seven and I had the same CSG or three and I voted the same way.......right or wrong, maybe those tactics worked in the 1980's/1990's. But I suspect they only resonated with the guys who are still here after 30+ years.
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IKE Double Pump
- Thread starter robav8r
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seven and I had the same CSG or three and I voted the same way.......right or wrong, maybe those tactics worked in the 1980's/1990's. But I suspect they only resonated with the guys who are still here after 30+ years.
Survivor bias. In my observation, many (not all) officers O-6 and above seem to think that what worked for them should work for everyone, despite it being intentionally designed to work for very few for that long.
What I took exception to was the assertion, overtly stated, that the rest of us were somehow weak or in the wrong. A little humility goes a long way.
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I'd like to think realizing and being open about the fact that not everyone is Gung-Ho Joe Navy has helped me in my leadership roles. Skippers who can't comprehend this fact are the worst (as are green JOs who shit on the Joe Navy types).
Well, humility will probably be acquired when folks like that transition to the private sector. At my civ job, I volunteer to help with veteran hiring on the side, and also help run the informal veterans' group at my corporate HQ. We have representation up to the O-6(ret) level on the mil side and the F500 Senior VP level by civilian title. As in more than one of the CEO's direct reports, IIRC. The mil rank matrix does not at all line up with seniority on the civ org chart. And literally no one is lording it over anyone else about how long they were in, or how short their stint in uniform was. No one cares.
Folks who can't adopt that mentality will find out real quick that you can come with all the qualifications in the world, but you also have to go back to kindergarten and make sure teacher is putting a "✓" or a "+" on your report card in the "plays well with others" row. I once watched a certain FTS officer preparing to retire, and heard the rumblings behind his back from the SELRES of "yeah, that dickhead isn't getting any referrals out of me."
Edit: I also think this is an artifact of the stack-ranked promotion system. To hit that rank on the AC side especially, your number has to come up over and over and over again, and you need to grind in due-course jobs for literally decades. But I think there's a certain subset of the officer corps that isn't equipped to handle "sustained superior performance." There are definitely humble folks out there who are great leaders and great Americans. But I've also seen folks who rose in rank and all that "EP, EP, EP" started to go to their heads. Humble LTJG flight students who were just happy to be there became arrogant patch-wearers who talked to me like my Dad worse than he himself ever would. Psychologically, the system is set up for our rockstars to be vulnerable to buying their own bullshit.
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I know one of those. I told him I hope he wasn't planning on coming to the airlines because he had a hard row to hoe if that was the case. Type A1 gigantic doucherocket.
Word to the wise: don't burn bridges with the SELRES. We're already working all over the civilian sector, and it doesn't take much to change a hiring director's mind on which candidate to go forward with.
This would have been me (or maybe still is). My biggest career regret will always be pulling my package from Topgun. However, if I had gone to the staff, I would probably be an arrogant prick right now because the amount of sunshine I had blown up my wahoo when I was a JO. I am thankful I fucked up early and got knocked off my pedestal in my head.
I've been retired for two years now and been very lucky in the opportunity that has come my way. One of the things I saw very early on is that no one cares what you did in the military. Sure, folks of the same service will swap sea stories of the good ole days, but people at all levels expect you to perform and be part of the solution. I've worked along retired O6's and E4/5's that did one tour and got out. Sometimes it's interesting to see who brings more value to the organization on a daily basis . . .
Austin mulling whether to send carrier Ike back to the Middle East
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited the carrier Nimitz as they finished another record-breaking deployment.
www.militarytimes.com
