Do you believe this sh*t?........

[greenberetTFS]

An Army chief of staff labels Special Forces soldiers 'fugitives from responsibility,' too odd for the regulars
Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, March 11, 2011 - 10:58 AM Share

I had no idea that an Army chief of staff would feel so anti-Special Forces, and would say so. When I was up at Carlisle I read the oral history that Gen. Harold K. Johnson, who preceded William Westmoreland as Army chief, gave in 1973, and this jumped out at me:
The Special Forces...were what I would describe as consisting primarily of fugitives from responsibility. These were people that somehow or other tended to be nonconformists, couldn't get along in a straight military system, and found a haven where their actions were not scrutinized too carefully, and where they came under only sporadic or intermittent observation from the regular chain of command.
Of course, Johnson was speaking a few years after the biggest scandal in Special Forces history, when Col. Robert B. Rheault, the commander of SF in Vietnam, was charged by the Army with murder, only to get the charges dropped because the CIA said it would not allow its people to testify against him. (Rheault supposedly was one of the inspirations for the Marlon Brando character in 'Apocalypse Now.')
But Johnson also was speaking a few years after My Lai, and you don't see him condemn all infantrymen because of that.............

Big Teddy

[Dusty]

"The Special Forces...were what I would describe as consisting primarily of fugitives from responsibility. These were people that somehow or other tended to be nonconformists, couldn't get along in a straight military system, and found a haven where their actions were not scrutinized too carefully, and where they came under only sporadic or intermittent observation from the regular chain of command."


That's how I remember it, Bro. That's why I went to the Q course.

[JimP]

Heck - just wait until Petreaus publishes HIS memoirs if you want some anti-SF backlash.....

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by greenberetTFS

The Special Forces...were what I would describe as consisting primarily of fugitives from responsibility. These were people that somehow or other tended to be nonconformists, couldn't get along in a straight military system, and found a haven where their actions were not scrutinized too carefully, and where they came under only sporadic or intermittent observation from the regular chain of command.

This brought a tear to my eye. I'm so thankful that my predecessors laid the foundation for me 20 years later.

[longrange1947]

We had a saying from back in that time, "We have been doing so much with so little for so long, that now they expect us to do everything with nothing forever." That still applies today to some extent. It is similar to the saying that "Working here is like working in a Texas Whorehouse, the better you are the more you get f............." What I am saying is that idiots as that man saw only that he was notreported to when he thought he should be, he did not get what he wanted and he was not in the loop. This puts their nose out of joint.

He was probably a 2d LT on a team once too.

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by longrange1947

He was probably a 2d LT on a team once too.

He was a leg, started in 1933, survived the Bataan Death March and imprisonment in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea, and was liberated in late 1945.

Had a nut for big wars. Liked Infantry Square formations and division size engagements..

[dr. mabuse]

*

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

He was a leg, started in 1933, survived the Bataan Death March and imprisonment in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea, and was liberated in late 1945.

Had a nut for big wars. Liked Infantry Square formations and division size engagements..

Sooooo he was happy that 128 Rangers saved his ass with a very strong Guerrilla element of 250, most without weapons?

[Richard]

Olde news - it was the times - he wasn't the only one and SF often went out of its way to feed the fires of dissention between them and the regular Army - many young officers did SF a great disservice in the early days by blatantly and unnecessarily stepping on the toes of more senior regular Army leaders and it's taken decades to recover from it all.

And now?

Richard

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by wet dog

Sooooo he was happy that 128 Rangers saved his ass with a very strong Guerrilla element of 250, most without weapons?

If your referring to the Cabanatuan snatch,, I think he had already gone and was one of 1600 taken to Japan, then Korea.. He was on the ships to Japan the the US bombed, killed 300? US GI Prisoners..

[PRB]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

He was a leg, started in 1933, survived the Bataan Death March and imprisonment in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea, and was liberated in late 1945.

Had a nut for big wars. Liked Infantry Square formations and division size engagements..

So his contribution to the war was the being part of the largest surrender of US men at arms in our history.
Don't get me started on the Bataan death march...or how we celebrate defeats, surrender or prisoner status rather than victories.
There should be a Russel Volckmann march at Bliss in commemeration of the man that took to the hills and fought with the indig...not the surrender march celebration.
Ok, I'm off thread. My bad.
Screw the old CJCofS....

[Blitzzz (RIP)]

'The Special Forces...were what I would describe as consisting primarily of fugitives from responsibility "lunacy'. These were people that somehow or other tended "by choice opted" to be nonconformists, couldn't"perfered not to" get along in a straight military system, and found a haven where their actions were not scrutinized too carefully,"ignorantly criticized" and where they came under only sporadic or intermittent observation " constant renouncement of feats far exceeding the regular chain of command.'

I'm pretty sure that's why we're called "Special", and why I wish I was Twenty again.