Quote Originally Posted by Redleg
The units that I served with - wanted all its soldiers to think about what they were doing. For instance I know of several occasions where the quick thinking of an NCO change the course of several training battles at the National Training Center. I know first hand the importance in changing the course of action for a division because of a non-commissioned officer during Desert Storm.
This is pretty spot-on. One of the things that distinguishes a great military from a house of cards is the quality of the NCOs. Many commentators have pointed out that a fatal weakness in the Iraqi army of old was the lack of an NCO class -- there were the officers who disconnected whenever possible from hard work and danger, and the soldiers who were expected to obey and die.

That sort of army is fragile and hollow, as our latest conflict showed. You could lose the entire officer class and our military would still roll on, largely because of the strength of our NCO tradition. Any good account of D-Day will demonstrate the importance of non-officers who can lead and decide in the heat of battle.

Oh, and Don C's points about Bush/Kerry were very cogent, one of the best summations I've yet read. I'm not sure that suspicion about Bush's history is the exclusive province of lefty paranoids, but I'm sure it doesn't matter at this late date.

Kerry dug his own hole, time and time again. I'm kind of glad he messed up so badly. It would be great if this ended his political career; he's been a walking disaster for some time. A politician, by nature of his frickin' job, should know how to not say just the wrong thing at just the wrong moment.