RANT: Flashback to 1992

Saturday, September 21, 2013

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2013/09/passing-buck.html

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

Passing the Buck

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Perhaps Mr. Hagel and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus will expand the official inquiry to determine who “passed the buck” on an individual who should have been booted from the reserves for his conduct and denied both a security clearance and employment as a defense contractor. As more is learned about the former Petty Officer, we seem ample opportunities for intervention–opportunities that were continually ignored, for whatever reasons.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that commanders and supervisors have taken a pass on dealing with a troubled individual, with deadly consequences. And we’re not referring to Fort Hood, either.

Flashback to 1992. A young man from Michigan with a long history of mental illness appeared at an Air Force recruiting office. Apparently, his problems never surfaced during the enlistment process; the individual either lied to the recruiters, or the service ignored potential warning signs. With a solid score on his ASVAB, the individual was allowed to enlist and shipped out for basic training.

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Sorry, but everyone in the chain of command should take a serious hit for this, these, blunders.

But, politicians and bureaucrats don’t care!

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MEMORIES: Life is not a VCR

Saturday, September 21, 2013

“In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” – Oscar Wilde

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And sometimes the joy of getting what you want is balanced by the pain of losing it 40 years later.

So would it have been better to forego the first to avoid the second?

“Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”

Maybe, but maybe not.

I’ll never know.

Not sure that it would make a difference.

The “Road Less Traveled”?

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