Lt. Col. Wade Workman canned
According to the Associated Press, Lt. Col. Wade Workman, commanding officer of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA-232) based at Miramar Air Station in San Diego, was relieved of his duties;
Miramar Air Station spokesman Capt. Kurt Stahl said Workman “fostered an unhealthy command climate that negatively impacted trust within the unit that is critical to effective operations,” but officials did not find any misconduct
From the San Diego Tribune;
Citing “issues concerning command climate” within Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232, the Corps announced the firing of Lt. Col. Wade “Casper” Workman on Wednesday. A highly decorated fighter pilot, Workman took command of the “Red Devils” on Jan. 15, following a stint as the Operations Officer of Marine Aircraft Group Eleven.
Category: Marine Corps
“unhealthy command climate”….
hmmmmm
Second Marine Commander relieved this month at Miramar:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-marine-relieved-20161202-story.html
Yep… two down in a month. Get you wondering what’s going on at Miramar or with Marine Corps Aviation in general.
I would like to know what is meant by ‘unhealthy command climate’.
Could be anything… hopefully it’s not a special snowflake/SJW with a severe case of the butt hurt.
^^^ Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
That is something like what I was concerned about.
“unhealthy command climate” sounds like one of those “I don’t like you but you’ve not done anything I can ding you for, so I’m gonna make crap up about your leadership” excuses.
My thoughts EXACTLY! There has been a LOT of that (documented) in the Air Force in recent years, and although I haven’t heard of it as much, I’m sure it’s also happening in the Marine Corps, as well as the other services.
Unhealthy, or toxic, command climate is seen when commanders do things such as publicly berate or insult subordinates, publicly undermine subordinates and encourage them to eat each other (so to speak), working hours are from an hour before PT to about 8 or 9 at night, frequently issuing orders and expecting subordinates to keep up with the frequent changes, etc.
Can also be failure to kowtow to the special snowflakes that should have been weeded out at the recruiter’s office, or at the very latest, basic training.
More likely they should have been weeded out in ROTC.
I was referring to the special snowflake subordinates, not the commanders. I don’t doubt that there are toxic commanders (I served under a couple), but I seriously question the “toxic command climate” charge in the absence of any concrete evidence, especially nowadays.
We used to call that a normal work day and we sucked it up and were better for it. I guess times change.
Times certainly have changed. When I joined the 2nd Bn/509th Infantry in Germany I was surprised to discover we worked 6 days a week in garrison and in the field or at a training area, 7 days a week. The first 11 weeks in the unit I never had a day off. I guess they were preparing us for my next tour, in RVN, where every day was a duty day, 24/seven. Without a day of the week window on a wristwatch, you never new what day it was, because every day of the week was the same as every other day.
Working until 21:00 is a toxic command climate? I wish that I knew that back in 1990. I had a dickwad Warrant Officer that would work us from 05:30 to 21:00 to “get ready for the inspection”. We fixed every friggin’ radio in 29 Palms, and instead of giving us some comp time, asshole calls Camp Pendleton and tells them to send us their broken shit. Thank Allah that Saddam invaded Kuwait, they issued me desert cammies and I escaped to Desert Shield.
Hey, I’ve worked with a few of those type of flaming assholes before. Last one was a real ‘weiner’… loved to single out Preventive Medicine HM’s (he was one before he got his commission) and decided he had to hang out at the head shed for 3rd Med Battalion all the time instead of with the company – there would be weeks when nobody saw him. One day around Thanksgiving, he decided to take his fucktard skills to another level and gave the PMT’s a shitstorm of grief… I decided to step in. Told him in very matter of fact language that his leadership skills sucked and no one respected him as an individual and as a officer. He was removed shortly after the incident… but I paid for it with a fitness report that was “neutral” by the BN CO (who got relieved right after I PCS’d out).
I’d do it again… no questions asked.
The Navy could use more Chief/Senior/Master Chief Petty Officers like you Doc. Thanks for standing up for your guys. Bravo Zulu, Senior. ???
Now THAT is an example of a real NCO.
Nothing “Honorary CPO” about you my friend !!!
All I can say is that Captain Sobel in Band of Brothers is a fine example of toxic leadership while Winters is an example of a real leader…
Thank God for guys like you and them (real life).
Well, working until 2100 combined with some other things will create that climate. It’s never just one thing and, to respond to others, special snowflakes are rarely the cause of these sorts of reliefs. The primary reason I saw commanders get relieved for toxic command climate is because the stellar performers came forward, especially subordinate officer and NCO leadership. The military is still very much a meritocracy in that regard; the ones with a voice that can be heard are the ones who perform.
We used to say the same thing about this comm tech we had at Camp Fuji. The asshole would make us pm radios and CVC helmets. Interfered with quality ramp sleep all of the time!
I know those commanders exist – seen a few in the civvy world from time to time, and heard some stories from relatives and friend about military “leaders” who aren’t worth a dime.
However – 2nd commander relieved in a month? Red flags be flyin’.
It may not be those two commanders creating the toxic environment.
It means “won’t sufficiently kiss obamas ass!”
Unhealthy command climate means that the air in his office was conducive to illness. Perhaps he failed to regularly clean his office refrigerator or didn’t change his air duct filter as required. It’s anyone’s guess really.
For my own curiosity-is the CAR not issued for aerial combat? I see an air medal and commendation medal with V device, but no CAR. Could be that he is just not wearing it, but I wasn’t sure if aviators qualified.
Apparently not: The CAR (Navy/Marine Corps version) is awarded to members of the Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard (when operating under the control of the Navy) personnel with the grade of captain/colonel and below, who have actively participated in ground or surface combat.
He is missing at least one star on his Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon.
Yep-noticed that as well, but let it go (also no NATO ribbon, but I’m not sure if they have stopped issuing that for Afghanistan). I am constantly amazed at the troops I see who have no campaign stars on their Iraq or Afghanistan ribbons-NCOs should be squaring that away.
Highly decorated? Well…uhmm NO. His toilet seat dangling there says it all.
I assume he was better with a joy stick than a real weapon.
Not sure what he did but he reeks of Anus like behavior.
How about “moderately decorated”? It took Hack a few years to get in the Rifle Expert mode, but alas, his last time at the range was Marksman. Never did better than Marksman on the pistol. I guess when that gang of medieval crackheads finally catches up with him, it will be a closed casket. Not for what they will do to Hack, but her doesn’t want anyone seeing him cross the River Styx sporting two toilet seats.
HAHAHAHAHAHA, not to worry brother. Remember you will find the streets in the hereafter guarded by United States Marines.
I assume those of you who like to waive Maggie’s Drawers will have other, less targeted duties as well.
But I did get Expert on the Flame Thrower Range. (See my sea story that I posted (WOT?) a few weeks back)
All it takes is one barracks lawyer and a command climate survey will screw you everytime. E-1 and up bitching in secret! You’re damn right it was one of our special groups of snowflakes that had a grudge.
He probably didn’t lower the flag to half-mast when Fidel Castro died.
Two things. First, he looks gay. Second, and this has some connection to the first, he is a USNA grad.
Yo!
Ding on FitRep, kiss chances for 0-6 good bye, and get stuck driving a desk. A few months from 20…work on resume & drop retirement papers – it’s over.
Probably got gigged on an EEO survey.
Or could have been overheard saying something like, “over my leather neck dead body, will I install transgendered heads at my command”.
No misconduct found means, he hurt someone’s feelings.
That is all.
EEO or Command Climate survey… I’ve seen a few CO/XO/CMC’s get shit canned over a bad command climate – especially when the command’s climate issues make the Spanish Inquisition look like a picnic.
From what has been made public, this could be either an affirmation that he is the real deal or a goof ball. No way to tell. That said, the way things go under this administration, I’d lean toward him being one of the good ones. Who knows. Let’s just hope that it works out as it should.
Sometimes folks who excel in one arena have no particular talents in another. Some guys in my surgical training program (1978-83) were smart, did great research, always published in the journals and easily made us all look and feel stupid in conferences. At graduation the Chairman and Professor Emeritus would keep them on as faculty because the boss knew if they were actually released into the community people would probably die in high numbers out there as they weren’t good with the scalpel. Sort of the opposite here, maybe best to have kept him in the sky chasing bogeys and showing how it’s done. CAPT Bones USN (ret)