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softaire 12-Aug-12, 16:11	Officers and Leadership In my short career in the USMC, I was privileged to serve with a lot of good men and fine officers. Some were not so good. Not all deserve respect and admiration. Being a governmental organization and subject to the unwritten rules of large organizations, the bad things that happen in those organizations tends to happen in the military as well as in government and industry. I think that the child reflects on the parent. In this case, the child caused me to reflect that the parent was most likely the cause of deficiency in the child. I saw enough military officers, deficient in human skills, to extrapolate that they would tend to pass on those traits to the offspring. My random thoughts: The best officer I served with was Lt. Fred Smith who cared about his grunts. He was out in the bush with us for about 6 months, taking his chances with the rest of us. True to tradition, he did not eat or drink until we did and if we didn't, he didn't. He slept in a poncho in the mud like the rest of us. Lt. Smith went on to found and become the CEO of FedEx. On the other end of the spectrum, I can remember having to "police" up the jungle, removing cigarette butts, spent ammo, and toilet paper because a Colonel was coming out to inspect us. Mind you, we are out on operation, a week or more into the rice paddies & jungles, but we had to shave and clean the jungle for this visit. When he finally arrived by helicopter for his 30 minute inspection, I happened to be standing fairly near him as I overhear him tell his assistance (who carried everything for him) "these grunts like to be f'ed with... that's why they joined the Corps". I almost turned around and shot him myself... fortunately I didn't or I'd still be making big rocks into little rocks. Another officer of equal capability and stature was Captain Meyers... Captain "Marvel" to us. This guy was a hazard. His most famous maneuver was Marvels March to the Sea. He "led" us back and forth between ocean and mountains about three times one night... of course he was drunk as a skunk. The only good thing he ever did for me was to tell me that I couldn't fly with him on his chopper (at the start of another operation) and to go get on-board the 3rd squad helicoper. His chopper was shot down and all but one were killed. (guess he was a good guy after all) My point... don't think because somebody (anybody) was in the military that they necessarily deserve any respect or admiration. There are bad grunts and there are bad officers. I think you can tell the kind of parent you are dealing with by the kid.
mrmarmalade 12-Aug-12, 16:22	Wow.... Great story, Softaire. Thank you for that. I'm going to reread this a few times. What you write is honest and true. A rarity in forums. These are the kind of posts that get my attention. Thanks. -JF
aussiespud 12-Aug-12, 16:32	Though i was never in the miltary, my father was and served in WW2 (Europe and the Far East)... I always remember him telling me that one of the best things he brought out out it which went on to serve him well right through his working life was that he learned to tell the difference between "Leaders" and "Managers"....both have their place but should never be confused with each other
deadofknight 12-Aug-12, 19:13	Spud Excellent observation that might slip by in inattentive individual. That would serve us all well to remember. Thanks for adding that in. I would love to hear any stories he might have shared with you or thoughts you have about that time from your perspective. Thanks. dok

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