Oddly enough Shurmann, you still haven’t referenced any of your own combat leadership positions. I’m looking to men like Carl Mundy, Jeremiah Denton, Duncan Hunter, Sam Johnson, etc. all of whom had some experience with combat and all of whom led men in combat. What did you lead?
“...What did you lead?”
Never led anyone in action.
I did spend years on aircrew duty, flying hither and yon in B-52s, and later was selected to form the initial cadre for B-1Bs. As a rated navigator, I did not command: as Mr Rogers will be able to tell you, USAF still does all it can to prevent navigators from commanding flying outfits.
I spent the rest of my career as a technical officer, leading small groups of specialists in test and evaluation of electronic equipment.
When MSF BU finishes congratulating himself over how tough he has been while I wasn’t, I should point out that without the techies and the support structures, guys like him would be back to throwing rocks. If that.
I can recall meeting only one of the guys on his list: Sam Johnson. But I did accumulate a fair amount of experience, so I can say that combat experience doesn’t make better leaders. Some get smarter, some get more stupid. It does seem to transform the marginally capable, highly egotistical ones into impossibly bull-headed fools. Apparently, after they survive the sundry unpleasantnesses of combat, they think they know everything.