Navy removes "insensitive" motto from EOD school.

The motto is not about the individual, it is about the mission, and when you are dealing with an explosive device you generally get one shot to render it safe,” Will Pratt, a former Army EOD technician, wrote in an email to the Daily News.
“When you start making changes to an explosive device, you are either going to shut it off or set it off, hence initial success or total failure. This does not mean that the technician is a failure by any stretch of the imagination. ”
Pratt said the military has lots of unofficial mottos and that “Initial Success or Total Failure” is included on the Navy’s EOD memorial in Washington, D.C.
He added that he hopes the Navy won’t allow Tillotson to “destroy a tradition that was there long before him and will be there long after he is gone.”
First Sgt. Joseph Smith of Fort Hood, Texas, said the removal of the motto “is beyond most EOD technicians’ comprehension.” He said he has never heard any complaints about the motto from EOD techs or their families"

I think this part of the article says all that needs to be said.

A remarkably stupid decision.
 
Look at the Marine Corps marksmanship badge. Is that not an iron cross in the center. I think if you look at the German medal of honor you will find the same iron cross. Where will we stop this madness. I know your last name is insensitive to the Jewish people so the state will change it for you to Smith.
They just took a home made lunch from a child and made her eat Mc Nuggets at the school cafeteria have you ever seen how they make Mc Nuggets out of a machine that looks like a soft ice machine Sad Sad Sad
Once a free country of the United States of America
Ramona where is that blood pressure medicine. Get off the Blog and you won't need it. SHIT
 
This stuff is all getting so retarded! I know what you're saying Manolito, I had a teacher send a note home with my son requesting that he not have peanut products in his lunch due to some kid having peanut allergies. I sent a note back saying that my son loves peanut butter an honey sandwiches so just assume he has them in there every day and keep the other kid away from my sons nuts.

I'm tired of whiny little asshats all wanting the world to change just for them under the guise that it's supposed to be good for everyone. NO, RETARDS, it's called being selfish and having an agenda you thin skinned Nancies.
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I can't even believe this is an issue. I read the title of the post and thought it was going to be something questionable, but this isn't even offensive. It sounds like a pretty straight forward and true statement. Is somebody going try to get the Recon motto changed because it has deadly in it, or maybe the sniper motto because it has kill in it. Some people don't like that kind of stuff you know.

At the rate we're going our military is going to be a joke in a few decades. So busy trying to make everyone feel "special" that there shitting on traditions and individuals hard work and sacrafices, all in the name of fairness. Ridiculous.
 
I blame the guy implimenting the policy, he looks like a cheese eating surrender monkey in his photo.

Conversing on FB with some older Navy EOD types who have served with him before, he's apparently always been a douche bag. Always trying to make himself look good.
 
sigh.....WHY must people in positions of higher authority be so worried about POSSIBLY offending someone's delicate sensibilities?
 
An update to the mess: I had no idea there were so many former EOD techs holding elected office in DC. Rep. Issa and Rep. Crawford are two. There's a third on the Armed Services committee (who hasn't been named) who has put the question to the Dept. of the Navy and is pressing for an answer ASAP. Needless to say, he's not amused, either. Hopefully, this will be enough to put that shit-gargling assmonkey Tillotson in his place. If not, then the EOD community as a whole can say we gave it our all.
 
Fuck Tillotson.

Yes, it's pithy Friday.
A gorilla is walking through the jungle. He parts the bushes by the watering hole and sees a lion taking a drink of water with his butt sticking up in the air.
The gorilla thinks to himself that it would be really funny if he snuck up behind this “King of the Jungle” and slipped him the old sausage. So the gorilla sneaks up on his tiptoes behind the lion, grabs him by the hips and starts pumping him in the butt as hard as he can.
Then, he pulls out and runs away, laughing his head off. He thinks it is the funniest thing he’s ever done in his life, screwing the “King of the Jungle” in the rear end.
The lion is shocked and upset, lets out a mighty ROAR and chases the gorilla through the jungle.
Now, the gorilla can’t run very fast and the lion keeps getting closer and closer, so the gorilla ducks into a campsite, puts on some safari clothes and pith helmet, picks up a newspaper, sits down and holds it up to his face, and makes like he is reading it.
Just then, the lion comes busting through the jungle. “RRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!” he says. “Did you just see a big gorilla run through here?”
The gorilla starts shaking behind the paper. “Uh, you mean the one that just s-s-s-screwed you in the ass?” he stutters.
The lion sits up with a start and says, “Jesus! It’s in the paper already?”
 
I can't believe Tillotson was stupid enough to piss off a whole community of people who can make him disappear in a ball of flame and cloud of smoke, with no telltale signs....:ehh:... does this scream for a reason to revisit how flag officers are promoted?
I can, his ego has to be pretty big (look at his official photo).
I can also see him retiring soon, like as soon as this assignment ends. Navy has really embraced PC causes (Climate Change for ex).
He fucked up by going after something people care about (to include elected officials).
Too bad the Senate doesn't have any former/retired EOD types.
 
There are a few - and I mean FEW - techs who think that this is either A) a benign request, or B) a good idea. They are the minority. They apparently haven't talked to the EOD Gold Star families who think this is wrong as two boys fucking a dead Shetland pony. I haven't heard of any families who agree with it, but they may not be as vocal in their support. Then again, as outspoken as most EOD families are, they'd have spoken up by now. I should Google it later on to verify.

I think RDML Cum-gargler is the only flag rank EOD around, I need to check. The Army's never had a BG with a crab. Unless he plays this for some epic committee slot later, this will be his last assignment.
 
As an outsider looking in, this whole deal is rubbish...utter bullshit. I'll go out on a limb and say that techs arriving at the schoolhouse see that motto from day one. Hollywood's version of EOD aside, at some point in the pipeline the prospective techs have a good idea of what the job entails. I'll further "guess" that everyone there is a volunteer and has been since the program's inception and that they can quit at any time.

So where was the outrage in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's....? I'll further guess that there wasn't any outrage, even when techs died in the line of duty pre-9/11.

EOD techs know what they are getting into and that motto serves as a reminder of the inherent danger in their job. "Total failure" can be caused by a human (the tech or some mad Speed-esque bomber) or something way beyond the tech's control. "Total failure" doesn't mean that the tech is a clown/ deserved to die/ no one cares about the loss...like any phrase in any language it can mean whatever you want it to mean.

Look at the dark humor involved in a number of jobs, military or civilian; even skydiving has a dark saying. Did anyone stop to think that rather than being disrespectful these are in some circumstances coping mechanisms or they foster a sense of comraderie?

Lastly, I'll guess that this isn't what a community, a family even, wants. This is a "me, me, me" ploy by a politician in uniform. He doesn't seem to think that "One 'Oh, shit!' will ruin a thousand 'Attaboys'." GEN Shinseki did some very good things for the US Army, but the only trivia about his career known by 99% of the population is the black beret debacle. Well, guess what this admiral will be known for?
 
Free, you summed it up perfectly. Although, I'd be willing to bet that once he retires, nobody outside of the EOD community will remember who he is. There are so many career politicians in uniform, he still won't stand out.
 
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