Stormin’ Norman passes away

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the former commander of U.S. Central Command, passed away (a nice way to say he died) Dec. 27, 2012.


For those not familiar with Stormin’ Norman, he was the commander of allied forces during the Gulf War (aka Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm, or the 1st Iraq War).

I worked under him during Operation Desert Shield (though I never met the man – THANK GOD!), and for the commander the next echelon down from him during Desert Storm.

My memories of Swarzkopf? He had one a hell of a presence at a press conference.

From the testimonies of my superiors and those in my field who did have regular contact him: He was absolutely an SOB to work for and came by Stormin Norman aptly. He apparently had a real temper and did not suffer fools, incompetents, or uninformed lightly.

Still, he could motivate people to get the job done and his plan (although the solution was obvious to me like four months before I saw it) worked better than expected.

I have a few anecdotes, like the one about Lt. Gen. Fred Franks having to really scramble to get troops to the crossroads that Schwarzkopf had designated for the ceasefire talks. It seems when Franks reported the crossroads were under allied control by VII Corps, he meant that there were a pair of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters hovering over it and the nearest ground troops were some kilometers away. OOPSIE.

Anyway, the good general is gone now: May he rest in a warrior’s peace.

Hazardous duty

Taliban threaten to kill Price Harry/aka Capt. Wales

Capt. Harry Wales, British Army, AKA Prince Harry, is doing his bit for Queen and Country in Afghanistan and once more is clambering into the breach and the local bad guys there are not happy. In fact, they either are going to run him out of the country in fear for his life, take him captive or kill him, if they have their way.

Well, this is where the rubber meets the road, as we used to say back in my armored days. Will the good captain do what he obviously wants to do and show all those doubters that even if he is currently the third in line to the British throne, that he can serve his country as well as any other Briton in a very dangerous place? Two points, for Harry for at least talking somebody in the British hierarchy into letting him do the job he trained to do.

Yes, it makes him a high-value target to some people, but it also shows that the monarchy is willing to put its own on the line in support of its government’s policies. I just hope they have the intestinal fortitude to stay the course.

You all may not agree, but Capt. Wales life was never meant to be simple or easy. That comes from living in the fishbowl as a member of the royal house. Grant him his due in that he has tried to be what any second or third son of British gentry has done throughout its history and that is make a place for himself by serving the nation in the military.

The history buff in me remembers there is an old saying about noble families in Great Britain: To the manor goes the first born (i.e. he inherits the family wealth), to the church goes the second (not so much anymore, especially with royals), and the third son goes into the military (Army/Navy, it doesn’t matter) to make his own fortune.

Being a royal makes him a target, but that has always been the case for royals on the battlefield. It was the reason he was pulled from his first tour in Afghanistan a few years back because his highers got cold feet about exposing him. Maybe they will show a bit more of the heralded stiff upper lip, the Brits allegedly are known for, this time.

My hat (Kevlar, if I still had one) is off to the young prince and I wish him well for he definitely is going in harm’s way. May God grant him a good ship, and a good crew to take care of him and it, and may he always find a fair wind to guide him back to base.

At this point, I am not going to debate whether his presence is something that should be happening. I only hope that he and his fellow tommies, as well as all the other members of the ISAF force in Afghanistan will do their best to keep each other alive and do what they can to defeat the Taliban and its allies … or at least convince them that after more than 30 years of warfare, maybe it is time for the tribes to stand down and let the villagers live in some sort of peace.

I don’t look for that to happen, because as the Brits learned a century and more ago, the Afghans are tough fighters and they never seem to give up or surrender to anybody - regardless of what flag they carry.

As for Harry, he is going to earn his hazardous duty – aka combat – pay this go around, as well as his spurs as an airmobile cavalry trooper with his AH-64.

We band of brothers

Capt. Wales' support network
The United Kingdom’s Prince Harry probably already knows he is not a normal human being, but he needs to work on it a bit.
Still, from a trooper standpoint, Capt. Harry Wales has burnished his credentials a bit: He is a trooper in more ways than one. Not only is he a qualified armor officer, but now – like his big brother – is a qualified helicopter pilot (although one with Cavalry spurs of an AH-64 pilot). I will say this for the Wales brothers; they seem to be good leaders and good flyers.
Now, for Capt. Wales’ little dustup in Las Vegas: What was it they say about Vegas – “What plays in Vegas, stays in Vegas” – well, in this case (as in most actually) it doesn’t.
Ok, he is a single 28-year-old Army officer with lots of money to spend. You expect him to act like monk or something? However, being humanly rowdy, his fellow troopers can appreciate his hijinks and his hijinks are something of a tradition in the British army.
One of my favorite authors, John Masters, was a former British brigade commander who rose up in the Gurkha regiments during the late stages of the British Raj in India and during World War II. Read any of his books on British army life, or his autobiography, and you will find such hijinks sprinkled throughout the life in a British officers’ mess (off duty time). It seems it is part of the ritual.
Given the type of life soldiers live, such reaffirmations of being alive take on a special meaning that is difficult, if not impossible, to explain to people who haven’t “been there.” However, to those who have, then they know a solidarity that makes soldiers (of all uniforms) truly a band of brothers. Prince Harry has expanded his “band” to encompass a multitude and I have no doubt that were he to lead a charge, there would be many followers.
In a sense, that is what leadership is all about. Making contact with your followers and getting them to identify with you enough that they will follow you into Hell and back.
(Of course, I wouldn’t recommend such hijinks in today’s environment of cellphone cameras and the internet. Too many people just won’t understand when it inevitably gets out.)
Shakespeare put it best in Henry the Fifth (You know Harry is another version of Henry):
Henry V's Crispen Day Speech
“But we in it shall be remembered-
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
    Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
    This day shall gentle his condition;
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
    Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.”

Random Thoughts 11

My rant today is about OJ Simpson. Enough already even. I see where Simpson supposedly has been arrested for an incident in Las Vegas where he and his bodyguard entourage allegedly rousted a couple of entrepreneurs who were auctioning off his memorabilia ... which apparently had been illicitly acquired. Well, I really would not like to get worked up over this, but its headline status on the news makes me want to throw up. I guess I am tired of this apparent fixation on Simpson, the murder of his ex-wife and all the other stuff about this once-great football player and sometime movie star.

Why oh why do we get so hung up on celebrities like him? Is it because he is "black" and got away with murder? OK, I don't know if it murdered his ex, the criminal jury said there was reasonable doubt, a civil jury said the preponderance of evidence was that he was responsible for the two deaths and now every one is coming out of the woodwork to say that a book that was ghost written for him is the real truth and Simpson is confessing. Well, they say that confession is good for the soul but I hope the book flops. Of course, given all the media attention, it won't and thousands, if not millions, of copies will be sold.

I guess I want to be an ostrich went it comes to celebrities and just ignore them. Who cares what idiots like Simpson, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Angeline Jolie, Katie Couric (did I leave out any names I saw on the front of the checkout rags I saw at the grocery store when I got milk last?) happen to be doing, thinking or outraging?

I know ... it is what passes for news these days ... much like the news of who was appearing in the Colosseum in Rome this week was for the Romans two millennia ago (or was it 15 centuries, who the flip cares?)

I sometimes feel like the Rearden guy in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged ... trapped in this world and wanting to change it so people would focus on reality ... but then I could go off on the tangent of whose reality. Anyway, the Sunday New York Times (9/16/07) had an interesting piece that book and Rand's Objectivism philosophy has had on a lot of business leaders.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15atlas.html?em&ex=1190088000&en=cd6337257785a5ce&ei=5087%0A

OK, I guess I am done ranting now.

Oh, and for those who want another perspective on Iraq, George Bush, etc.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/14-09-2007/97145-bush_iraq-0