Comments on the 1901 Incident

12 Nov 09

These comments from a friend and student on active duty:

"No doubt, the 'saltiest' of soldiers were the ones who made the personal decision to ignore foolish orders and remain armed.

The experienced among us clearly see which orders should be followed, and which should be disdainfully ignored. The NCO Corps is the place to learn these critical lessons, whether you're a private or a brand-new lieutenant.

Other important sources of unblushing wisdom is the private sector are our active Operators. They are the people who unfailingly get things done, regardless of circumstance, and whose council we invariably seek first when confronted with a sticky problem.

Their 'ever-off-the-record' advice is worth ten times what is written in manuals and taught in academies. They are routinely passed over for promotion up the food-chain, because now and then they provide point-blank advice to the wrong idiot. But, though seldom even thanked, much less recognized, they continue to produce.

We dare not lose them!"

Comment:

Chance favors the prepared. Fortune, the bold. Providence, the audacious!

"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow, and of the man who leads, that gains the victory."

George Patton Jr

/John