Clearly, this man never worked at Twitter — or served in the top-down Russian Army, either
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…. The two finished in 14th place out of 51 teams after a weekend of intense physical and mental exercises that had them climbing, swimming, running, and crawling across various events around Fort Benning. The competition also involved a series of shooting events which had the competitors test their skills on everything from pistols and shotguns to 60mm mortar systems and a M72 Light Anti-Armor Weapon in addition to running through a series of courses, some of which, like the Darby Queen and the course over Victory Pond, were familiar territory for Ranger School graduates.
McCain and Peterson quickly drew praise and admiration from a video that showed them going through a mystery event on Saturday. The mystery event required teams to decode a message using the Revolutionary War-era Culper Code to find the word that would be used as a key to the lock on a box — all within seven minutes.
Immediately upon starting, McCain tried opening the box without the lock first, because technically, the written instructions didn’t say the lock had to be opened before the box was.
“Don’t break the box,” the instructor said as McCain pulled on the box’s hinges. “Don’t break the box,” the instructor repeated.
“You mean I have to undo the lock? Because it doesn’t say that. It says open the locked ammo can,” McCain responded.
…. [He pries it open, retrieves its contents] …
In responses online, McCain was immediately hailed as the archetype of noncommissioned officers in the U.S. military – finding creative solutions to problems that are technically correct, even if they might be unconventional. And, of course, finding loopholes if such a loophole exists.
“It doesn’t matter what team I lead, this is the type of person I want on it!” one person said.
“This is what our military does better than most others: our soldiers are assigned an objective and they do whatever they need to complete it,” said another.
“I have never seen a more NCO move in my life,” someone else commented.
UPDATE: That secondary link, which I’ll repost here, provides a good look at NCOs, their importance to the Army, and why Russia’s lack of them has caused it to look so hapless in Ukraine.
“Without my NCOs, it’s impossible for me to be able to effectively lead my team,” [Retired U.S. Army Captain, and Medal of Honor winner Florent] Groberg told Task & Purpose. “I wouldn’t have the right guidance, I wouldn’t have the right expertise and leadership on the team to be able to motivate, track, and really do the impossible for our soldiers. They’re the connective tissue to the mission.”
Asked if the U.S. military could operate without NCOs, Groberg said, “Hard no. Not a chance. Absolutely not.”
While officers are the ones who put the plan together, it’s those enlisted leaders, the NCOs, who implement it, Romesha said. Even before those orders come down from the officers, the NCOs are moving proactively and preparing the troops, and they are usually the ones fighting with their junior soldiers on the front lines, leading them in combat.
“The [Russian] junior officers who aren’t well-versed, just like in our Army, are experiencing combat for the first time,” he said. “And instead of being able to turn to their platoon sergeant, who turns to their team leader, they’ve got to do it all themselves.”
And they never did
