Don’t punch out when the fight’s just started. The enemy loves to demoralize and they have the means. But they don’t have the ability unless we surrender it to them.
Roger That!
Stay around just to...participate!
I haven't been this angry in nearly 45 years, when I was in the Army. It was during a battery-level training evaluation that I erupted.
Put simply, my battery commander was a great staff officer that should have never been allowed near soldiers. He wasn't holding Platoon Leaders' feet to the fire, only one of the 4, a West Pointer, was demonstrating competence.
I wore two hats at the time, XO and Maintenance Officer. After making the rounds in the field, I came back to see my First Sergeant, sitting on a tree stump, muttering "it's over."
"Top, talk to me, what's going on?" He had 3 tours in Nam as an infantry First Sergeant, and this was his reaction? Turned out that the BC encoded coordinates incorrectly for a mission, and the Platoon Leader did not challenge him, even though that mission violated Air Defense Artillery principles.
I told the First Sergeant, "I got this", and got angry in the evening mission briefing. The BC was catatonic, withdrew into a shell. I took the last ten minutes to try and wake up the Platoon Leaders. I laid out a plan for them to follow the next, and final day: told them exactly what each of their soldiers would do, if they wanted to pass. I'd taken 3 of the 4 platoons successfully through their tac evals, and I knew the "game".
Little did I know that the Evaluation Team Chief was outside our tent, yep, he heard everything.
He came up to me, and with a big grin said, "LT, that was beautiful."
I still got a lousy efficiency from the BC, due to the many disagreements we had, but it was worth it.
It's not just getting angry, it's educating yourself on knowing what needs to be done, and being able to communicate in clear language. It means being prepared for what's coming, to have the resources when they are needed. And yes, to provide the words our supporters will need for the time they are needed.