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<p>And with that comes the awesome and often lonely responsibility to do it as they best see fit.</p>
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How quickly those that are given the privilege to represent the people of this country forget that they serve at our pleasure.
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<p>If you were referring to those that represent us as elected officials you are obviously quite right, we cannot however hold a referendum on the actions of individual officers every time it suits us. The result would be havoc. </p>
<p>I do not say this in defense of the actions, conduct or policies of the new Supt. I am simply stating what I believe to be true. In my opinion taking the Al Haig “I’m in charge” approach to leadership without some demonstration of an understanding of the practice of implementing change in any institution is a serious mistake. The new Supt has the authority and he is obviously in charge, he need not consider the input of anyone, least of all us lowly coffee clatching (clutching???) parents. </p>
<p>You can succeed by shoving change down the throats of your subordinates, obviously you have that authority as the Supt. You can also set goals and challenge the brigade to meet and exceed them by instruction and example. I’ve found that children and indeed adults that I have directed are much like water, you can use a deft hand and direct them through a course, you can even place obstacles in their path that they must get around in order to move forward. If on the other hand you try and grab them, hold them firm and squeeze them hard to get a hold and try and control their every move, you inevitably have nothing in your hand in the end.</p>
<p>oorah...rjrzoom57...</p>
<p>that is exactly the point.</p>
<p>The military is an ordered structured environment. As Junior Officers aboard ship, their every move will be dictated by the Plan of the Day (POD). They must learn to operate in this arena (and eat that which is placed before them). Somehow, I think that the new Supt believes that this might not be the case for some of the current midshipmen, probably though no fault of their own. </p>
<p>The main purpose of enlisted boot camps is to instill this principal. When stationed in Corpus Christi, Tx, I performed at least a dozen summary courts martials approximately twice per month on UA sailors from those wild and wide open spaces of South Texas who were unable to grasp this basic premise. </p>
<p>They have got to learn to walk before they run.</p>
<p>I am all for the focus to be on academics and military readiness. Extra-curriculars are just that; and mids shouldn't be missing class and study time for it. That being said, I thought we were training our next set of officers who needs to be well-rounded individuals with broad experiences so as to be able to make sound decisions amidst a variety a situations. Oh well. But, my concern in terms of spending more time in the fleet is do they have the budget for it? I know many mids' cruises were cut short or cut entirely (like protrimid sp?) due to budgets. Also, during a time of war, the last thing the fleet needs are a bunch of mids hanging around to learn from them. So be it. There have definitely been some problems and this is just a different approach. I am hopeful that things will go well. Admiral Fowler has a good group to work with so things should be fine.</p>
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<p>All good leaders will buy in to orders from above and, generally, no good leader will state that an order originated from above. If the officer is on board with the system, he totally buys into what his superior desires, and one's order becomes the others.</p>
<p>We had the asst dant come and speak to our parents group tonight.
I cannot say enough how key effective communication is to this process, and he was excellent.</p>
<p>As a direct result, seeing things a bit clearer tonight.</p>
<p>usna69.... finally got the answers re: responsibilty and accountability I was looking for. May the rest "rest in peace."</p>