Not Work Safe .


I got out of the Navy as a mid-grade O3. 99% of my time in the Navy the biggest element in which I had a leadership role was...15? I loved being a technician and not having the responsibilities of command, especially Navy command, where, like the old show 'Who's Line Is It Anyway?' says, "rules are made up and the points don't matter."

Please do not misunderstand my comments; command in the military is thankless, soul-crushing, and can take you to the 7th circle of hell--or the 8th cloud of Heaven. I respect and admire many if not most people in command. I am just not naïve to believe that all of the people in command are there because they possess Patton-esque or Nimitz-like leadership qualities.
 
I was lucky. I had good officers. Still in touch with two of my former company CO’s and my XO from Vietnam. In fact, I can’t recall serving under any officer, either during the war or later in the fleet, who struck me as a poor leader or a dickhead.

Now, Air National Guard, there were a few sub-par O’s IMO…but having been used to Marine leadership, I was a pretty harsh critic.
 
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