Posted on 12/19/2015 6:39:00 AM PST by Timber Rattler
Army Lt. Gen. John Mulholland was apoplectic. Seated at the head of a table in a staff meeting, the veteran Special Operations general was furious that a briefing for him at U.S. Special Operations Command did not follow the directions that he and the top officer in the command, Adm. William McRaven, had provided.
In a profanity-laced tirade, Mulhulland told the staff members they had "all failed me" as a commander, and they should all go "shoot themselves right now," according to later accounts of the meeting. He promised that if they tried to brief their work to McRaven he would do everything he could to mess it up.
Mulholland, SOCOM's deputy commander at the time, added that he knew he was being unprofessional, but they had angered him greatly, according to a retelling by one witness in the room on April 30, 2014. The general added that if they briefed their plans to McRaven, he would commit Seppuku, an honorable way for a Samurai warrior to commit suicide through disembowelment in ancient Japan.
The outburst at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., is detailed in a Defense Department Inspector General report released to The Washington Post. At least 30 people were present, including then-Maj. Gen. James Laster, a Marine who was SOCOM's chief of staff at the time. Also present were a one-star Australian general and numerous American colonels. At least two individuals subjected to the tirade later filed a complaint with the Inspector General's office, and several others confirmed the facts of the case to be true.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
He wasn't wanted back in WWII either. But, he was desparately needed, so he was called to duty.
He wouldn't be called to duty today because he isn't needed like he was back then.
However, if things got tough enough: "Let George do it."
I’m strange. I think that if the top guy is unhappy, he has a right to yell at people, swear, and make threats.
Motivation through fear is certainly not the best course of action. But it should not be taken off the table entirely. Sometimes, yelling at people is effective. If you’re pissed, show it.
Or else we can gather in a group hug, give everyone a trophy and talk about our feelings.
The military is about breaking things and killing people. Sometimes, passion comes in handy.
Why all the crying?
His overly sensitive staff needs a safe space to retreat to next time the mean General hurts their feelings.
He can be gruff at times (all warriors can) but hell, that is part of being a Commander. I'm certain much of this ado was for show and certain folks just took it wrong. Then again, this might be the military of today where perfume princess officers get offended easily.
Laster, who has since become the three-star director of Marine Corps Staff at the Pentagon, said he, too, admonished the staff members. He also recalled that Mulholland grew angrier when lower-ranking officers tried to argue with him.
McRaven retired in August 2014, and was replaced by Army Gen. Joseph Votel.
I dunno, a little insubordination evidently was present, and that set the general off.
These junior officers should thank their lucky stars they were not in the German High Command around 1944-45.
This doesn’t speak very well of Spec Ops staff.....
The tradition of ‘dressing down’ ones troops is no longer politically correct in this peacekeeping war-against-climate-change police state.
Decades ago, in the shade of a Louisiana scrub-pine, a Drill Sergeant spoke unkind words to me. I’ve been in counseling ever since...
It's all become a whine and jeez party.
LTG was probably a little off base telling them to go shoot themselves, which I actually find kind of funny. However, the officers on his staff are supposed to push back when they think the skipper is wrong or misguided. It seems that the mistake they may have made was to do it in the group venue. That kind of stuff you do after the meeting...
IOW, his staff FAILED him twice over a plan that could hardly be called rocket surgery to develop. I would have been ready to shoot the incompetent bastards too.
I'd lay money on the bet that a female or some homo staffer got their panties in a twist and went crying to the IG.
Not sure why Mulholland felt compelled to even respond to "investigators". He should have told them to GFY as they were being escorted off of the CIA premisis.
That right there is funny. Been there, had that done to me too, by a crusty old CPO. Thanks for the chuckle.
Not sure about the “facts” in this story. Pretty sure that at the time this happened McRaven was running JSOC.
Several Drill Sergeants Ft. Leonard Wood said hurtful words to me when I was in Basic and AIT, and I still shudder at the micro-aggression.
There is something about that hat that does seem to cause consequences! Ft Polk I presume?
Never had a beat down by any one above O-6, but I have know some E-9’s who could melt the brass off your belt buckle. I always figured that if I was all that it would be me up there giving the “dissertation on incompetence” so I usually just took it to heart and did my sniveling alone, where no one could see me.
Consider that it has been in the News lately that the Intel is being manipulated by the White House and that there are people at Centcom complaining about it.
Hypothesis: Adm McRaven has been the SPECOM leader for a while now. Being a 4-star his career is effectively over and so HE can’t be intimidated politically. However, a deputy 3-star looking for that last star?
What? A DI??? Nowadays, they're all trained as Rogerian therapists.
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