Quote:
Originally Posted by Adm.Lee
Standard "SF are awesome, Big Army just doesn't understand us" vibe is running through it.
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The Big Army doesn't get SF. It's not that the regulars can't get SF; however, the Army leadership is conditioned to deal with Joe. Joe is a good guy, but at the same time he generally sucks a**. He requires close supervision for virtually every task. Despite having volunteered, he generally behaves as though he was dragooned into service. His responsibilities mean little to him beyond the fact that he will suffer if he is caught not executing them. The spirit of the law is only to be observed when it comes to his privileges; otherwise, a stricter observance of the letter of the law than a tort lawyer could argue is the watchword. "I was told I couldn't go to the PX. No one said anything about the commissary or the bowling alley."
Of course, the other side of the coin is that the leadership has become so jaded from dealing with Joe that everything comes to revolve around the lowest common demoninator. Since in any body of soldiers larger than four someone is sure to become a drunken idiot if given a touch of liberty, no one can be given liberty. Since every application of UCMJ in my command (says a unit commander) jeopardizes my OER, the only reasonable solution is to prevent any and all misbehavior. Better to treat 100 men putting their lives on the line for the nation like untrustworthy children than let a single chowderhead take the heat for his own decisions. Grown men can only be treated like untrustworthy children for so long before they start to live up to the expectations of the leadership. The circle completes itself.
So I would argue that the Big Army doesn't get Special Forces because we're acculturated against tolerating or recognizing the behaviors that mark SF: initiative, judgment, commitment, recognizance.