Once upon a time I was a crew member of a US Aircraft Carrier and I can’t deny I hated every moment of it. There is one memory of it though that now stands out … the Skipper.
Perhaps he wasn’t the best Skipper as my ship ended up with one the highest AWOL rates of any vessel in the history of the US Navy… But he did succeed at one thing, at least for a while, as all Captains of naval vessels generally succeed at ….. leadership. Plain and very simple word is “Leadership” . I believe a simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a body of people to act toward achieving a common goal.
My Captain of 5,000 men took us …. all 5,000 of us… and united us into cohesion to complete the task. And all of us out there on that sea were a perfect example of America …. we were a microcosm of America out there. ….. we were
“Rednecks and Spics, Spooks, Athiests , Jews and Evangelicals, Muslims. We were cultured and educated and high school drop out losers . We were small town farm boys and inner city toughs . We were alcohol abusers and teetotalers and druggies. Some of us were foriegners … we were America.
That’s what and who we were all those years ago. And that Captain united us all to perform the mission at hand. He united us for the benefit of the vessel , ourselves and ultimately our country. Our back grounds and political points of view having not a thing to do with it. He united us as a leader is supposed to do., for the benefit of us all .
“For the benefit of us all.”
Recently the fear of a pandemic disease caused some of us to experience great fear while others followed the leader in his belief it was an opposing political parties hoax . My Captain of that aircraft carrier would have recognized that fear immediately . And he would have comforted those in fear and used the strength of those who weren’t afraid to aide him do it. That is what creates a united “crew “.
I make no apologies for my belief that the present “leadership” is weak as he could never equal the Skipper of a naval vessel,
and unfortunately for us all…. he wouldn’t even try … he’s far too busy ridiculing those that are
