Posted on May 18, 2016
Navy chief tells fellow admirals to rethink integrity and behavior in aftermath of scandals
3.28K
38
14
11
11
0
I think the problem of flag level (and Colonel Level 06 Pay grade) misconduct is service wide, Navy, Air Force, Army and to a lesser extent Marines (probably because we have less flag level officers and the Marines have lesser budgets and therefore lesser exposure to the corruption of defense contractors, IMHO).
There have been some really high publicity scandals both moral and criminal that seen to have hit flag level officers in the Air Force, Army and Navy in the last couple years, so I think it is appropriate to ask is this bigger than one branch of the service. I think most of us hold flag level officers to the highest standard due to their rank and the fact that they are passing justice on lower ranks as Command Convening Authorities. This is one of the reasons I was so dissapointed in General Petraeus when he admitted adultery and passing classified materials to his lover, Paula Broadhead, herself an Army reserve Major and fellow West Point grad. Adultery is clearly a crime in the US Military and the UCMJ, and who knows how many convictions for Adultery Gen Petraeus upheld as a Convening authority in his 30 plus years as an active duty Army Officer.
There have been some really high publicity scandals both moral and criminal that seen to have hit flag level officers in the Air Force, Army and Navy in the last couple years, so I think it is appropriate to ask is this bigger than one branch of the service. I think most of us hold flag level officers to the highest standard due to their rank and the fact that they are passing justice on lower ranks as Command Convening Authorities. This is one of the reasons I was so dissapointed in General Petraeus when he admitted adultery and passing classified materials to his lover, Paula Broadhead, herself an Army reserve Major and fellow West Point grad. Adultery is clearly a crime in the US Military and the UCMJ, and who knows how many convictions for Adultery Gen Petraeus upheld as a Convening authority in his 30 plus years as an active duty Army Officer.
Navy chief tells fellow admirals to rethink integrity and behavior in aftermath of scandals
Posted from washingtonpost.com
Leadership
Corruption
Honor
Ethics
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
6
6
0
Capt Lance Gallardo , Sir I think the root cause stems from a developed sense of entitlement. Websters Dictionary defines entitlement as the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges). In each case of either Flag Officers or the high profile Colonel cases there was a belief that they were above the law. COL Johnson, the 173D Commander, was getting TDY orders for his mistress as his cultural advisor, BG Roberts from Ft. Jackson got into a physical altercation with his mistress, BG Sinclair did his thing, and it goes on. There is just a belief that permeates "What are they going to do? Make me retire?" but what ends up happening is not only a bad name for the services but it continues to show the clear divide between Officer and Enlisted accountability. Until punishment is reconciled to be standard for both sides and other Flag Officers start policing up their comrades, the entitlement attitude will remain.
(6)
(0)
Capt Lance Gallardo
SFC (Join to see) Hundred and ten percent agree with your comments about entitlement and I would add a kind of an invulnerability mentality largely rooted in "hey I am flag level officer now" I am part of the "ultimate" good old boys club. The Best flag level officers never forget that those stars on your shoulders only mean that you carry the weight of the responsibility of your command and your rank more heavily than everyone else, and they never forget that the leader holds his position in a Democratic Republic to be the "ultimate servant," not the one who is served. There is a humility that should go with that level of command and authority and in the best officers it is always there.
Contradictory I know, to be both Humble and Proud at the same time. But those kind of officers are personally Humble, but Proud of the achievements of the men and women they lead and what their unit as a whole does, and they are not quick to take credit to themselves, but to deflect praise away from themselves and onto those that they lead.
In that respect, our first CinC George Washington, will always be the model of what an American General Officer is supposed to be. I also think of John McCain's Admiral Grandfather, who gave everything during WWII including his health and passed away mere days later after the end of the War and VJ Day-2 Sep 1945 ( John Sidney "Slew" McCain Sr. (August 9, 1884 – September 6, 1945)). My mother's father gave everything that he had in a different way and was KIA US Army Infantryman, 103 INF, 43ID, March 14th, 1945 and is still buried in the US Cemetery in the Manila the Philippines. Left behind a wife and three kids, the last one conceived on a 24 hour pass to see his wife one last time before he shipped out to combat in the Pacific. Final rank, PFC, US Army. Purple Heart, Posthumously.
Maybe because all of the men in my family who served (and that was most, either draftees or volunteers, father, uncle, both grandfathers, numerous cousins) were all enlisted, I have always been "enlisted oriented" and I have always wanted to see prior enlisted Flag level officers, especially in the Army and the Marine Corps, which IMHO needs leadership in its officers more than the Navy and the Air Force. Again just IMHO. We have only had one prior enlisted (in the Marine Corps we call them Mustangers) who has ever been the Commandant of the Marine Corps that I can recall, Commandant Alfred M. Gray, who led the Marine Corps during the Gulf War and was instrumental in instilling Maneuver Warfare into the Marine Corps and emphasizing that Marine at all ranks were required to read professionally and become Warrior /Scholars. I have heard a book and Autobiography is coming out about him, maybe this year.
Contradictory I know, to be both Humble and Proud at the same time. But those kind of officers are personally Humble, but Proud of the achievements of the men and women they lead and what their unit as a whole does, and they are not quick to take credit to themselves, but to deflect praise away from themselves and onto those that they lead.
In that respect, our first CinC George Washington, will always be the model of what an American General Officer is supposed to be. I also think of John McCain's Admiral Grandfather, who gave everything during WWII including his health and passed away mere days later after the end of the War and VJ Day-2 Sep 1945 ( John Sidney "Slew" McCain Sr. (August 9, 1884 – September 6, 1945)). My mother's father gave everything that he had in a different way and was KIA US Army Infantryman, 103 INF, 43ID, March 14th, 1945 and is still buried in the US Cemetery in the Manila the Philippines. Left behind a wife and three kids, the last one conceived on a 24 hour pass to see his wife one last time before he shipped out to combat in the Pacific. Final rank, PFC, US Army. Purple Heart, Posthumously.
Maybe because all of the men in my family who served (and that was most, either draftees or volunteers, father, uncle, both grandfathers, numerous cousins) were all enlisted, I have always been "enlisted oriented" and I have always wanted to see prior enlisted Flag level officers, especially in the Army and the Marine Corps, which IMHO needs leadership in its officers more than the Navy and the Air Force. Again just IMHO. We have only had one prior enlisted (in the Marine Corps we call them Mustangers) who has ever been the Commandant of the Marine Corps that I can recall, Commandant Alfred M. Gray, who led the Marine Corps during the Gulf War and was instrumental in instilling Maneuver Warfare into the Marine Corps and emphasizing that Marine at all ranks were required to read professionally and become Warrior /Scholars. I have heard a book and Autobiography is coming out about him, maybe this year.
(1)
(0)
4
4
0
Leadership must come from and be supported by the top. Clear communication from your leaders will give you both security and a clear understanding that you will be prosecuted if you cross the line.
The UCMJ is only as good as the integrity of those sworn to uphold that code. The more senior you are,the more severe the penalties.
The UCMJ is only as good as the integrity of those sworn to uphold that code. The more senior you are,the more severe the penalties.
(4)
(0)
2
2
0
Capt Lance Gallardo It has always been my understanding that the service academy's standards of ethics is designed to be a leavening/ instructing/ example/ force on the military as a whole. Any lessening/ breach of ethics in the military reflects poorly upon the effect of those service academys upon the military. If the military's personnel promotion system causes so many highly intelligent and qualified officers to depart after fulfilling their obligation, what penetrating conclusion could the pentagon arrive at? They also, could seek more honest disclosure!
(2)
(0)
Capt Lance Gallardo
CSM Charles Hayden CSM Hayden, there has been an active discussion in professional journals about whether the American Public is getting their "money's worth" out of the Service Academies. When you compare and contrast many factors, length of service, career advancement, violations of UCMJ/disciplinary actions, Major Commands held, and other metrics of a successful career as an officer in the US Military, the graduates of the Service Academies are being scrutinized like never before compared to their ROTC/OCS or Enlisted Commissioning Program Officers, and a case is being made that the graduates of the four service academies are not standouts or exceptional as a group of officers, when compared to their non-service academy graduate officers.
When you consider the financial investment of a four year degree and all the staff and training cost that goes into an Academy Education, some folks are making a compelling case that the money we spend supporting the four service academies would be better put elsewhere. In the past, pre-Vietnam Era Military, The Academy Class graduates were clearly the "Cream of the Crop" in the US Army, Marine Corps, and Navy. Today, not so much. They are not the overwhelming force that they were Pre-Vietnam War. Add to that the scandals that have rocked and continue to rock the Service Academies, whether that be sexual scandals, or cheating scandals, and you have many members of Congress asking themselves, are they worth it?
Personally I would like to see some of that money go into to grooming Enlisted Commission Programs, where the services are under a mandate to Promote, Educate, and commission no less than 25% of the Active Duty and reserve Commissioned officers from the Enlisted Ranks. If a Soldier, Airman, Marine, or Sailor has already proven themselves to adapt and succeed in the US Military, why are these folks not the first in line to attend college, paid for by Uncle Sam, while retaining "longevity" for pay purposes but not given time/points for retirement. Those with families to support, might have to be paid and receive retirement points while in college, with maybe a requirement that they are not retirement eligible for 22.5 or 24 years of AD service.
When you consider the financial investment of a four year degree and all the staff and training cost that goes into an Academy Education, some folks are making a compelling case that the money we spend supporting the four service academies would be better put elsewhere. In the past, pre-Vietnam Era Military, The Academy Class graduates were clearly the "Cream of the Crop" in the US Army, Marine Corps, and Navy. Today, not so much. They are not the overwhelming force that they were Pre-Vietnam War. Add to that the scandals that have rocked and continue to rock the Service Academies, whether that be sexual scandals, or cheating scandals, and you have many members of Congress asking themselves, are they worth it?
Personally I would like to see some of that money go into to grooming Enlisted Commission Programs, where the services are under a mandate to Promote, Educate, and commission no less than 25% of the Active Duty and reserve Commissioned officers from the Enlisted Ranks. If a Soldier, Airman, Marine, or Sailor has already proven themselves to adapt and succeed in the US Military, why are these folks not the first in line to attend college, paid for by Uncle Sam, while retaining "longevity" for pay purposes but not given time/points for retirement. Those with families to support, might have to be paid and receive retirement points while in college, with maybe a requirement that they are not retirement eligible for 22.5 or 24 years of AD service.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google