geauxtohell
Choose your weapon.
- Jun 27, 2009
- 15,125
- 2,170
Any one with any knowledge of the military knows this....and they also know its disgraceful. Especially during war time...yet they come back with he is honorable. HE IS NOT.Well, you cant take relief in knowing they made him "retire" after they took away his command.
You see, he is a disgraced X army officer who was told to either retire or get a court martial for what he did. He chose to "retire" and they made him pay 5k on the way out the door. What a fuck up he is, yet he still talks like he is honorable with the military.
Its fucking amazing to me.
After you are relieved of a command, retirement is basically you only next step (at the O-5 level). Your career is gone.
I won't attack West's service up until the point where he decided to go cowboy BN commander, but I do think it's a douchey move to wear your badges on your lapel constantly. Especially since many of his peers and then senators are much more highly decorated and don't walk around with their ribbons and badges on.
Where he scewed up is, he tried to do something he was not trained for, during wartime. You are right, he went cowboy and there is no excuse for it. None. He should have did what he WAS TRAINED FOR. That is what a good officer does....in the field and off.
What's screwed up is that he either lost his bearing (which makes him a danger to his men) or was trying to be Tommy Toughnuts (which makes him an asshole) and his unit lost a commander in the middle of combat. Talk about a monumental failing.
What pisses me off is that West has tried to turn the ordeal into a folk tale where he is the folk hero. The bottom line is he fucked up royally. You'd be hard pressed to find any officer who would defend what he did. Even in private. It was stupid.
The men I served under wouldn't let a private do that. Let alone an officer.
West might have cracked under the pressure of combat. Either way, he had to go. No way he could command after some bullshit like that.