From the Soldier side: After doing some reading on my day off...yes, I can actually read. One thing I saw was about restrictions the military places on Bloggers deployed...I'm home now, so I can write whatever the f--- I want and they can kiss my a...
Today I thought I'd talk about leadership again....that's one really important topic for anyone who's lead by others. When we were "training" for Iraq back in 2004, I had 2 company commanders whilest in the States. I'll call them Commdr A and Commdr B.
I had deployed to Bosnia with B....he was (and still is) also a cop in his civilian world. He was like me and didn't have to go to Iraq with the battalion, but like me, thought it was our duty and we should just go ahead and get it over with....after all Rumsfeld had said all he expected from Reserves and National Guard troops was 24 months of deployments after NINE ELEVEN. (He later changed his mind)....so it seemed like a good idea as I said, to get it over with.
When we were at Ft ----- we were transported to the training sites in 1960 vintage Cattle Cars....these were trailers attached to a truck that looked like something you'd transport cattle in...you could get a lot of troops loaded in these...but they were very un-safe. Commdr B road in the back with us when we went to training. Commdr A drove his Lexus to the training--and that was only if he felt it was important enough for him to show up.
When we were packing our extra gear (duffel bags and foot lockers) into a connex shipping container, we were told there was not enough room and we might have to mail stuff home at our own expense. When my team and I went to load our duffel bags, I saw that the shipping container was half full of what looked like a living room--- Couch, giant TV, coffee & end tables, stereo, speakers etc....it looked like Commder A was taking his home to Iraq with him---at our expense. I had training manuals, and other supplies I was pretty sure we would need when we got to Iraq....but most of the room was taken up by Commder Asshole.
Things like this just went on and on....by the time Asshole got to Iraq, he was relieved of duty in short order....seems he didn't want to go outside the safe camp to check on his troops scattered around Baghdad.
Commdr B kept up with his troops, and they trusted him...he was a true leader. Commdr A was a POS. Commder A spent his entire tour on a nice, safe, secure camp in Baghdad...I wonder how he would have done at some of the hellish places we went. Some called him a "Prince" I called him a "Princess."
I was just sent this blog site: http://badtoad.com/ It's by one of our Brothers who's in the big camel dung heap now. He's got the job I had hoped to get when I first joined many years ago...flying choppers.
Today I thought I'd talk about leadership again....that's one really important topic for anyone who's lead by others. When we were "training" for Iraq back in 2004, I had 2 company commanders whilest in the States. I'll call them Commdr A and Commdr B.
I had deployed to Bosnia with B....he was (and still is) also a cop in his civilian world. He was like me and didn't have to go to Iraq with the battalion, but like me, thought it was our duty and we should just go ahead and get it over with....after all Rumsfeld had said all he expected from Reserves and National Guard troops was 24 months of deployments after NINE ELEVEN. (He later changed his mind)....so it seemed like a good idea as I said, to get it over with.
When we were at Ft ----- we were transported to the training sites in 1960 vintage Cattle Cars....these were trailers attached to a truck that looked like something you'd transport cattle in...you could get a lot of troops loaded in these...but they were very un-safe. Commdr B road in the back with us when we went to training. Commdr A drove his Lexus to the training--and that was only if he felt it was important enough for him to show up.
When we were packing our extra gear (duffel bags and foot lockers) into a connex shipping container, we were told there was not enough room and we might have to mail stuff home at our own expense. When my team and I went to load our duffel bags, I saw that the shipping container was half full of what looked like a living room--- Couch, giant TV, coffee & end tables, stereo, speakers etc....it looked like Commder A was taking his home to Iraq with him---at our expense. I had training manuals, and other supplies I was pretty sure we would need when we got to Iraq....but most of the room was taken up by Commder Asshole.
Things like this just went on and on....by the time Asshole got to Iraq, he was relieved of duty in short order....seems he didn't want to go outside the safe camp to check on his troops scattered around Baghdad.
Commdr B kept up with his troops, and they trusted him...he was a true leader. Commdr A was a POS. Commder A spent his entire tour on a nice, safe, secure camp in Baghdad...I wonder how he would have done at some of the hellish places we went. Some called him a "Prince" I called him a "Princess."
I was just sent this blog site: http://badtoad.com/ It's by one of our Brothers who's in the big camel dung heap now. He's got the job I had hoped to get when I first joined many years ago...flying choppers.
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