Doc Jargon: All Soup-ed up and nowhere to go

Photo By Collen McGee | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army.  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

01.20.2023

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Dear Doc Jargon,

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing went right? Well, our unit just had one. Parts for our equipment repairs were not here when they were supposed to be, PT this morning was a joke and not a one of us feels like we’re ready for the Army Combat Fitness Test and chow was late and the chow hall was closed by the time we got there. One of the guys said, “it looks like we were served a soup sandwich.”

I know we didn’t get chow so that is definitely not what he’s referring to. Can you help me explain the term? I get the gist of it, but I could use some better words to explain what it means when I go home.

Sincerely,
Soup-ed Up in 2nd Brigade

Dear Soup-ed,
You bet I’ve had those days. There’s no explanation — except that each event launches another and the whole thing turns into a domino-effect of negative impacts on the mission. We all have those days. You can’t get your hands around it to solve the problems and it’s exactly like trying to put soup in a sandwich and you get a hot sloppy mess as a result.

The term can be applied to a mission or situation where everything goes wrong. Some use it to describe that one guy in the unit who is always late, untidy or, well, a hot mess.

Rest assured, we all face those kinds of days in our military career, and they come along every now and then to remind us how great it is when everything goes well. I hope the next few days are much smoother for you and the members of your unit.

Sincerely,
Doc Jargon

• Date Taken: 01.20.2023
• Date Posted: 01.19.2023 09:11
• Story ID: 436911
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US