The night before I left for Officer Candidate School, my father sat me down on the couch and made me read the short story "Dr. Blakey's first command" from C. S. Forrester's book The man in the yellow life raft. I highly recommend it.
The point was not to read a good story but to teach me about the value of Chiefs. I learned the lesson the FIRST time.
Shortly after I took over OI Division (CIC) some of the men came to me asking if they could do something. Without looking up, I asked them "What did the Chief say?" "Ah, um, we didn't ask him." I looked up at them and said, "Well?" They went down to the goat locker and asked the Chief. He asked them if they had asked me. They said, "Yes." "What did he say?" "He asked us if we had asked you." After that I could do NO wrong as far as the Chief was concerned. The fact that I was better than anyone except the Chief at maneuvering board didn't hurt either. The OS1 I beat at maneuvering board made Chief at 9.5 years and evaluated us at Gitmo. We passed. BTW - I still know my navigation and rules of the road, COLD.
I hope you and yours are well.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Thank you my friend
Yes, the NCO's really ARE the backbone of the military. I have know several officers who learned this the hard way. A good Chief can make you look good-----or very very bad.
Godd story my friend. All is well and I hope all is well with you and yours too.
God Bless
Steve