My question is.......does he have to get congress to approve the lifting of the curfew? It sure as hell seem like it. Think back to when 9/11 happen....within hours a curfew was installed.

Bones

I'm just mulling over what I would do if I had to make the decision to "remove"
the present curfew. If I were to put on the hat of the elder statesman, as in our "What if we ruled by age instead of rank" theory, I just might be the Man.

Weighing all possible consequences, which I can't know, it would be tough. Letting all of my military troops loose on their own in a foreign country, and allowing them to be at the mercy of that country's police force after hours as well as during the day may give me cause to hesitate. Would the Status of Forces Agreement be as well served in our favor? If there were no town patrol readily available in areas of alcoholic activity and the like, would the reputation of all USFK be more at risk than with a curfew? Would a lot more of them spend the night in the drunk tank on a cold, urine soaked cement floor? Would that serve as a life changing lesson? Would they be roughed up a bit if they resisted arrest?
It brings to mind my own personal theory which my daughter knew by heart when she was growing up;-"Nothing good happens to a teenager after midnight". Yes, she had a curfew. Not that I'm likening all soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines to teenagers! Well, some of them...
Adding to the mix my 35 years in the Federal Government, including 9 years enlisted, and over 10 years total in Korea, I still may not have access to all the statistics to enable me to make an educated decision. I might give it a try, after all, the "Under the Oak Tree Counseling" that has been in place for a while must be ready to be tested in fire. But I don't hold with making the NCO's in charge of those of lesser rank being held responsible for the troops actions. I would hold each individual responsible for his/her actions.

I already gave General Bell the answer.... you put the power in the hands of the COMPANY Commanders!! They are given X number of "good boy" cards, to be passed out to those Soldiers they feel are mature and worthy of such an honor, and they can keep it until they lose the privlege. The total number of these cards could be increased or decreased on a monthly basis based on past performance, with a bigger bump in either direction done with a quarterly review. It allows people to be treated like grown ups until they prove they cannot be, and it also provides a good bit of peer pressure if you want to continue to go hang out with your other friends who also got the good boy card.

Someone send General Bell an email and break that all down to him (I am not kidding) and I bet he would bite on something like that.

You could even give the courtesy patrol the power to revoke these cards on the spot for stupid behavior even before curfew... I am telling you, this is as close to the perfect plan as you are going to get!

You could even have the cards serialized and registered in BIDS to prevent forgery.... too damn easy!

Have you pulled security patrol in Itaewon lately? Compared to pre-curfew days, the place is practically a ghost town - even on payday weekends. People have found other places in Seoul to go and party - where there is no courtesy patrol.

Giving authority as you describe to the courtesy patrol will only drive the last few people out to join the others who have already left.

I know that, but if you enact a plan such as this it gives you the freedom to actually stay out and enjoy Itaewon a bit more.

Trust me, I had PLENTY of places outside of Itaewon to go and enjoy myself far from the prying eyes of the military, but this is not about breaking the rules it is about changing the rules to give people more freedom and the ability to actually make their own decisions about how and where they spend their time... seems pretty reasonable to me!

[quote=ssnapier;58783]I already gave General Bell the answer.... you put the power in the hands of the COMPANY Commanders!! They are given X number of "good boy" cards, to be passed out to those Soldiers they feel are mature and worthy of such an honor, and they can keep it until they lose the privlege. The total number of these cards could be increased or decreased on a monthly basis based on past performance, with a bigger bump in either direction done with a quarterly review. It allows people to be treated like grown ups until they prove they cannot be, and it also provides a good bit of peer pressure if you want to continue to go hang out with your other friends who also got the good boy card. quote]

Interesting idea, however, it seems to me this idea would have the tendency to be too easily corrupted with favoritism, don't you think? Also re, the previous ideas about age playing a role in who should get the right to have no curfew. Even with all of its perceived flaws, the military rank and promotion system is by far, one of the fairest promotion and pay systems in the world. There will always be fast burners who make rank ahead of the pack but overall, the higher the rank the older the troop. It is really a great system compared to most, if not all in the private sector. So, why not use rank as the factor as General Bell has apparently suggested? It is, after all, a military culture and rank has to have its privlidges.

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Turk Quid Pro Quo

Why not use rank as the factor?? That answer can use me as the perfect example... I am 34 years old, been in the Army for 16 years, but due to several unfortunate circumstances, I am still an E-5, so I would get slighted.

O.K. Then, you've been in the military long enough to understand it is not a democracy?

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Turk Quid Pro Quo

I don't think anyone is saying the military is a democracy...but in order to invoke change one must question authority from time to time.

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Dale

"When you question nothing, nothing is all you have!"
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