Political correctness has done it.

Beginning with Robert S. McNamara, as Defense Secretary, the powers that be, decided to run the U.S. Air Force like an 8-to-5 business.  Warrior leaders of General Curtis LeMay’s stature were no longer to be found. The fundamental job of the military – “Kill people and break their things” (mainly “Kill, Maim and Destroy”) – became seriously hampered by “Rules of Engagement” (ROE) whose guiding logic is political not successful combat.

If and when the U.S. military should be defeated, it will be running the best “Day Care” centers in the world. We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO Club Stag Bar on Friday afternoons to drink, smoke and swap lies with our comrades.

Think about this when you read the rest of the letter below about what happened to our Air Force/Marines/Army/Navy or Military?

Drinking then became frowned on.  Smoking caused cancer and could “harm you.” Stag bars became seen as “sexist.” Gradually, our men quit patronizing their clubs because what happened in the club became fodder for a performance report. It was the same thing at the Airman’s Club and the NCO and/or Top 3 clubs.

Now we don’t have separate clubs for the ranks. Instead we have something called “All Ranks Clubs” or “Community Clubs.” They’re open to men and women of all ranks: from airman basic to general officer.  Still, no one is there. I wonder why?

The latest brilliant thought out of Washington is that the operators – “pilots?” – flying remote aircraft in combat areas from their plush desk at duty stations in Nevada or Arizona should draw the same combat pay as those real world pilots actually on board a plane in a hostile environment. Why?

More politically correct logic? They say that remote vehicle operators are subject to the same stress levels as the combat pilot actually flying in combat. REALLY?  That’s garbage!  Now that I’ve primed you a little, read on.

“It is rumored that our current Secretary of Defense recently asked the question, “Where are all the dynamic leaders of the past?” I can only assume, if that is true, that he was referring to Robin Olds, Jimmy Doolittle, George Patton, Ike Eisenhower, Pappy Boyington, Chester Nimitz, etc.

Well, I’ve got the answer: Today’s potential leaders were fired before they made Major or Lieutenant Commander!  Our President and Congress do not want those kinds of leaders anymore – the type of leaders that get things done!  Squadron commanders don’t run squadrons and wing commanders don’t run wings. They are managed by higher ranking idiots with other esoteric politically correct goals in mind.

Can you imagine someone today looking for a LEADER to execute that Doolittle Raid and suggesting that it be given to a dare devil boozer?  His only attributes were that he had the respect of his men, an awesome ability to fly, and the organizational skills to put it all together. 

If someone told me there was a chance in hell of selecting that type of a man today, I would tell them they were either a liar or dumber than dead stump post!

I find it ironic that the Air Force put Brigadier General Robin Olds on the cover of the company rag last month. While it made me extremely proud to see his face, he wouldn’t make it across any base in America or overseas without 10 enlisted folks telling him to zip up his flight suit, get rid of the cigarette, and shave his mustache off.

I have a feeling that his response would be predictable and for that crime he would probably get a trip home and an Article 15. We have lost the war on rugged individualism and that, unfortunately, is what fighter pilots want to follow; not because they have to but because they respect leaders of that ilk.

We’ve all run across that leader that made us proud to follow him because you wanted to be like him and make a difference. The individual who you would die for rather than disappoint him.  We had better wake up!

We’re asking our young men and women to go to really bad places, some with unbearable climates, never have a drink, have little or no contact with the opposite sex, not look at magazines of a suggestive nature of any type, and adhere to ridiculous regulations that require you to tuck your shirt into your PT uniform on the way to the porta-potty at night, in a blinding dust storm, because it’s it’s in the regs!

These people we’re sending to combat are some of the brightest I’ve met but they are looking for a little sanity, which they will only find on the outside of the US military if we don’t clue up.  You can’t continue asking people to live for months or years at a time acting like nuns and priests.  Even nuns and priests get to have a beer.

Who are we afraid of offending? These guys already hate us enough to strap C-4 to their own bodies and walk into a crowd and kill us along with themselves.  And we haven’t done anything to them!  Think about it.

Take it or leave it.  That’s just the way it is: no “if’s,” “and’s,” or “but’s.”  For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.