One last class before graduation at the Naval Academy and the instructor gave the final assignment.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you have been given one metal pole, two bags of cement, a selection of shovels, a wheel barrow, and other tools necessary, plus One Navy Chief, one Petty Officer and a selection of Seamen.
Describe the process you take to erect the pole so that a flag hung from it can be seen from X number of feet away.
You have two hours to complete this assignment.
Begin!"
The almost Ensigns began to write with concentration.
At the end of two hours, the Instructor called time and collected the papers.
Paging through the papers, he announced to the grades. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there are some thorough and detailed responses here, but only one response ranks an "A", I would like to read it to you. I predict that this young man will go far in his Naval Career."
"In order to erect the flag pole, I would do the following:
I would say, 'Chief, get the flagpole put up' and then I would leave the area."
8 comments:
Funny, I have never been in the military but your story has the ring of truth about it.
Learning to delegate is everything! Coffey, come over here and do my laundry!
That young man will go far not only in his Naval career but everywhere. Smart!
Am I the only one missing the percolating coffeypot? Seriously, I wish I still had one.
HA! That guy has a bright future in officerness indeed.
Alyssa, percolated coffee is the best - I haven't had it in years but I still remember how good it is! :)
Yogi, there are many good officers that will do just that. The Chief will tell the P.O. to get it done with maybe some remedial instructions and the P.O. will give it to the seamen to do and the P.O. and the Chief will grab a cup of coffee and talk about the old Navy.
Barb, to delegate you first have to be in charge. Since I’m not sleeping with you, do your own laundry.
Alyssa, welcome to the family. And, alas, even I use a Keurig one cupper now days. But I do have a percolator very similar to my logo on my stove. Don’t use it, but I really like how it looks.
Clew, I even remember camping as a Boy Scout and making coffee over the fire but without the inside stuff that caused it to bubble up. We were taught to do it the cowboy way, put the coffee in the pot, add water and let it boil. You drink coffee and the grounds. Not recommended today.
....and the chief would find some seamen and tell them to get the damn thing up while he went and got a cup of coffee.
Dude, As I explained to Yogi, your are exactly right. You are speaking from true experience as the Army equivalent to a Navy Chief.
Ahhh ... I missed my calling in life. I have no one to delegate stuff to.
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