A Rebuttal
To those of you complaining about my deeming Brian Losey a coward: I stand by what I said. I will not retract it, nor will I apologize.
There is enough corruption in this world to fill an encyclopedia. It’s visible in the news every day, in every part of society, and that includes law enforcement and the military. How many officers were slammed in the Fat Leonard business? How many senior NCOs and GOs have been caught with their pants down for abusing subordinates? How many cops have been charged with criminal and civil complaints over their behavior? How many politicians in office have been busted and dismissed or still hold office?
I did not base what I said on a newspaper article. I said what I said based on the DoD IG report, to wit: “We concluded that RDML Losey viewed the complaint as a personal attack against him
and reprised against Complainant in violation of Title 10, United States Code, Section 1034, as
implemented by DoD Directive 7050.06, “Military Whistleblower Protection.” “Losey was “livid” after receiving the complaint, and he called him into his office and told him to deliver a message to “the locker room” and tell them to: “play nice and wait until I’m gone. Smile. Act like you’re going to work … but if you continue to undermine my authority as a commander, I’m going to bury each one of them. I’m going to come after them and I’m going to make it very unpleasant.”
The IG’s conclusion:
“VII. CONCLUSION
We conclude, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that RDML Losey relieved
Complainant from his position as [redacted] and failed to place him in another position
commensurate with his rank, in reprisal because he suspected Complainant of filing an IG
complaint against him, in violation of 10 U.S.C. 1034
Note that Losey decided this individual was at fault without proof, based solely on his own suspicions. As indicated in the DoDIG report, when he met with the Complainant and asked him if he was the whistleblower and the Complainant said he was not, Losey refused to believe that and removed him from his position, subsequently transferring him elsewhere.
To see someone at Losey’s level of seniority engage in personal revenge against any subordinates because he simply suspected anyone of filing an anonymous complaint for his misuse of travel regs, with no real evidence beyond his own suspicions – which is what he did per the DoD IG report — shows a serious lack of integrity and a bullying personality that seems to have been hidden from most of the people who worked with him.
He went ballistic over an anonymous whistleblower. He used his position of authority to try to damage someone whom he singled out over the report of a petty error on his part, even though the object of his ire had nothing to do with blowing the whistle on him. That is unacceptable behavior in anyone at his level.
Abuse of authority by those in positions of authority is unacceptable, period. I expect better. I have a right to expect better. At Losey’s level, I expect integrity, which he has clearly demonstrated that he lacks.
This member of the Admiralty knew better, but ignored morality. He reacted exactly the same as a drunken 300-pound Chicago cop who beat the crap out of a female bartender when she refused to serve him any more liquor – because he had a badge and a gun, so he could do that and get away with it.
Before you say ‘oh, that’s different’, no. It is exactly the same thing. It is an abuse of authority to get your own way. Period. Losey abused his authority. There is no question of that.
Cowardice comes in many forms. It is not related solely to war zones or military decorations. Any abuse of power or authority is the act of a bully and a coward.
If you don’t recognize that, you are not paying attention.
I stand by what I said.
Category: Navy
Amen
Much of the information above stood out for my but when the IG uses words like based on the “preponderance of evidence,” it’s game, set and match!
Furthermore, as someone with some military experience too many years ago and a retired PO this paragraph hit home and put it all into context; “This member of the Admiralty knew better, but ignored morality. He reacted exactly the same as a drunken 300-pound Chicago cop who beat the crap out of a female bartender when she refused to serve him any more liquor – because he had a badge and a gun, so he could do that and get away with it.”
Retract? Apologize? WHY!!!??? I don’t think I’m missing anything, or am I?
The single hardest part of being a Sr NCO was having the patience to allow information to develop before making decisions for action.
No one is ever perfect and no one really can do it all of the time…after all, we are trained to make decisions quickly.
But targeting our people based on guesses, perceptions, and bias is a quick route to destroying the good order and discipline of an organization and sap its will to win.
I’m not familiar with this situation except what I’ve read, but he failed rule number one of senior leadership: Take nothing personally…
There is also the fact that he had an extensive combat career, which does require a certain degree of aggressiveness to be successful and survive. I understand and acknowledge that.
At the same time, when someone in a senior position is no longer in the field, but acting as a director instead, if cannot dial back his aggressive behavior after he leaves the combat zone, he has a problem.
It is one thing to be demanding. I’ve worked for very demanding people, put in very long hours, met their expectations and was rewarded for it. I’ve also worked for people who were screaming termagants, terrified their employees, and had a revolving door employee roster.
Losey, according to that report, exceeded being demanding and also failed to recognize that not everyone was the hard charger he is. If you want people to work hard for you, that is acceptable as long as you recognize it. If you don’t recognize their hard work but just demand more and more, it’s your own failure as a leader.
There is too much speculation going on about this, so I stuck to the IG’s report.
Ooooo! Termagant!
I learned a new word today. Who says Mondays are totally sucky?
Me too MSG, a classy way to call a bitch a bitch.
Well done Ex, well done.
BTW I see nothing for you to take back.
Me, three!
You called a decorated navy vet a coward. Then the blow back happened. Nice article, but I doubt you would call him that to his face. Not for fear of violence, but because you get the pleasure of saying it over the internet without asking or knowing what really took place.
So, please ma’am, keep being hard. You never met the man. You never served with him. But above all, please book a flight and tell him to his face that he’s a coward.
You misunderstand my response to his behavior, IntelPog. I don’t care what awards he wears. I care about his behavior toward subordinates. I said that. Please reread what I wrote.
Please tell me you know the entire situation. I assume you are privy to everything that was going on in the command before you called him a coward.
Ladies on the military…. Always run their mouth.
You want me to call him and tell him he’s a prick? Offer to meet at the front gate at Great Lakes? Is that it?
There are people who posted here who have stated opposing views about him, that he was a tyrant and that he was not a tyrant.
You’re free to disagree with me. Other people here have disagreed with me. I have a right to my opinion, and whether you like it or not is your choice.
I’m not the one who called him a coward. I’m not offering shit.
Well, at least I know how dense you are. You can’t understand plain English. I wasn’t offering to meet you.
No you were not.
You aren’t offering anything, except to call a man a coward online. That’s less than anything.
“Hell hath no fury like the non-combatant.”
So much ‘White Knighting” (look it up) going on here because pH is a chick. I’m curious about how many CARs that PH has. I doubt it’s three.
Oh, wait – combat action ribbons mean more to you than how someone behaves after he’s out of the combat zone?
Your sense of values is somewhat skewed if you place more value on medals and bling than you do on behavior out of the arena.
I don’t. I don’t judge a man when I’m not apart of his review board. I DAMN sure don’t EVER call another man (military or not) a coward unless I’m ready to tell it to his face.
But some people are willing to do that.. search your soul..
Oh, listener close, don’t ever call decorations bling. I’m sure that’s how a chick in the military feels about decorations, but trust me, they aren’t “bling”.
Oh, I get it. That is exactly how you judge people, by the number of ribbons and medals they’re wearing. Nothing else matters to you.
Not at all, but I don’t call a warriors decorations bling. But I’m sure with your “Nation Defense Service Medal” you think of it as “Bling”.
It is easy to sit back, judge, lob insults, and qualify someone’s entire 33 year career in less than a day. When I take a step back from this entire story, the overall is quite funny. This is a the case of a support asset (Ex PH-2) insulting a pipe-swinger (Losey). Keyboard fights ensued. No matter what happens, Rear Adm Losey is an O-8 (ret) making $142K/year with a hefty $70K check in back pay due to Congress delaying his promotion. In the end, he wins. I doubt he cares what any of us have to say about his character and service. He served honorably, and he served well. As I said previously, if anyone feels like posting their resume against his, I’d love to see it. Ex-PH5, you can go first. Since I’m still active duty, I’ll post my last report and duty history after yours.
Weak.
Your response is weak. You lack of courage to show your credentials. You are a coward. It is probably because your service falls short in comparison to Adm Losey’s. Bottom line, you have never been in a leadership position, you have never had G-series orders, and you never will. Keep writing for This ain’t hell. It’s a good website with one weak and cowardly commentator.
You begin to show your true colors with this personal stuff, which is non sequitur.
You disagree with rançois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), who objected to a book being burned and hanged because it was not officially approved.
Lest you forget, he said ‘I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’
You have the right to disagree with me. Or does that only apply to certain people, in your view? We all have the right to speak our minds. I don’t care if you disagree with me, but you lack courtesy and comprehension.
All this personal stuff coming from you is grossly inappropriate.
Sadly for you, it is not a non-sequitur. To restate your last line, “All this personal stuff coming from you is grossly inappropriate.” Let’s start from the beginning. Baselessly, you claimed an officer whom you do not know, not to be a SEAL, a qualification he earned. More importantly, you claimed he is a coward. You did not qualify that statement to his actions, such as his actions were cowardly. To borrow replies from your most recent post, “words matter.” By writing he is a coward, you judged the entire man. That sparked outrage in many, including me. Your defense of your statements from the start has been ad hominem (attacking the person and not the argument, since it is apparent you do not know the meaning).
As for the Admiral, with numerous command positions, I’ll bet he has dealt with many morally challenging leadership problems throughout his 33 year career. They are never easy.
If you would like to philosophize, let’s do that. You can say what you would like to say about the man. They can be as outrageous as you would like. However, your claims are baseless, demeaning, and unjustified. It shows your true character. From that, I conclude that you are flippant and vapid. When confronted (electronically), you immediately attack the person, not the argument. Then you say personal attacks are non-sequiturs, which is what sparked the outrage to begin these threads.
Truthfully, it sounds like you don’t like the taste of your own medicine. Or do I not have the right to say that, snowflake?
By the way, I know there are many ad hominems, and I don’t care. You deserve the verbal reprimand due to your arrogant and thoughtless remark.
He IS a coward!
I will amend, a petty two bit narcissist with a god complex who was probably bullied as a child coward.
Okay, Shannon, I accept your opinion, but I’ve run into bullies my whole life, stood up to them, and didn’t turn into THEM or develop a god complex. Most of us don’t.
Most of us know when to draw back the aggressive part of our personalities. In my opinion, Losey does not.
This one strikes home to me, a commander I was once under decided to “Punish me” for not towing the line on firing a civilian employee unfairly. It lead to quite the investigation taking almost two years in which time the civilian was transferred to another unit and absolved of all wrong doing. I on the other hand was relentlessly hounded by leadership until new leadership PCS’d in. All because he felt wronged.
That sucks. And I’ve seen it before. It isn’t new. It shouldn’t happen but it does.
Once again, I’ve seen too many times on this site, enjoy being a bad ass mother fucker that would say shit to a spec war guy in real life.
Well, this article is going to “kick the anthill”. My comment might as well.
I understand and agree with your sentiment, Ex-PH2. But I must disagree with your choice of words.
As I’ve said elsewhere: I seriously doubt that the man is a “coward”. But even GOs and FOs sometimes forget that rules – and laws – apply to them too. That can happen for any number of reasons: pride, faulty character, anger, lust, whatever.
And when they forget, they sometimes walk on themselves wearing golf shoes.
My guess is that that’s what happened here.
Agreed, Hondo. However, I would like to remind you that Desmond Doss was labeled a coward for registering as a conscientious objector and refusing to carry a weapon into a combat zone, and had the crap beaten out of him for that. He did not refuse service. He refused to carry a weapon.
I did not choose that term lightly.
Good point.
Not a good point.
Yeah, you did choose it lightly. You thought you were among friends and you tried to be a hard ass. It bit you. And now you’re trying to bring in a name you didn’t know until the movie came out last year?. Shame
I knew about him before you did, you sap. It was in my history class in kindergarten. But then, maybe I should have said ‘Bennett’instead. You’re really trying too hard to pick a fight.
You didn’t learn about Doss in Kindergarten. You’re straight up lying. You, just like the rest of us can barely remember Kindergarten. Finger painting and number. Are you no bullshit trying to say when you were 5 they were teaching WWII stories to you? I’m calling BS.
Don’t think he is trying to pick a fight. He seems to be legitimately angry with your words. Like the other guy in the other thread.
Uh, so doss was called a coward, but it turned out he wasn’t. So what side of history does that put you on, pH? Are you the one calling someone a coward?
I would add that just as there are different types of courage, there are different types of cowardice. Not seeing his own faults can be a type of cowardice. Seeing any criticism on his position as an attack can be cowardice. It depends on the severity of response.
Exactly.
Please don’t tell the rest of woman-kind that I was right. I don’t want to use my once a month being right so early this month.
Not in a million years, would I do that, MSG.
You’re Swell.
Well, this sucks. I tried to help avoid a battle royal on this because I thought that we are all entitled to be rash from time to time, but now you’ve gone and doubled down, invoking bad cops and cutting corners, attributing to the IG some sort of omniscience and automatic correctness of conclusion. Loyalty to one’s peers and superiors is no insignificant matter. If I recall correctly from the account, he was in Africa not two weeks when someone filed a complaint against him alleging that his daughter had flown out on the taxpayer’s dime to visit him. Two weeks? Yeah, he was targeted early and had solid grounds to suspect that someone was using their anonymity to do him harm. From that point, there were other complaints, some unfounded, according to the IG and some that were not. He was absolutely correct that he was in the cross hairs of one or more disloyal subordinates. Good luck, Ex-.
Thank you for your support, AirCav.
I think there is more here than meets the eye, and unless other verified info comes up, I’m sticking with the IG’s report. If he was ‘targeted’, you’d have to ask why.
There seems to be a lot of gossip, which I prefer to ignore. Until there is verified information to the contrary – and I don’t mean vapid news sources – I will stick to my guns.
Senator Grassley’s letter pretty much eliminates any doubt as to Losey’s guilt regarding the retaliation. He did it, that’s clear. The issue for me is who and why the original leak that set this all in motion.
Another point: from the Military Times article first referenced in the previous TAH comments comes the information from Losey’s own peers and those close to him, the fact that the guy has a terrible temper and had difficulty controlling it.
My suspicion is that Losey was such a formidable warrior and combat leader that his peers wanted to overlook his travel transgression as just a bit of playing the system. However, his subordinates, some of whom may have fallen frequent victims to that terrible temper wanted to see him taken down.
I served under a colonel in Vietnam who I greatly admired when I was a grunt in a line company. He was an old warhorse paratrooper from WWII and Korea and the troops loved him. When I began serving on his staff I discovered quite quickly that he was a heavy drinker who treated his staff officers and NCO’s horribly when he was drunk. The troops in the line had no idea of that side of him.
Even though he was an alcoholic, he was still promoted to O-6.
This is getting good….
Non omnes principes nullum crimen habentes. Ideo vigilandum aliquem principatum.
In the Federal government, those “someones” are the various IGs.
Like any other part of government, IGs aren’t perfect. But if you’ve got a better feasible idea regarding how to perform that function within the Federal government, I for one would certainly like to hear it.
Not all princes are blameless. Therefore, they resort to the rules.
They’d be better at principatum if they were not so tight-assed about the rules. 🙂
Well, perhaps this will wind down after a while. Aliquam sit Deus et non nobilium.
Apparently the reverse translation into English doesn’t work very well in Google translate. The Latin intro, in English, was intended to translate as follows:
“Not all leaders are blameless. Therefore, someone must watch the leadership.”
“Awards do not make one a god.”
I think I need a better dictionary.
I’m sticking to my guns.
Anyone want to pick a fight with me?
Line forms on the left. Bring a sandwich.
No.
You integrity and character are not misplaced.
Keep your chin up and toe the line.
Roger that.
Got no complaints with your or your character. Unlike most people who toss the term “coward” out without getting pertinent facts you did the right thing and looked at it with an unbiased lens, thought about it, and gave a well thought out opinion. No harm in that and you didn’t level any unfounded accusations. You did right brother.
Sister, Jay. Sister. Thank you.
Gah….awkward! My bad, lol. I’m gonna blame it on being half buzzed pain killers. Yeah, that’s it.
That’s okay. I do understand.
Um … that would be “sister.”
I suppose asking you to make a sammich for us wouldn’t be such a good idea right about now huh…
Good job, I can hear the steam coming out of your collar when I read thi.
Good job Sister !!!
Naw, this time, you have to bring your own sammiches!
What I find strange is that the team guys all looked up to Losey, he excelled in the field of combat, but when he had to leave that behind, it seems he did not make the transition as well as he could have. There are opposing opinions regarding how he behaved from people who worked for/with him after he left the combat field. It’s my view that there’s more to this than what came out of the IG’s investigation and the subsequent follow-up.
I’ve got tons of bread and huge amounts of meat.
That’s not what your girlfriend told me last night. 😉
I think that it is a very long stretch for me to rely on an IG report to cpndemn a man let alone call him a coward of any kind. IG investigations are rarely without bias and truth never seems to be an obstacle in coming to the foregone conclusion they expect.
I would rather have a dozen Admirals of his caliber in my corner than the usual flag officer yes men.
I respectfully and completely disagree with your assessment that he is a coward of anykind and if he is, we need more cowards like that.
Accepted. I respect your point of view.
Losey seems to be the kind of leader you’d happily run into a gunfight beside, but you’d avoid being on his staff like the plague. Excellent combat leadership skills do not always equate with good staff leadership skills. Two completely different animals.
A person sees wrongdoing. He reports it anonymously and the matter is investigated. The subject of the investigation regards the complaint as subterfuge and disloyalty. Given the timeline, the subject’s reaction is not far fetched. He looks closely at his subordinates and scrutinizes their performances. He finds that some are lacking and transfers them. They, in turn, file complaints against the subject. All the while, the person who started the ruckus, quite falsely, sits silent while others suffer. That’s the coward.
The only problem, 2/17 Air cav, is that the subject’s reaction you reference was investigated by the DoD IG and found to have violated the very specific prohibitions contained in 10 USC 1034.
Every leader wants loyal subordinates, and has the right to get rid of those he/she finds to be disloyal. But Federal law also bars retaliation of any kind – including an unwarranted removal or reassignment, or reduction of scope of responsibility – against those making IG complaints. And even if someone is “out to get you”, violating the law to get rid of them isn’t a legitimate option.
There are ways to remove people in such a situation, but those take time (build a case for poor performance that’s well documented on paper and which has no connection to any IG complaint). It appears to me that Losey simply didn’t want to take the time to do that. There are any number of reasons why that could have been his choice.
I would be quite interested in knowing what Losey’s JAG advised him concerning the matter. I can’t believe his command’s JAG didn’t get wind of this and advise him he was walking into a minefield.
Then again: I’ve seen at least one JAG (and maybe more than one) bend over backwards to issue what I thought were rather questionable justifications to “make things happen” when the CG wanted them to occur. So it’s also possible they told the man exactly what he wanted to hear.
Yes, there were conclusions drawn that were both adverse and favorable to him and I certainly do not endorse witch hunts. Nor do I value false accusations, lodged anonymously, the sole purpose of which may be embarrass someone. Was the unfounded complaint against him regarding his daughter’s travel made in good faith? I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do think that there was fire beneath the smoke of disloyalty.
His own peers said Losey had anger issues and difficulty controlling his temper. Find the most frequent victim of his wrath among his staff and you likely have your whistleblower.
I had Army HRC (The High Royalty Command as I call it, or Human Resources Command if you must) retaliate against me because I went to the IG. Their Congressional Liaison Office even blew off my Congressman about it too.
It seems that whistleblower protection laws make it even more painful in addition to the other retaliations someone gets for calling bullshit.
Ironically, the three involved from what I read aren’t the whistleblowers…
‘Fire beneath the smoke of wrongdoing’…
That’s a fair question, AirCav. My response is how much of it is smoke, in reference to your view that there was disloyalty, and how much of it was fire, generated by his very possibly arrogant personality?
We don’t know what he’s really like, but if he goes to work for a defense contractor, as a lot of those people do, and he’s needlessly abrasive with the employees, how long do you think he’d keep that job?
You’re right.. We don’t know what he’s really like. But it didn’t stop you from calling a decorated spec war guy a coward, did it. You weren’t there. You never served with him. You damn sure didn’t see the elephant with him, but you run your mouth the write a crap article , not defending him, but your own self serving self.
Still going on about decorations. You’re blind to everything else.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes….what you do to find success as an operator isn’t going to work in a political arena. If you don’t understand that simple reality you’re not fit for a second star regardless of what you did previously.
I keep hearing about stupid shit like it’s only a few mistakes in an otherwise illustrious career…that sounds like the apologists for people like Barney Frank…he had a great career except for that prostitution stuff in his DC apartment.
The prisons are full of people who made only one mistake…sometimes the nature of your mistakes outweighs all the good you’ve done.
I don’t know if he’s a coward or not, but it is abundantly clear that his temper created an inability to abide by US Code as outlined in the whistleblower act. If we don’t hold our officers to a higher standard as we pretend to do in all the literature then we are all part of the conspiracy of lies designed to protect officers who “only violate a couple of rules”….when the military ends the careers of those who beat up child molesters, someone abusing his authority to violate the whistleblower act seems an appropriate candidate for early retirement.
He played his hand, it wasn’t good enough and now it’s time to fold and go home. And so it goes, ad infinitum.
I should add that this case has all the classic he said/she said garden variety back and forth.
I don’t know Admiral Losey, but in his own words he stated that he understood and accepted responsibility for his actions and understood the Navy’s decision. That speaks to character and it speaks to whether or not he’s a coward, I don’t know that I can agree he’s a coward.
His temper might have prevented a second star, and generated his early retirement but without a finding of criminal negligence which the IG did not find I’m not certain the coward label fits.
The IG report has been called into question, the Navy’s subsequent investigation found fault with the IG report and Admiral Losey so I’m not certain relying on the IG report as the end all and be all is appropriate with the results of a follow up investigation on record.
Just a clarification for the sake of fairness. If you are basing everything on the IG report without considering Admiral Michelle Howard’s follow up I would suggest you are not seeing the entire picture.
It is possible for Admiral Losey to be wrong and not be a coward….just sayin’.
I agree. I’m frequently wrong, but I admit it. If I find that I am wrong about his personality, which appears to be over-the-top aggressive and arrogant TO ME, I will change my opinion.
I’m not questioning his behavior or service in the field. I am only addressing his subsequent behavior after he left the field.
Looks this way to me, too.
What I miss??
Did you miss breakfast?
Sadly, yes……these early mornings are catching up with me.
dammit…..fat fingers mistake…sorry about the need to moderate my reply.
I agree with you Ex, no need for any explanation here!
Agreed. Admiral Losey may have done many outstanding things in his long career, but in this instance, he dishonored himself.
Hey Ex-PH2, I respect your opinions and read most of what you post as well as your comments. I’ve found you extremely knowledgeable and insightful on a wide range of topics and issues. Your willingness to revisit this issue also speaks well of you.
I think there is more going on here than made into the WaPo article, but he certainly didn’t avoid the hint of impropriety by his actions.
It may be arguing semantics, but I see him more as potentially being a tyrant than being a coward. I think the connotations that come with ‘coward’ make it not a good fit. True there are many different forms of cowardice, but for those of us who have been in the military it’s become almost synonymous with physical courage.
That being said BZ’s for facing the fire.
Tyranny or bullying, they are one and the same, and they tend to cover personality issues that come to the surface later.
I agree with your take on the military angle of cowardice, but when the gunfire stops and people come out of the field, the part of them that makes them great warriors sometimes manifests itself as the tyrant or bully when they leave the combat zone. That is a form of cowardice, in my view, and we see it the civilian world in tyrannical bosses and despotic rulers.
Perhaps the real problem is that no one was willing to face Losey down and tell him, to his face, that he was an arrogant ass.
Whatever there is underlying all the rest of this noise (for want of a better word), he ran into people who didn’t view him as a god, or didn’t jump when he snapped his fingers or whatever. The result is this dustup.
The admiral is a douchebag loser. Plain and simple.
And, now, if those of you who want to bury the admiral, have a few minutes to read an account that puts things in a different perspective, read this:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/13/inside-the-takedown-of-the-top-navy-seal.html
And, if you do read it and give it a fair reading and your negative view isn’t softened, well, there’s wanting to be right and being right and the two aren’t the same.
I did read that, AirCav, and my response is that he may have ruffled a lot of feathers which has since backfired on him.
I said that I’m not questioning his field service. It may that his transition to the desk simply did not go well at all, and this dustup is the result. I think there is more to come, and I will wait for it.
Not sure if he is a coward or not but he is a certified asshole who should never have had his childish vindictive ass anywhere near a command position
You know, I have read more than I ever cared to about this admiral. I have read about the civilian complainant who didn’t get his ass in gear. I have read about the USAF guy who whined and moaned. And I have looked at the admiral’s distinguished 33-year record and I must say this is the biggest snipe job I have seen at TAH in the many years I have been here. I’m sorry things have gone as they have, but the admiral’s record is intact, he has been promoted, post retirement, and the worthless bastards who played patty cake and then complained are consigned to frustration and anonymity. Good for them.
So I’ll throw in my 2 cents here, make of it what you will. How many of you on here have served with this man? I have.
I served under him for nearly 2 years and the picture the congressional reports and media touts isn’t him. I never saw an ‘uncontrollable temper’ nor any hint of unprofessionalism from him. I’ve had several one on one conversations with him, both at work and socially (wardroom events), and his character is what I would expect from a SEAL, an officer, and an Admiral.
Now, did he retaliate? The report makes that clear. But as others have pointed out, the first report was made 2 weeks after he reported (and the claim about his daughter was sorted out, he provided proof and receipts he paid for the ticket not the government).
He did break the rules (about retaliation) though, and he paid the price because we actually hold our own accountable. But for those who are making him out to be an out of control tyrant, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Your tone, your delivery and your willingness to address the rule breaking allow me to assign great weight to your words, Bubblehead. I would say that yours is the fairest comment I’ve read.
Thank you Bubblehead for being a pillar of strength in this sea of silliness.
Bottom Line.. this column isn’t about his behavior. It’s about some chick in the Navy calling a Spec War guy a coward. Her shitty choice of words reflect more on her, no matter how she defends it, than the Admiral.
Now she realizes (like we’ve all seen with women in the military) that she’s stepped in it and will count on all the white knights to back her play.
Either way. I’m not sure where all you cats come from, but I’m from the South. If you call a man a coward… you damn sure better mean it. Its…its just not a word you throw around casually. It will get you in trouble quick. And I’m sorry to say, its a word that women just don’t understand.
Paint yourself into a corner much with that broad brush you are using?
OH, come on, OWB. What I said pissed him off. He has the right to say so.
Unfortunately, he’s not willing to see the other person’s side of something. Apparently, he thought I was looking for pats on the head or something and I wasn’t. I knew that what I said was controversial and would get flak. It’s a shame he has such a narrow view, but that’s his problem, not yours or mine.
LOL wow POG, you went all in. Strong words. Seems like majority do not share her sentiment.
Was reading through Losey’s Bios and even the Wiki article doesn’t have a lot of meat on it as far as his career before becoming a flag officer.
He has 3 CARs. I was wondering if he received them for being under fire on operations with a team or was it a matter of the base he was on coming under fire.
Iraq and Afghanistan would be a given as far as the places he would get two of them. Wondering if he was in Somalia, Desert Storm or Saw action in Bosnia.
Also its interesting to see how difficult it is to be a high ranking SEAL officer. There isn’t a lot of places for them to go other than being on some sort of Joint Staff Billet.
A few issues butting heads, as seen from the peanut gallery over here.
What one guy calls reassignments to mediate a hostile work environment another calls a witch hunt. Could go either way, depending.
Warriors and others in the line of fire literally do not possess a switch they can throw when they leave the line which instantly makes them “civilized.” Always been that way, and likely always will be. It’s why polite society would rather that its warriors stay out of sight until they are grudgingly brought out when needed.
Rules cover most situations but not all. Guess wrong and it can end an otherwise stellar career. Knowingly breaking rules is risky.
Still don’t know the Admiral, never will and can never know enough about this case to form an intelligent opinion of it. What I do know is that each of us is free to have an opinion based upon whatever criteria we wish to use. While I do not agree with PH’s choice of the word coward in describing this Admiral, I completely support her right to use it.
Our character is sometimes defined by those things we are willing to do in spite of what we want to do. This is not a battle of my choosing. There is no need for most of the attacks I have seen in these two threads. However, since some folks can’t let it go, for what to some may seem to be irrational reasons, bring it.
I just wonder what will be gained by taking sides around this thing over which none of us has a bit of influence. It’s done. Can’t be undone.
Thanks, OWB, but I knew what would happen before I sent this article off to Jonn. If he thought it was an inappropriate thing for me to say, he would have told me so, and why, and not posted it.
I did not expect everyone to agree with what I said, but I won’t back down.
Neither will I pursue finding out what he’s up to now that he’s retired.
If someone can’t accept the opinion of another that differs from his without having a fit of anger, that’s his curse, not mine.
Here’s another perspective on the admiral from someone who knew him for 30 years. The more I read about the admiral, the more I admire and respect him.
http://www.tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/william-mcraven-a-warriors-career-sacrificed-for-politics-20160424/
Moral cowardice, in going after and punishing a subordinate based on “I think you switched on me, so you get stitches”.
I get what you are saying. I know several people who display moral cowardice, but proved themselves on the battlefield. Unfortunately, it is their lack of moral compass off the field that they will be remembered for.
It isn’t just in the military. A major law firm in Chicago had an attorney who was brilliant in the courtroom but went through his staff like a buzz saw. I knew someone who worked for him as his legal secretary until she couldn’t stomach his abuse any more. She said he had the rottenest temper she’d ever seen in anyone, but what made him a great lawyer made him an asshole elsewhere. He didn’t know when to shut it off.
I believe in and support our system. But I abhor the abuse of power anywhere. Power, authority over others is an honor to be granted upon the worthy; an honor to be used as required by the position to get the job done. I have seen it abused by some pretty high ranks in my time. Every time it is misused it degrades the honor of all others possessing or who may ever possess it. This so called Admiral, a word that appears to be derived from “admire” should be stripped of his star and retired. As I was told when I served with the Navy, “One aw-shit cancels all the atta-boys”. That should apply double or triple for Flag rank and commanders of all ranks when they disgrace our service. No slack on these abberritions, cut-em-off at the knees.
I’m thinking he is not a coward. Some bullying and occasionally exercising poor judgment does not a coward make. To me a coward is someone devoid of any moral courage. I can’t make a connection from A to B here based on one incident, bad as it was.
He was a GO and he knew better than anyone that his bad behavior could get him called to the carpet. He knew the power dynamics were not on his side in the current military. The Navy has relieved dozens of senior officers over the last decade for an abusive command environment.
I imagine he did it anyway because with that much time in the SO/SW environment he could not stand the idea of having someone disloyal (to him) inside his organization. So he screwed up. He was already under the microscope so he gave them an opening.
What were the net effects? Did he order a code red? Did he publicly crush nuts in a sausage grinder? I think his vindictiveness and the personal vendetta angle is being overplayed here. Some of his actions were wrong but it wasn’t lack of moral courage that caused him to do the wrong thing, more like poor judgment. We are all guilty of that from time to time.
If he were a bully all the time and led that way that would be a whole other conversation. Likely one we would never have because he would not have been there.
“Did he order a code red?” Code red? Code red?
Oh. I know what that is. I watch movies, too.