It seems that when Patton took over II Corps in Africa he instituted a series of stringent uniform regulations backed by fines, etc. - helmets at all times even for medical personnel in operaring rooms, ties and leggings in combat, etc. This was meant to restore morale and discipline in a green and demoralized outfit. After a couple of months Patton was tabbed over to get the Sicily invasion going, and Bradley took over II Corps, being assistant Corps commander.
Bradley made it known unofficially that the much hated uniform regulations were no longer to be enforced. He was unable to rescind them as he was not officially Corps commander, just serving in Pattons absence. But in his judgement these orders were doing more harm than good by that time.
And so it was. Old Omar Bradley himself, using his good judgement, “bent rules”.
Fine you are talking Hospital or Combat.. So Some have Rules but others are above the same Rules? Like I said do away with all the regulations then and everyone can be equal!
No, it wasn’t just hospital or combat, this stuff was across the board in II Corps, and though there may have been some value to it at one time, by the time Bradley took over II Corps was a veteran outfit no longer in need of Pattons disciplinary shock treatment.
But thats not the point - the lesson here is that the acting Corps commander saw fit to use his good judgement to override the standing orders of a superior officer. This happens way more often than one would think, indeed it often has to happen in order to keep things going.
The bigger lesson is that rules do not exist in a vacuum. There are tradeoffs, costs vs benefits, and there are multiple goals we are trying to achieve. To take a regulation as an end in itself is short-sighted. Someone concerned with things like national strategy (which we civilians are priveleged to do) should think more broadly.