Ok here we go...
In 1991 as we the Air Operation opened, the CSA decided he wanted a private brief at code word level with only staff principals. The normal brief in the ops center would go on as scheduled but we would hold the special brief downstairs adjacent to the intel SCIF. The new briefing area immediately became known as the Bat Cave.
The set up showed who was a prince and who was not. The CSA and Vice sat in high back leather chairs, The DCSOPs (3 star) sat at on end of the table and the AOC director (2 star) sat at the other. Their chairs were leather as well; the backs were not quite as high as those of the CSA and Vice. The other three staff principals (3 stars) sat in cheaper chairs along the back wall; these chairs did not even have arm rests.
There were rules: The brief started when the CSA's butt hit the chair (or the Vice if the Chief was gone); and everyone had better be there when the CSA sat down. An unspoken rule was only questions came from the CSA, the Vice, and the Ops (who generally did follow up questions after the CSA or Vice had asked something. The three principals along the back wall were there to answer questions, not to ask them. Their main rule was to stay in their own lane in answering such questions.
Well one of those guys just couldn't follow the rules. He showed up late. He asked questions about ops issues. He even suggested ops changes which sorta broke the camel's back. The next day I heard the Ops and the AOC Director exhange a few words concerning the offending principal, something to the effect "its taken care of".
The CSA was gone so as the Vice walked in and sat down I started talking. Only to stop as you know who walked in late. I noted that the AOC Director winked at the Ops as the late comer hurried to his chair and sat down.
Instead of just sitting comfortably, the late 3-star who was fairly short had to do a sort of jumping perch onto the chair and then immediately grab both sides to keep from falling off. Someone mysteriously had extended the chair as high as it would go. His feet could not touch the floor. He remained caught in a teeter-totter balancing act for the rest of the brief.
As the briefer I could see all of this but I could also see that the Ops and the AOC Director could barely keep from giggling while they watched me try not to laugh.
It was the last time the offender was late to a Bat Cave brief. And he always checked his chair before sitting down.
Generals will be boys too
Tom
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