Thursday, January 14, 2021

Chain of Command

I posted before about how my Son-In-Law the Chief has been deployed on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt.  Those of you who have been in the military or its orbit know what this means to his wife and kids.  Military families are in a basic sense the core of our armed forces, and knowing that their families are doing okay is as important to our military as it was to Centurion Macrinus in the Roman Legions.

But it's hard for those left at home.  It's juggling school and work and (yes) a lot of military stuff - military families look out for their own.  My step-daughter is in nursing school with all of this and was turned down for base day care for her young kids.

But then the Chain Of Command kicked in.  My S-I-L the Chief went to the U.S.S. TR's Command Master Chief and explained the problem.  The Base Command Master Chief got a phone call from the TR, and then the Base Day Care organization got a call from the Base Command Master Chief.  Suddenly, the problem was addressed.  The military looks after their own and the Chain Of Command worked brilliantly.  

This time.

Aesop talks about how the Chain Of Command has broken down.  Go, read.  That Chain of Command is broken, from the top.  It's not always this way.  I posted this video years ago, a graduation speech from the Air Force Academy; a lesson on the Chain of Command taking care of what needs taken care of. It's particularly important around 40:15.  


(You should really watch the whole thing which is entirely excellent, but at least watch it to 41:30)

That's a chain of command that's worth a damn.  But that was then, and this is now.  My Son-In-Law saw what needed to be done, and his chain of command supported him.  It's a damn good thing that he didn't need to route this request through this Congress of Clowns in the Pentagon E-Ring.  What a pathetic bunch of losers.  No doubt they will all end up with cushy positions on the Board of Directors of some Defense Contractor.

Like I said, go read Aesop.  He says it differently, but he says it well.

4 comments:

  1. DivemedicJanuary 14, 2021 at 10:31 PM

    They were all promoted into the upper levels of the military by Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HMS DefiantJanuary 15, 2021 at 11:29 AM

    I’m glad to see that your son’s approach worked. I would however hold out my hand to the Congress for their help from time to time. I once had a Petty Officer who could not get his SRB payment. I did all I could, the CO did all he could, the Commodore did all he could, the admiral did all he could and returned a note telling us to have him write his Congressman and have him make the Navy pay up. That’s what finally happened. It was the court of last and final resort but it worked.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glen FilthieJanuary 16, 2021 at 11:59 AM

    Command isn't the problem, BP. The problem is We The People, both up here in Canada and down there in the States. If we cleaned house today and strung up Turdo La Doo, and every second liberal and democrat ass hat in politics - we'd replace them with the exact same morons tomorrow. There are guys that will always enable this with the best of intentions too. "So what if the master sergeant pierces his nipples and runs around in women's clothing on the weekends?" "So what if the CO thinks the rectum is a sex organ and that he's actually a woman?" Pretty soon it turns into "So what if the CO is black, can't pass the qualification tests and is illiterate?" "So what if that Navy SEAL can't do a chin up? She's a good soldier otherwise...!"

    There's a code of conduct that goes with positions of authority. People that can't adhere to those codes will eventually start chipping away at the building blocks of the command structures they are part of... and we see the results. This problem is as much our problem as theirs. Their problem can be solved with rope and a lamp post. Ours... that probably means a massive cull. I see that Aesop is ready to help with that and take command of a division or two in the coming culture wars, HAR HAR HAR!

    This will not end well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BadFrogJanuary 18, 2021 at 3:45 AM

    God Bless Master Chiefs, the engine of the Navy.

    ReplyDelete

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