re: #211 Decatur Deb

The general Trump cites in his rallies is Patton, not Eisenhower.

Patton was an ass, from what I gather. Eisenhower got the job done without being an ass.

re: #212 Anymouse

And if your only mode of operation is authoritarianism, you won’t last long in the military anyway.

While when an order is given and expected to be followed, most of the military is not about giving orders, and several leadership styles have to be employed (a coach, a democrat, an authoritarian, a coercer, &c) depending on the situation. If you are stuck on one leadership style you will not be a leader very long; not even in the middle enlisted ranks.

Interesting to hear that. I never served, so I have a poor idea of how things really work along the chain of command. But what you say makes perfect sense. If every officer/NCO were a by-the-book dictator or yes-man, most recruits would bail out before their time was up, and no one would feel free to offer advice.

From my experience in education and else, the same holds true. The kind of authoritarian figure you describe doesn’t stay in his job very long.