Lt. Col. Smith--A True Story--not apropos to Objectivism, I suppose

[Brant Gaede]

In April of 1965 I was prepared to depart Ft. Bragg, N.C. for TDY (temporary duty) to Ft. Sam Houston for the beginning of my medical training as a Special Forces Aidman. It seems that previous groups of young men so departed had partied too hard far from home. You see, we by going TDY to Ft. Sam had effectively left our CMO (Commanding Officer) at home--or would soon be so doing. So we were assembled in a big room, about 50 of us--and all of a sudden the door flies open and this Lt. Col. Smith flies in and we are all on our feet in a flash--being so ordered--"On Your Feet!"--and he brides us up and down in high dudgeon about what we could not do in Texas while not under his hands-on axis. He screams and he rants and so on with such cant it was beyond rant. I since supposed some general had crewed his ass, probably Gen. Stillwell, the son of Vinegar Joe of WWII fame. (The younger who was lost in 1966 flying in a DC-3 to Hawaii, nice guy, I think, sin loi.) So Col. Smith just passed it on to us US army privates.

Well, we went and we trained and we partied and we ended back in Bragg. About nine months later. Duty, for some of us--not me, my loss--was clean that same Col. Smith's office at night. On his desk was a rack of pipes. Two medics took those pipes, rammed them up each other's ass, wiped them clean and put them back.

Never fuck over your men. In Vietnam officers got killed for that kind of shit. Only there they put their men at risk for their career's sake. They probably deserved it. The difference between then and today is this shit isn't happening. The higher-ups are too high up.

--Brant

up the volunteer army

[anthony]

The difference between then and today is this shit isn't happening. The higher-ups are too high up. --Brant up the volunteer army

Brant, that rings a bell. My lasting impression of all my reading about the US Army is that, in the main, the top quality ranking soldiers were the Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains.

(Occasionally, a General.)

[9thdoctor]

Never fuck over your men. In Vietnam officers got killed for that kind of shit. Only there they put their men at risk for their career's sake. They probably deserved it. The difference between then and today is this shit isn't happening. The higher-ups are too high up.

I don’t understand the story. Someone yelled at a group of trainees, then some others used pipes (marijuana pipes? one of those foot-long Sherlock Holmes thingys?) in what sounds like a hazing ritual. I don’t see how this connects to your conclusion: “never fuck over your men”. "Never fuck with your men", yes.

There’s a story I’ve heard of some college fraternity that required new members to hold a frozen hot dog in their bums while running the length of the football field. If it fell out, you had to start again. The more it warmed up, the more likely it was to fall out, so run quick. Sounds like an urban legend.

[Brant Gaede]

The trick is to ID the principle and the stories are integrated and one follows the other. What that colonel did was lose the respect and support of his men. Since they were all in training, not operations, it didn't matter too much. Three and four years later in Vietnam while they were negotiating in Paris, morale in Vietnam in line combat units went down and drug abuse went up and officers deemed too aggressive in conducting offensive operations for the sake of their careers sometimes got grenades rolled under their beds. The perpetrators were low-ranking draftees.

--Brant

[sbeaulieu]

All LTs I've met were very cool, very personable. Of course, as a SNCO, the respect afforded to you by the brass is considerably better than as an Airman or Jr NCO. Comes with time. However, I've had dicey dealings with Captains in my day. 50/50. The good ones were great. The other ones were good, but were quick to say yes to their highers before consulting the NCOs (the experts) on particulars. This became an asspain the pull off tech miracles prior to testing something out. I'll explain.

Two occasions. First was this Captain. Great guy, looked out for you, but was a compulsive "yes" man. Someone would ask if there was something we could do. He'd say yes, come back, and we'd have to make it happen. I knew he had great confidence in us, and was trying to showcase it. He knew we could get the job done. I didn't dislike him for his methodology, just he never came to ask us first (at least not that I ever knew). But that kind of decision-making without all the facts could be costly in a war-time situation. Far end of the spectrum, but still on the spectrum.

After he left, we got another Captain, who I later learned taught at the same squadron I would be assigned to about a year later. During his tenure, I thought him charismatic, hard-working, and generally a cool guy. Well, that changed during my last TDY to the PI. During our one day off, he was trying to get a microwave link set up between our base and where we were housed. Now, with this particular microwave unit, the distance limitation was pretty short (1.5 km). From my recollection, the drive to either place was a bit longer than that. However, not knowing the straight-line distance, I had some hopes of pulling this off. So we set up the equipment at both ends, and we finish off at the housing location by putting the dish on a rickety 40-ft tower. Me and a buddy are waiting for the good Capt to go back to base and see if this thing works. An hour passes and we get a phone call. The Capt asks me to turn the dish to the right a little. At this point, a BS meter starts wailing in the distance. I climb this tower (I hadn't installed the dish) and decide to get a dish-eye view. Low and behold... mountains and trees! I told the good Capt this isn't going to work, as you're blazing the signal straight into Mother Earth's creations. Our one day off wasted. He kept on about if there's a 1% chance of something working, he'll make it work. I told him, not this. Not a 100% chance in 1%. Moral of the story, check your premises. And trust your people.

As a side note, all Generals I've met were cool as shit. A man's man.

~ Shane

[Brant Gaede]

You're in the air force. If I had to do it over again I would have enlisted in that branch. The smartest men were in the AF and probably still are. My 93 yo uncle was a navigator in B-17s, B-29s and B-36s. Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, Korea. He still has shrapnel in him from exploding 20mm cannon shells from a Japanese Zero. The nose gunner next to him died from his wounds and was awarded the DSC.

--Brant