"Zipper Failure" and Wise Words to Heed...
2006-11-29
Posted by: badanov
Fromt TFA:
this reminds me of a tale I heard told about the Command Leadership Course in Newport, RI several years ago. A distinguished flag officer came to the classroom to speak to the newly selected, but not yet in officio commanding officers.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “congratulations on achieving the pinnacle of command at sea, a major milestone in your naval careers. Very shortly now you will stand on a podium in front of an apparently adoring crowd speaking these words: ‘I relieve you sir.’ At that moment you will be responsible for the lives and welfare of America’s finest sons and daughters, and of them you will forge a critical link in the defense of the republic.
“Very shortly thereafter you will be gratified to learn that your professional opinions have become infallible, that your sense of humor is outrageously entertaining and that you yourself are quite suddenly irresistably attractive. Shortly after that you will feel unassailable, bulletproof.
“If you learn nothing else at all from your time at this school, the most important thing to take away is that none of these things are true. You are no smarter, no funnier and no better looking then you ever were. And you are most decidedly not bulletproof.
“Enjoy your time in command. Does anyone have any questions?”
The way the story was told to me, no one did.
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