Posted on 05/20/2006 10:07:03 PM PDT by Westlander
Chief: "Recruit, what are the duties of the Assistant Chief?"
Recruit: "The job of the Assistant Chief is to make sure you don't look stupid and ask such ignorant questions in public. I mean, if YOU don't know then maybe YOU should go back to the academy."
I think you and others are missing the point. Why should a plebe at the United States Military Academy have to know the number of lighbulbs in the chandeliers in the dinning hall or the number of floor tiles in a particular building? While the knowledge may have little to do with military leadership, plebes are required to know all sorts of trivia and are subject to pop quizzes all the time. I would think that a basic understanding of the chain of command and who is responsible for what is something that every police academy grad ought to know if only to know it.
(From the story):
"The 25 students are former officers who were laid off and then recalled. They went through a two week training session and will continue to train until Chief Bully-Cummings is satisfied.
The guy who cleans out the beer taps down at the pub says he's a Vietnam Vet and describes sitting around Bang Sang eating MREs.
The first half of my year tour in RVN was on a river boat and C-Rats was it.
I'm playing this guy like a Flounder, just waiting for the right time to set the hook.
The point of a military officer demonstrating an ability to absorb and retain lots of seemingly trivial bits of information is that you will never know when (what first appears to be) a trivial bit of info will make the difference between victory and getting your command exterminated
Similarly, for a street cop, being able to absorb and retain little bits of info may make the difference between living or dying ("Hey, that armored truck's security guard is not supposed to be wearing sneakers ... and didn't I remember seeing his face on the 10-most-wanted? ...")
Well, DUH!!!
Assist. Chief Job Description: Kiss butt of Chief.
I would submit that any, and all, police officers know the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, their particular state and local ordinances backwards and forwards. Further, they should be well versed in Federal laws, rules and regulations. They should be multi-lingual, knowledgeable in sign language, familiar with various cultural customs of those they may come in contact with in the performance of their duties, expert marksmen, competent EMT's, drug counselors, psychiatrists and psychologists, brilliant mediators of all disciplines, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
I remember having to remember ridicilous, worthless stuff in Navy Bootcamp in 1981. We were always told that if I didn't remember that crap, we would be held back until we did.
Bootcamp was eight weeks, this police academy was only two.
Please remember to point out that this didn't happen to me (yeah, sure). I meant to say "we" not "I."
We were always told that if I didn't remember that crap
Let him hang himself ... better yet bring in a couple more real Nam vets to tell his stories to. I was in 1978-1982 and we were still eating c-rats. Oh, to have tuna and soda crackers with a chocolate bar just one more time....Naw.
That's Teal'c.
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