This will be my last post before I arrive in Afghanistan where I will be required to wear a bright yellow reflective belt during hours of darkness on the FOB (forward operating base). I wanted to leave you with another true story about other stupid rules that don’t make much sense and, in fact make things worse when followed without logic or reason. I got this from my father in an email and verified before I reposted it.
The Good news:
It was a normal day in Sharon Springs , Kansas , when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train for the long trek to Salina .
The Bad news:
Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing became overheated and melted, letting a metal support drop down and grind on the rail, creating white hot molten metal droppings spewing down to the rail.
The Good news:
A very alert crew noticed smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train in compliance with the rules.
The Bad news:
The train stopped with the hot wheel over a wooden bridge with creosote ties and trusses. The crew tried to explain this to Union Pacific higher-ups but were instructed not to move the train! They were informed that Rules prohibited moving the train when a part was found to be defective!
REMEMBER, RULES ARE RULES!
(Don’t ever let common sense get in the way of a good disaster! )
CJ, good luck in Afghanistan. Thank you for serving this country. Anyone who thinks the unfettered terrorists won’t come here is smoking, and it ain’t cigarettes.
After 22 years in the Army, I have learned that most of the people in the Army NEED rules. Too bad that the people writing the rules never get out from behind desks.
@Warren: Warren, I completely agree. The military is one of those few professions where rules are regulations can mean the difference between life and death. However, rules for rules sake help no one.
Back in 2009, General Oates wrote a blog post on the 101st Airborne page when he was commanding general asking troops about rules they thought were “stupid.” It generated hundreds of comments from not only 101st troops, but troops all over the Army of all ranks and MOSs.
Good luck! Stay safe!
CJ,
My prayers are with you. take care!
Eerily reminiscent of Atlas Shrugged, CJ.
Stay safe, and we hope to hear from you soon.
johngalt writes: “Eerily reminiscent of Atlas Shrugged.”
I remember that scene in Atlas Shrugged where the stationmaster orders the coal-fired engines to pull the Comet through the tunnel underneath the Rockies, asphyxiating all aboard. He really covered his a** though, like all good bureaucrats know how to do.
CJ, I always found the 91st Psalms to be a comfort when I served.
I pray the Lord watches over you sustains your loved ones in your absence, Safe journey and God Bless.
Semper Fi
Wow, I’m surprised that the REMF’s don’t have you put a nice flashing light on your helmet too. Happy hunting.
The Best, CJ!
I promise to keep my keyboard oiled and sighted in while you are away.
Me and a bunch of others will keep an eye on things at home. God Speed.
Thank you for helping to keep me living in a free country.
As the son of a WWII Vet and the brother of a Gulf War Vet, I thank you for your service, CJ. My congenital heart defect precluded me from serving, though I did try to enlist.
You are a cut above, my friend and I salute you!
Good luck on your deployment. I’m halfway through my final deployment to Afghanistan before I retire. I just wanted to say that back when dinaosaurs walked the earth when I enlisted, rules were there as guidelines, but the officers and NCOs were encouraged to utilize common sense to know when (and how far) it was OK to bend the rules for the good of one’s soldiers and the army. Ever since Clinton and the RIF, that flexibility entrusted to leadership has been whittled away such that the army is almost unrecognizable after my 27 years. All this PC crap and ‘zero defects’ mentality, coupled with the increasing focus on social welfare stupidity (instead of our real mission to kill the enemy and crush his ability to make war), it’s become much harder to focus on doing what we are supposed to be doing.
@Babydoc: I’m thinking I’ll have to deploy one more time before I retire in 3 years. But, THANK YOU for your nearly three decades of service. I once wanted to stay in that long, but for reasons you just cited I can’t do that with a clear conscience any longer. I love my country, but the instruments created to protect and defend it’s values has become as corrupt as those values themselves. There are shining rays of positive light and I hope they become the leaders of tomorrow’s military and right the ship. In the meantime, I’ll be content knowing I did what I could to make minimize the BS for my troops.
CJ, best to you, and those who will be with you,
hope to read you when you can,
your comments are so informatives and make so much sense,
touching the real troubles that the troups encounter when they are back here,,
we will look forward to read it from there,
take care SR
@Babydoc: Surely you can’t be referring to “Consideration of Others” training. Everyone knows that is more important than shoot, move, and communicate training.
From,
anothervet (I goofed when asked for my name. I’ll have change it back. There are two other Toms who post here.)
Good luck, and Godbless you Sir! Thank-you for your service for our nation. I hope and pray that you will have a safe tour, and come home with no injuries.
@CJ:
Good luck CJ. I appreciate your sentiments. I was considering staying in long enough to make O6, but Mrs. Babydoc vetoed that when I let her know that staying in would certainly mean another deployment. Besides, I have a very lucrative civilian job waiting for me when I retire in 357 days. Anyway, hope your deployment goes well.
tom, yes, good that you where not capital letters, that’s where I notice the difference,
how about tomcat, or tomato lover, or tomyworld or tommy or
tomahawk
just trying to help
Tom/anothervet:
You are correct, Sir. That COO touchy-feely propaganda crap makes me wanna hurl. Common sense tells us all to treat other people like we would want to be treated. All the rest is mealy-mouthed platitudes for pencil necked geeks who never learned how to deal with the fact that there would always be somebody else who was better at doing some things than they were. Another big reason I am retiring is I cannot in good faith go along with the new party line that open homosexuality belongs on the same level as marriage. I cannot imagine the headaches commanders are going to have to deal with in barracks arrangements, unwanted homosexual advantages, and EO complaints for homophobia. Watch the MSM do everything to cover up such events, just like they covered up Bradley Manning’s decision to steal classified documents due to being jilted by his homosexual bedfellow.
But nevermind the rambling rants of this crusty old fart…what the hell would I know?
@Babydoc: I retired in 2009 after 30 years in the USAR . I miss the troops and the deployments but still stay in touch with some of my NCO’s who made my job as a 1SG a lot easier. How bad has it gotten in the last couple of years? The writing on the wall seemed to indicate a return to the PC years of Clinton, maybe even worse.
@ilovebeeswarzone: Thanks. I’ll stick with my original screen name which when I picked it, it was because I didn’t know what else to pick. Tomahawk would have been neat but isn’t there someone here who has that name?
another vet, there is another, anothervet, witch one are you?
I was directing my other comment to tom, are you him?
if you are ,that means there will be 2 anothervet counting you
I nener seen a comment from a name tomawk, I don’t think there is one,
bye how about Tommyboy?, just thinking
@ilovebeeswarzone: One in the same. For some reason when I went to post it asked me for a name etc. I put my name in there thinking it wasn’t my screen name and it changed my screen name. Hopefully this will fix it.
another vet, okay so you are the anothervet too?
or another of the anothervet?
the same another vet at 23 as the anothervet just above you on21
Stay safe, CJ, and thanks for keepin an eye out on the youngsters who are there.