Thor’s Hall

This week finds me on the road again, what else is new.  So, I get the chance to miss the first day of school for my 9 year old this year, and all the excitement that goes along with that.  I also miss the first day of Kindergarten for her sister.  First trip on the school bus, all the things that she has been stoked about doing…and following in her sister’s footsteps.

Tuesday night, I was walking out of the office here in Redwood Shores and one of my colleagues was going on about how hot it was outside that day.  Admittedly, it was unusually warm for this part of the country but all I could do was shake my head remembering the days that walking on the flight line left boot prints from the melting rubber.  Remembering days that you had to keep a bucket of water nearby to toss your tools in while working on the radar because they were too hot to pick up other wise.

One of my favorite characters in the blogosphere has another of his thought provoking  reminders up for you to read.  Go take a look.

It is always nice to have what you know to be true, confirmed by others. “America Needs More Marine Corps Values”.  Go read the whole thing, I’ll wait.

Here’s my favorite highlight:

Of course, honor, courage and commitment are always in short supply. But the Marines teach personal responsibility and accountability by example, that any chain is only as strong as the weakest individual link. As a unit, we are stronger working together than the individual members can separately be.

Marines take care of their own — and they take care of their fellow Marines before themselves. The well-being of the country and of the Corps is more important than our individual well-being.

This may best be stated in the hard-and-fast Marine rule: “Officers eat last.” The Marine officer does not eat until after his subordinates for whom he is responsible — the corporals and privates — have been fed. Marines live by the rule that loyalty goes both up and down the chain of command. Would not our country be a more just and human place if the brass of Wall Street and Washington and executive suites believed that “officers eat last”?

Yes, these are some of the values that are instilled in our Corps.  Imagine this nation if these were common values.

There is a saying, “From the outside, you wouldn’t understand.  From the inside, I can’t explain it”.  Here is an attempt to explain it…

OOORAH!

A little Hard Corps motivation for today.

I’ve been on a big clarity kick lately.  Sort of the knee jerk reaction to getting out of the Higher Education  project I was working on.  Simplicity and clarity.  Two simple concepts that we do not see enough of in the world right now.

However, we should be seeing more of it.  Instead of heading for retirement later this year, Gen. Mattis has been tapped as Commander CENTCOM.  This is a Marine who understands warfighting, he understands the middle eastern mindset, and he speaks very clearly.  There is absolutely no misunderstanding what his message is.

Over at Flopping Aces, the folks have an interesting view on the current administration’s approach to the hard problems it is facing.  It is, I think, a nice companion to my post yesterday.  Go read it.

Now, let’s contrast that to this 5 point tutorial on how to get things done over at Major Pain’s.

See any differences in the approach to getting things done?

On this Memorial day this video pretty much speaks for itself.

Against GySgt Wallgreens request I recorded his speach in secret….. the result is this awesome video with the last words we heard before boarding helos and heading into the heart of Marjeh. Have you ever wondered how Marines get pumped up? This video will show you how true leaders inspire their Marines to do the unthinkable.– description w/video on YouTube

Gotta love recruiting ads.

Offered with one comment…. watch them all.

Damn I miss this.

I have avoided addressing the Haiti situation because it has pretty much been covered elsewhere in excruciating detail.  So let’s cover the highlights:

1. Natural disaster strikes.
2. US immediately sorties assets to evaluate situation.
3. Concurrently follow on assets readied to address anticipated logistical requirements.
4. US forces recalled, deployed, and diverted from current missions to assist.
5. International community complains loudly about US controlling and monopolizing the logistics train.
6. Affected locals complain about insufficient assistance, and slow support.
7. Celebrities and news crews on site for “in depth” coverage and photo ops.
8. US picks up costs of effort without comment.

Now all of this is necessary, and given the magnitude of the event it takes some time to get assets in place, assistance moving, and the situation stabilized.  That is the nature of anything that impacts so many people.  But, to stabilize the situation and get to the point that widespread basic services can be restored, and long term rebuilding can begin these steps have to happen.

But there is that short term period of time before the supply chain gets rolling where small teams of individuals, with the right mindset, the right skill set, and the support of a grass roots team can make all the difference in the world.

This is the story of Team Rubicon, the Marines, soldiers, and volunteers that are making a difference.