The Life of Me: Collector's Edition

Hell is a frozen tundra Part 2: This is ridiculous.

I was excited to come to my current assignment. It's close to home and family. Plus, I had expected it to be a great learning experience and a nice change of pace from my last assignment in Nebraska. Well, it was certainly a change of pace.

One of my previous posts painted my commander as a jackass. I'm not apologizing for that because many senior noncoms and officers share the same views. "Worst commander I've seen" is a common gripe. Well, I mentioned in my last post that I was separating from military service for personal/professional development "big picture" reasons. I'd never get out just because my commander was a jerk; that's shallowness right there. However, putting that paperwork right in his face and watching him squirm was cathartic for me. So far, over 5 officers under his command have separated. That doesn't make him look good around base.

But then something happened.

The reason why Hell is a frozen tundra now is because this incompetent and belligerent idiot...got promoted to colonel. Can you believe it? Was I wrong to portray him so negatively? Me must have done something right, because now he's an O-6. How can I feel confident in a bureaucracy that would promote a guy like that? Because he was promoted, does it mean that his crappy leadership and management of my squadron is something to be emulated in order to achieve success?

When I was first told the bad news, I didn't even get mad. The Anger did not manifest. Instead, I felt defeated. It was like...I don't know...like when you work really hard for something and ultimately fail to achieve the goal. That's how I took the news. I walked out of the office today quite downtrodden. It's just that this person is the antithesis of what our ROTC instructors described as the type of leader that would be most effective in the modern military. But now he gets to play a colonel.

Was everything I was taught about leadership and now attempt to uphold somehow wrong? If so, better to leave the military now than to experience more of this in the future. What are your thoughts, gentle readers?

posted by anthony fuego @ 10:27 PM