. Those ***got it rough. They are away from their family and have a sh** load of rules to live by. Please respect their right to cuss and let off steam......