NO army, and I do mean no army, can survive on the wisp and will of its soldiers deciding for themselves if they will carry out an order. I believe that someone said it best that if the order was not immoral,illegal or unethical,IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT. Forgive the caps, no shouting intended.

The purpose of a military unit is to operate as a cohesive fighting force. Can you image the reaction of the other platoon that carried the order out. Discipline is the paramount concern. In the Marine Corps, during boot camp, we had a drill that we conducted every single day. Whenever the drill instructor ordered us to get in front of our racks(bunks for your military terminology impared), we had to spell out the word DISCIPLINE. With that,we had to also recite the definition given to us:”The instant,willing,obedience to orders….” The wasn’t alot of room or tolerance for disobeying orders. Now I must say that this was 1985, things could have changed a tad bit since then, don’t know?

Rick,I thought that was the funniest comment about the 75mm vs the 76mm gun. I’d have to agree, neither gun was of much use against the German panzers. Its interesting to note the mindset of the soldier than and the soldiers of today. WW2, the tankers knew that they were outclassed and overmatched by the Tigers and Panthers and the many tank variants that were on the battlefield; yet, they continued to go into battle everyday. I believe that the nature of the culture is not rearing its ugly head. We are beginning to see the me generation. An Army of One huh?

In 1960 a a shipmate and I took liberty together in Sasebo. We drank a tad much and decided to sleep it off before returning to the ship. We rented a motel room and slept……..until 10am. Unfortunately, the ship sailed at 8am. The Navy really hates it when its personnel aren’t onboard at sailing time.

We reported to the harbor SP’s and awaited our ship. The next day she returned and we boarded to much chiding from the crew. The captain considered 30 days brig, but let us off with two weeks restriction to ship because the two of us comprised 2/3 of the radio room crew. We got off easy and never did it again.

Shortly after that I stopped drinking.

Maybe this ‘Amber’ had a legitimate gripe. But it seems to me, as one with no military experience, that this ought to have been taken care of through the military command (sergeants, captains) rather than by a cell phone call to mother and NBC.

I do not sleep safer knowing that our nation is being defended by people named “Amber”.

The WNBA and US Olympic Basketball team? A socio-political platform.

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“Reagan calls women ‘America’s little dumplins’”

They brought home gold because they played OTHER GIRLS!

The best WNBA team couldn’t beat an average boy’s high school team and the challenge has been offered. The WNBA declined because they knew that a loss or even a close game would irreparably damage the myth that these girls play real basketball.

Thank you for a wonderful and lovely comment about American women. It made my day.

I bet there are a few who thought that this would be a great way to make a little bit of money for a few weekends of work and 2 weeks training.

They didn’t bank on actually performing duty.

Just a thought.

John

Hmmm Patton would have slapped them and Ike would have fired Patton and sent him to DC to make coffee for Gen Marshall in the War Department. That was a different time and era. Soldiers question orders now yet they offer no solutions. I know I was there but bottom line is that this was a blatant case of dereliction of duty and if the Soldiers were that concerned they would have gone through the proper channels and utilized their chain of command instead of calling home and crying to mommy. This might sound cliche to some but “Duty comes first.” Understanding the fundamentals of what it is to be a soldier will give you that warrior spirit to succeed at all costs. I pity those soldiers who failed todo their duty. War is not pretty and neither are the men and woman who fight.