Ha! Made you look.
I don’t do politics, but it is tough to ignore the fact that we just had an election. I may be wrong, but I would guess that military people – for the most part – are less emotional about them. Why? Because about every eighteen months each of them gets a new Commanding Officer.
During that same time they will also get a new Executive Officer and all the eccentricities that come with the position.
And they will probably see changes in their Department Heads, Division Officers, Command Master Chiefs, Leading Chiefs and Leading Petty Officers during their tours.
Each new official brings with him or her a new set of expectations and a new way of doing business, leaving it up to the Sailors to figure out the new course to follow.
So I guess what I am saying is that Sailors are used to changes and learn to adapt.
For that matter, everyone in the military has been “The New Guy” too, at one point or another, and probably has some empathy for what it is like.
Anyone who has spent a career in the service has seen countless changes in the chain-of-command, and has learned that some policies will change and some will stay the same, so I think they take things like elections in stride.
I did an informal poll, and in my 26 year career I had a total of eighteen different Commanding Officers. That translates into a new boss every 1.4 years – each with a new perspective, new priorities and new ways of running the command.
It’s enough to make a person elect to retire.
