Loved watching the retirement ceremony of one of our desert warriors recently, LtGen George Smith. He was most recently the Commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force...the largest warfighting formation in the Marine Corps.
He began his remarks by asking the audience to participate in an old trick in case he became too emotional during his remarks.
The trick, he said, is that he would prime them with a word or phrase to shout out when he begins to tear up or lose his bearing. The word or phrase must be something he viscerally hates, something he is so passionate about that the mention of it would bring him back to reality and counter his tendency to get weepy and nostalgic.
For example, other recently retired generals he referenced had asked the audience, during their remarks, to shout out their old college nemesis, or the evil golf club that gave them the most grief and frustration on the course. "Old Blue!" Or: "4 Iron!"
In this tradition, he asked the audience that day to keep him centered and appropriately angry by shouting two words. Two words he hated more than anything.
The Corps lost one of its active duty moral compasses when Lieutenant General Smith threw in the towel and retired. He knew FD2030 was garbage in and garbage out. He was willing to pay a career ending price for calling it out. No doubt the emotion naturally in a speech reflecting decades of dedicated service might be hard enough, but leaving the active duty side of the Corps he loved and leaving it to “managers” intent on destroying it must have really caused the emotional thermostat to rise. It has become apparent over the last many months that FD2030 with all the clear flaws in the nuts and bolts failure of it, the larger issue is the attack and make no mistake it is an attack, preplanned fires included, on the very Ethos, of our Corps. It’s a frontal assault on who and what we are and believe in. So when a true warrior leaves and basically leaves because he was either told to, or simply knew his stand would not stand; it would be impossible not to be emotional, and ergo the use of the words “Force Design” no doubt refocused his emotional self on the anger in his mind. Hopefully General Smith will lend his voice to the matter at hand in the coming days and weeks and months as the fight goes on. We few we happy few….
The Controversey and Clarity podcast has an excellent series called 'Voices of HKIA'. (HKIA - Hamid Karzai International Airport: the American Afghan withdrawal). These are long form interviews detailing the experience of Marines and other servicemembers at different ranks, billets and MOSs during the pullout. The interviews are brutal and honest. The conditions were grueling, unrelenting, and support was minimal. Still, the spark of hope in the dedication to mission and troop that bleeds through in each interview is a bright spot in a very dark story. That is a timeless theme for Marines. It gives me hope that there is opportunity in the fallout from Force Design, even if we wish it had come a different way.
Loved watching the retirement ceremony of one of our desert warriors recently, LtGen George Smith. He was most recently the Commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force...the largest warfighting formation in the Marine Corps.
He began his remarks by asking the audience to participate in an old trick in case he became too emotional during his remarks.
The trick, he said, is that he would prime them with a word or phrase to shout out when he begins to tear up or lose his bearing. The word or phrase must be something he viscerally hates, something he is so passionate about that the mention of it would bring him back to reality and counter his tendency to get weepy and nostalgic.
For example, other recently retired generals he referenced had asked the audience, during their remarks, to shout out their old college nemesis, or the evil golf club that gave them the most grief and frustration on the course. "Old Blue!" Or: "4 Iron!"
In this tradition, he asked the audience that day to keep him centered and appropriately angry by shouting two words. Two words he hated more than anything.
FORCE DESIGN!!!!
The Corps lost one of its active duty moral compasses when Lieutenant General Smith threw in the towel and retired. He knew FD2030 was garbage in and garbage out. He was willing to pay a career ending price for calling it out. No doubt the emotion naturally in a speech reflecting decades of dedicated service might be hard enough, but leaving the active duty side of the Corps he loved and leaving it to “managers” intent on destroying it must have really caused the emotional thermostat to rise. It has become apparent over the last many months that FD2030 with all the clear flaws in the nuts and bolts failure of it, the larger issue is the attack and make no mistake it is an attack, preplanned fires included, on the very Ethos, of our Corps. It’s a frontal assault on who and what we are and believe in. So when a true warrior leaves and basically leaves because he was either told to, or simply knew his stand would not stand; it would be impossible not to be emotional, and ergo the use of the words “Force Design” no doubt refocused his emotional self on the anger in his mind. Hopefully General Smith will lend his voice to the matter at hand in the coming days and weeks and months as the fight goes on. We few we happy few….
The Controversey and Clarity podcast has an excellent series called 'Voices of HKIA'. (HKIA - Hamid Karzai International Airport: the American Afghan withdrawal). These are long form interviews detailing the experience of Marines and other servicemembers at different ranks, billets and MOSs during the pullout. The interviews are brutal and honest. The conditions were grueling, unrelenting, and support was minimal. Still, the spark of hope in the dedication to mission and troop that bleeds through in each interview is a bright spot in a very dark story. That is a timeless theme for Marines. It gives me hope that there is opportunity in the fallout from Force Design, even if we wish it had come a different way.