Thomas Churchyard noted that: “Sharp words make more wounds than a surgeon can heal.” An officer who understands the job knows there is never any reason to use sarcasm, profanity or ad hominem arguments with anyone who doesn’t get a fair chance to answer back.
The object is to create a team, not enemies. An officer and his or her people are a team at all times, officially and socially. Good manners help to make the system work.
9 comments:
Bullhut! You don't have a clue what you are talking about! Man, and you call yourself a blogger!
We are NOT A TEAM. I agree with Anon. That team crap came out of some misbegotten abortion of LMET or some earlier version of pure stupidity.
Actually, I was just jerking my friend Mike's chain a little.
You are right on the mark-There is no TEAM. Fairness is nonexistent. The polite manners and remarks of the Officers are only smoke screens. They lure one in, only to attack and devour their prey! Let's face it, Team is all about the good ole boys club. You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. If you don't go along with the extracurricular activities ie. drinking, etc, etc. you're out! Blackballed, defamed character & harassment all done with the politeness of smirks and angelic verbal tones! Check out the true behaviors of the COMMANDING OFFICERS (top down)! You will see significant attitudinal/behavioral differences shown towards the joiners vs the non-joiners. Team? Not in the sense described in the post.
I wasn't. I'll buy we are a crew but we are not a team. They have sports heroes and we have real heroes. They don't play in the rain or when it gets too cold. Teams do one thing really well. Crews do everything necessary to win. Teams are like Girl Scouts; they sell something. Teams are very well compensated and they still go on strike or reserve their professional services. Teams play. Crews work and fight. Everything stops when a member of the team gets hurt. Teams don't swap out all their stars in a single season. Teams don't screw a teammate and send him to Afghanistan or Iraq by himself for a year. Wives and girlfriends get to come watch the team do their thing.
It's a sad state when people truly think we are not a team on an institutional level. I won't argue that there are instances of what people here are espousing; however, it sounds like bitching and whining to me...make a difference through your actions and words, don't just complain about it. I have had some failures in attempting to do so for sure, but each and every success in building a team that I have had has made a huge difference to me and the team that I contributed to...either as the leader, the follower, or the peer.
If some of you feel the way you speak anonymously, it may be time to find a different line of work where you can whine until your heart's content, but the Navy or the military in general is not that place.
A curious position to take from anonymity. I just love the way 90% who post here are anonymous. OTOH, I dip into those waters from time to time to see what happens.
My experience may differ. My first ship was forward deployed and I was Aux. I had 3 work centers that didn't play all that well together. I was written up 3 times by the 1st LT and Bosun. In the department, when R Div overspent his OPTAR he got all of my unused OPTAR. Supply wouldn't shift a finger for me unless I 'didn't have the parts to fix their air conditioning'. The E Div blamed Aux and we blamed E Div. E Div used to check for grounds every time the EMO turned on his Commodore 64. HM-14 supply turned off the Emergency Diesel cooling line running through their space because it dripped on their stuff. It burned up the diesel one night. We in Eng disliked the 1st LT and Bosun enough that every time they painted some part of the ship white, we waited a minute and blew tubes. After some serious crap at ASU, my skipper wouldn't let FFG9 use our buses anymore and refused them permission to crossdeck.
Other ships were worse, some better. It never really felt like a team to me. Staff jobs there was far more unity of purpose and goodwill. I suppose the same could be said for the mobile units.
Having served in both the Marines and the Navy, I have used and heard some very, VERY colorful language over the years. I have been known to let my temper get the best of me sometimes, with less frequency as I got older, more mature and more responsible.
One thing I have learned is that at some point, all the derogatory comments, sarcasm and profanity in the world won’t energize someone who is not motivated. To get the best work out of people you need to give them kin in the game, get them onboard with the mission and create cohesiveness. Call it a team or a crew, a platoon or division; 20 pairs of hands and 20 brains all working toward the same mission or goal is much more effective than 20 people who want to do the bare minimum required to not get yelled at.
I empathize with you James.
That days of "Talking like a Sailor (or Marine)" are behind me. I listen to people using the f-bomb as nearly every third word when they talk and I recognize, both, that I used to be like that and it does nothing to enhance a conversation.
As the saying goes, "I wish I knew then what I know now." Wouldn't change anything significant in my life but a cleaner vocabularly would have made me a slightly different and probably better person.
No regrets. I'm just saying...
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