Posted on 04/21/2004 8:57:47 AM PDT by MindBender26
John Kerry has just released his "Officer's Fitness Report" from his service in Vietnam. Kerry officials, with no knowledge of military operations, think the report is laudatory. In reality, it is disasterous.
Back in the Vietnam days, officers’ ratings were vastly inflated. To even be considered for promotion or a better assignment, an officer needed top grades in all categories. For example, in his book Colin Powell described how a dispute between his wife and his division commander’s wife led to one mark in one category out of 14 being less than perfect, and how, until it was corrected by a general further up the chain of command, it would have stopped Powell at one star.
Back then, the verbal descriptions of an officer’s service were always laudatory, and virtually meaningless. Many raters used standard paragraphs to describe every subordinate from a future member of the Joint Chiefs to “Beatle Bailey with gold bars” in glowing terms.
The actual rating was effectively “coded” into the comparative section. There a Navy officer was rated in 16 categories such as “Loyalty,” Judgment,” “Courage,” Personal Behavior,” etc. Each officer would receive one of nine rankings, ranging from “Exceptional” to “One of the Top Few,” “Above the Majority,” down to “Unsatisfactory” in each of those 16 categories. Anything less than perfect in any of the 16 categories was a clear indication of an undesirable officer.
Remember, these rankings were highly inflated, with at least 60% of the officers having perfect rankings in all 16 categories. Most of the others would receive one ranking less than perfect in one category…. and their careers were effectively over.
Lt. Kerry received only 6 of 16 rankings in the highest category. The remaining marks for “Judgment” was one step down and 9 of the 16 other marks were two steps down. When ranking these Efficiency Reports arithmetically, when one “down point” could end a career, Kerry had 19 “down points.”
Is there any wonder why the Navy had no objection to his early return from Vietnam and his subsequent early removal from the service. They wanted him away from the guns, where he couldn’t hurt Americans.
The Kerry Clowns tell us their man is fit to run the military and protect us. They are proven wrong for at least three reasons:
1. Kerry’s prior anti-US statements shown to be lies.
2. Kerry’s poor military performance, as shown in this report released today.
3. The lack of the senior staff’s knowledge as to what this report really means, and how it further diminishes his campaign…. and his stature, such as it is.
What would that document be called, and has it been released?
My only question is, was this the plan from the get-go?
Was Kerry Hillary!'s first choice all along?
Does She! know he will be forced to withdraw, leaving her a quick sprint to November instead of the long slog?
Was the 2002 NJ Senate Race just a test-run?
Hillary! has to know that the more voters see of her, the less they like her. The only way she will ever get to sit in the big chair is if she runs a short, intense campaign without a lot of time for examination of her finances, character or record. So the trick has always been to be named the nominee about six weeks out from the election, then to ride the hoopla to victory.
It worked for Lautenberg in NJ, and he's dead! Well, not quite dead. But as close as you can be and still be elected to the Senate. Unless your name is Carnahan.
We should all start writing letters to the Circuit Courts and the State Supreme Courts now. When Kerry drops out in late September, there is not going to be any time to contact the courts or make points in the public debate. The time to act is now.
If each FReeper wrote his own State Supreme Court and his local Federal Circuit Court, pointing out that the proper remedy when a candidate seeks to withdraw after the filing deadline is not to appoint a new candidate, but simply to not allow the candidate to withdraw, this obvious fact might occur to the appropriate judges when the time comes.
In New Jersey, the Supremos never considered whether or not Torricelli should be allowed to widthdraw. They moved right into what remedy would best allow the Democrats to field a "viable" candidate. So instead of just holding one man to his written contractual obligations, the disenfranchised an entire state. We cannot let this happen again.
For 74 cents a week, you can change the course of history. Draft up a nice, respectful letter to your state Supreme Court and local Federal Circuit pointing out the obvious justice of holding Kerry to his committments as a candidate. Make copies, and mail them off every Monday between now and October. If 500 across people did this routinely, this plot could be foiled.
Is it worth 74 cents a week to avoid President Hillary!?
The term "Firewall" is used to describe fitness reports for officers that are up to standards--meaning they have no downgrades. You are correct.
Kerry's report would stand out like a sore thumb at a promotion board. Believe me. They would probably even laugh about it.
Nah, the report isn't that bad. What it shows to me is that Kerry was a marginal officer, unlikely to do serious harm if kept out of further combat, a body to fill an 0-2 slot at a time when the Navy needed lots of very junior officers. What I find curious is that he was marked down for military appearance and bearing, and was later an Admiral's aide. Aides to flag officers in any service are ususally very squared away, they type they put on recruiting posters.
The practice continues today.
IOW..........Kerry was a MAJOR f**k-up.
Yeah, and if you were anything less than perfect, you were through!
This resulted in the mathematical paradox of 80% of all officers ranked in the top quartile of the peer group! Even Farrakhan can't top that one!
Linda Vester, Day Side, Fox News is covering his military records.
If memory serves, Bush was rated excellent and fit for duty in everything. Even his teeth passed muster.
*****Kerry REQUESTED the 3 and you're out rule; in fact, he even had to "educate" the people he was talking to about what the rule was, because none of them had ever heard of it.****
After receiving a Purple Heart for the March 13 scratch and bruise, Kerry sought an early pass out of combat duty, invoking the informal Navy "instruction" known as 1300.39. According to the Boston Globe, 1300.39 meant an officer could request a reassignment from his superior officer after receiving three Purple Hearts. The instruction states that, rather than being automatic, the reassignment would "be determined after consideration of his physical classification for duty and on an individual basis." Of the 138 servicemen and officers in Kerry's unit who received Purple Hearts during the time he was there, records indicate only two received more than two. These were Lt.(jg) Jim Galvin and a boatswain's mate named Stevens. When Insight reached Galvin he said all three of his Purple Hearts were the result of shrapnel or glass shards. Such minor injuries were common on PCF boats with their glass windows and thin steel hulls, and, like Kerry's, Galvin's injuries were not serious enough to take him out of combat for more than a few days.
Unlike Kerry, Galvin elected to stay with his men. Indeed, though a professional Navy officer, he never had heard of instruction 1300.39. It was not until early April of 1969, when Galvin noticed that Kerry was preparing to leave the officers' barracks at An Thoi that he learned about "three Purple Hearts and you're out." According to Galvin, it was Kerry who told him, "There's a rule that gets you out of here and I'm getting out. You ought to do the same." Galvin remembers, "He seemed to take care of everything pretty quickly," because that was the last time Galvin saw Kerry in Vietnam.
The three-times wounded Galvin stayed with his men, transferred to Cam Ranh Bay to get them a respite from the dicey Mekong Delta, and eventually left the swiftboats for destroyer school.
Insight: contacted many men who served in Coastal Division at the same time Kerry did to ask if any of them had heard of anyone leaving the combat zone by invoking three minor wounds. Of the 12 who replied, none had heard of anyone doing so but John Kerry."
Less than a month after having claimed three wounds for which he lost no more than a total of two days of duty, Kerry reported as an aide to a navy yard admiral in Brooklyn, New York, leaving his crew in Vietnam.
Has that ever been good, much less during Vietnam?
Read The Caine Mutiny set during WWII. In it Keith's (the main character) first fitness report on the Caine is, for various screw ups, dropped from "outstanding" to "above average" by the outgoing Captain. The new Captain (Queeg) is appalled, knowing that "outstanding" means an officer is adequate and an "above average" officer is a disaster. He asks if he shouldn't dump Keith before setting sail. The old Captain tells Queeg no, that he just showed that mark to Keith to motivate him to do better, and that it would be changed to "outstanding" before he sent it in.
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