"Standards of Excellence"

[Pete]

I am not a self-promoter and cannot keep my mouth shut when I see crap going on. It will probably cut my career short but so be it.

After the Mexican War U.S. Grant had a big Report of Survey against him when he had been the Quartermaster Officer of his regiment when it was in the Midwest during an extremely severe winter. The regiment was spread out all across the land in detachments, companies and battalions. Grant did all he could to keep them fed, with firewood and forage. When spring came Grant had to face the Report of Survey, and afterwards he had to go about a year without pay to pay it off.

When he was the senior officer of a group sent to California around 1850 the people were hit with a cholera epidemic when they crossed Panama. Men and women, officers and enlisted, children too were shi**ing themselves to death. Grant said it was the worst thing he saw during his military service, war or peace. When Grant got the group to San Francisco he get no credit from his regiment or the Army for his leadership during the affair.

After Grant got the old heave-ho from the Army his wife left him and moved back in with her father. Everyone thought U.S. Grant was an alcholohic loser.

Perceptions changed after he captured Vicksburg. In 1864 Lincoln decided he needed a real soldier in command of the Army of the Potomac, not a showboat, a prancer and dancer, or someone who would juggle the books to cover up a supply discrepancy on the property book. Grant's tactics were crude and bloody in '64-'65 but he got the job done. He was never a showboat and he was wearing a mud-splattered private's tunic when Lee surrendered to him.

[bumperplate]

I wonder if our Army/Society/Current operational environment would ever allow for a repeat of Grant's story as told above. I suspect it could not happen. We are too worried about metrics with regard to leadership, rather than mission results.

[Steve Blair]

After Grant got the old heave-ho from the Army his wife left him and moved back in with her father. Everyone thought U.S. Grant was an alcholohic loser.

Perceptions changed after he captured Vicksburg. In 1864 Lincoln decided he needed a real soldier in command of the Army of the Potomac, not a showboat, a prancer and dancer, or someone who would juggle the books to cover up a supply discrepancy on the property book. Grant's tactics were crude and bloody in '64-'65 but he got the job done. He was never a showboat and he was wearing a mud-splattered private's tunic when Lee surrendered to him.

Grant's wife didn't leave him. She'd periodically lived with her family, as was quite common during this time. And Grant's star began to rise with Lincoln during the Donelson period, with more motion coming in the aftermath of Shiloh. But that's just the historian talking. Carry on...

To address bumperplate's comment, Grant was in many ways an exception even during his day. Many officers in the pre-Civil War army would look very familiar to us today. Drones and careerists were just as common then in terms of the overall force (remember that we're talking about an army that didn't often clear 20,000 total strength and was often under 15,000). For every Civil War success we remember, there were at least 5 duds from the Regular ranks.

[Pete]

... Grant was in many ways an exception even during his day. Many officers in the pre-Civil War army would look very familiar to us today. Drones and careerists ...

What was exceptional about Grant was that he made it to the top and won the war nobody else could. The problem with this precedent from history is that America won't put a guy like him in charge until it's 5 or 10 minutes until Midnight and the end of the world as we know it is impending. As Churchill said, America can always be relied upon to do the right thing after it has exhausted all of the other alternatives.

[Steve Blair]

What was exceptional about Grant was that he made it to the top and won the war nobody else could. The problem with this precedent from history is that America won't put a guy like him in charge until it's 5 or 10 minutes until Midnight and the end of the world as we know it is impending. As Churchill said, America can always be relied upon to do the right thing after it has exhausted all of the other alternatives.

It's the nature of the system, Pete, and I think you'll find that the US is not alone in this respect. We just talk about our failings more than most other nations do.