Service members’ epic responses to news that Mattis could be new Sec Def

[rangerrebew]

Service members’ epic responses to news that Mattis could be new Sec Def
By Staff Writer| November 18th, 2016|Popular|0 Comments

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Trump to meet with Gen. Mattis about being Secretary of Defense
Bright Mountain Media


The news of Donald Trump’s planned meeting with retired Gen. James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis has spread like wild fire on social media.

This afternoon the Associated Press confirmed that Trump aides said Mattis is a potential contender to serve as Trump’s defense secretary.

While many are more than ecstatic about the news, some are in disbelief -even saying that if the news is fake “they will kill somebody.”

Here are some of the most epic responses we could find:

http://popularmilitary.com/service-members-epic-responses-news-mattis-new-sec-def/

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Here's a great (and true) story about Mattis that gives a real insight into the man, and illustrates one reason why he is so well-respected by troops and officers:

Another famous Mattis story is the time he worked on Christmas in 1998.

Charles Krulak, who was the Marine Commandant at the time, told Stars and Stripes newspaper that when he arrived to deliver holiday cookies to a Marine command at Quantico, Virginia, he was told that the duty officer was Mattis, then a brigadier general.

"So I said to him, 'Jim, what are you standing the duty for?' " Krulak told the military newspaper. "And he said, 'Sir, I looked at the duty roster for today and there was a young major who had it who is married and had a family; and so I'm a bachelor, I thought why should the major miss out on the fun of having Christmas with his family, and so I took the duty for him

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/who-mad-dog-mattis-trump-s-likely-pick-defense-chief-n686706

Imagine how that major felt, and the impact on the rest of the command when that story got around.  Follow the man into Hell, indeed.

[rangerrebew]

Its the right thing to do.  I used to stand the duty for senior petty officers on every holiday.  I was single with no family in Mejifornia so, why not?  I'm not trying to detract from the wonderful act of the general or blow my own horn, just saying if we all looked for a way to help others, we wouldn't have the nonsense going on in this country.

[SZonian]

For a General to do this speaks volumes...the single enlisted used to do this for the married enlisted when I was in.

The married/family folks would get Christmas off, single folks would get New Year's off...

[EC]

He doesn't forget. He was a grunt for 4 years prior to getting his commission - officers who've mustanged up tend to be better officers than those who didn't.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Its the right thing to do.  I used to stand the duty for senior petty officers on every holiday.  I was single with no family in Mejifornia so, why not?  I'm not trying to detract from the wonderful act of the general or blow my own horn, just saying if we all looked for a way to help others, we wouldn't have the nonsense going on in this country.

I know that's common within ranks, and even within the officer ranks.  What wasn't common (at least in my experience) was doing it vertically across multiple ranks within the rank structure.  So while a single company grade officer might take the watch for someone who was married, you wouldn't see a single colonel taking it for a captain.  For a general to take a major's watch is not something I'd ever heard of before.

But I agree with your point.  That's the kind of leadership that obviously would have set an example within his command, and put everyone on notice that it is always your duty to take care of your subordinates first.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

He doesn't forget. He was a grunt for 4 years prior to getting his commission - officers who've mustanged up tend to be better officers than those who didn't.

He and General Kelly are two of the finest officers in a generation, and both were mustangs.

My experience with mustangs tended to be at the extremes.  Some (like Kelly) were the best.  Others less so.  More rare was for them to be simply average.