U.S. military decimated under Obama, only ‘marginally able’ to defend nation

They have my concern.
Ze old style of writing, theoretical nature, and translation from older German don't help make it a page turner, lol.

Right. I always think people who claim to actually enjoy it, just watch Crimson Tide, and believe von Clauswitz often is the topic of conversation in the wardroom.

Here's the real topic of coversation.... after watching a little Family Guy on DVD, back in 2006 or 2007.

Commanding Officer of USCGC Vigorous (CO): So Mr. LITS, what's that mean? Are they saying John Travolta's a homosexual?
LITS: Captain, I'm not really sure what that meant.
CO: Well, it seemed like they were implying he's gay. Why is that Mr. LITS?
LITS: Captain, honestly, I only understand about half of the jokes on Family Guy. Everything else goes right over my head.
CO: Oh, that's very interesting Mr. LITS.


That was the last time we watched Family Guy in the wardroom. Not because it was forbidden, but because you could old take so much of the captain's questions. And because honestly, when it came to Family Guy, I'm not entirely sure I even got half of the jokes.

This was the same captain who, as we put in the 1980s "The Thing" with Kurt Russell, he said, before the movie even started, "Oh this isn't as good as the first one." And when I asked if he had seen the first one (I hadn't even realized there was a version before Russell (there has been one since) he told me he never actually saw the first one, but was sure it was better. That captain was a Citadel grad, took a commission in the Navy, ended his short time in the Navy, road around on a motorcycle, enlisted in the Coast Guard and immediately went to OCS. He had a way of talking in circles, so you could never get away.... you would realize he was starting his story all over again, but always too late to make a move. He was not a good commanding officer.

And we never talked von Clauswitz.
 
Ha! Ha! Great story LITS.

I am sure most (if not all of us) have had similar experiences with a senior officer or two. The military promotion system is no more perfect than anwhere else: sometimes the cream rises to the top; sometimes the scum.

The good news is that we can learn from both.
 
Ha! Ha! Great story LITS.

I am sure most (if not all of us) have had similar experiences with a senior officer or two. The military promotion system is no more perfect than anwhere else: sometimes the cream rises to the top; sometimes the scum.

The good news is that we can learn from both.

We had a new BM3 report aboard. He was a bridge BM, so he was essentially a quartermaster. He was going to learn how to chart and navigate. He had gone directly from bootcamp to BM-A school, to become a BM. In the first week he joined us, the captain was on the bridge and asked him a question about the chart. The BM3 pointed to an island, which was the wrong answer, and the captain's response....

"BM3, you better get your **** together, or you'll be back at K-Mart in a week."

This to a guy who was totally green and had little idea what was going on (and had likely seen one full bird once in his life.... if that).
 
cb7893 - I did see the "Katyn" movie-I was impressed with it's genuine depiction. Again, very interesting perspective.

I do not know where my father found the book "Death in the Katyn Forest" because I searched everywhere to find another copy-non at libraries, bookstores, antigue stores during the 80'-90's. We had the book in the early 70's. Now with computers, you can get anything quite easy--ie Amazon has the book readily available.

I have a series on Poland that may interest you. They are a series of 5 VHS tapes (probably can get them now on DVD) called "The Struggles For Poland" narrated by Rodger Mudd. The series was made in 1988 (series #10500,10501,10502,10503,10504) 1st tape 1900-1923, 2nd 1921-1939 & 1919-1943, 3rd 1939-1945, 4th 1945-1956 & 1956-1970, and 5th 1900-1970 & 1970-present. Produced by DNA "POLAND" with WNET/ New York in association with Channel 4/U.K and Norddeutscher Rundfunk/Hamburg 1988.

Also a more modern movie "Defiance" about the Bielski brothers.
 
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