Uninitial Observations

The nice thing about being in academia for fifteen years and then re-joining military service is that it has given me an uncanny knack at recognising those within the service who are serving to fulfil there own egotiscal ends and those that are serving for the pride of service or at least thereabouts.

As an academic I was witness to and part of an industry (loosely defined) that, for the most part, does not require team cohesion where lives are on the line. In this light leadership and ultimately the pursuit of it, that I witnessed, that drives most people in that industry to succeed was, again for the most part, borne from their passion of the subject matter. It then followed, and likely still does, that those who lead in that industry tend to be people who started out their careers in an authentic pursuit of knowledge, which, of course, may or may not be driven by their own ego. However, be that as it may, I argue that the egotistical desire no matter the size in that arena (academia) pales in comparison to that of an ego driven individual in military, and the later can have deleterious effects on an naive facet of an organisation such as the Navy.

Unfortunately in the military this plays out to the detriment of seafaring war fighters. I have witnessed this in two Navies now and the characteristics are plain.

There are those obsequious, smellfungus, lickspittle, makebate individuals who thrive in a military community by placating to their superiors yet all the while treating their peers and subordinates with malcontent. Given the posting cycle that is so common amongst Naval seafarers this can be hard to snuff out. As the person of this character is usually cunning enough to lay quiet when newly posted and slowly snake their way into the ears of Command. And to those who know no other life but a military one, this type of individual is very difficult to recognise and likely even more shocked to know just how much they are not respected by their peers or their subordinates.

Fortunately this is where a principle referred to as three-sixty reporting can be beneficial. That is if those above that individual are allowed to critically review such findings.