12
by Ylatkit
I'm not impressed with the Chief. He threw his guy under the bus, long before any results from anyone could have been available.
Back In My Day, (I seem to be saying that a lot) a commanding officer automatically backed up his guy until and unless it was proven that he needed to be charged. Even then, a real C.O. hung in there with his guy until the jury came back and said "guilty". When one of your people gets into trouble, a Real Leader digs in and starts calling in favors and making phone calls, doing everything he can to help his guy.
Long ago, on another continent, people tried to teach me to be a Corporal. In the classroom, the scenario they used to demonstrate this principle was the piss test, and the example has stuck with me all these years. When I was working, I actually used to look for signs of this principle, both in the leaders trying to lead me and in the leaders below me.
In the early seventies, the army instituted mandatory piss tests for all manor of illegal drugs; early in the morning your chain of command would show up with a medic and a cup, and issue you a direct order. At the academy, they told me that when a young private was confronted before dawn with his C.O., his platoon leader, his platoon sergeant and a medic, (with that cup) he could absolutely count on three things.
One, everyone standing there had already pissed in their cups, and it came back clean. They weren't asking you to do anything they hadn't done.
Two, if the test comes back dirty, your chain of command has your back. The first thing they'll do is assume there was a mistake, and the test has to be done over. Then both your commanding officer (probably a captain) and your platoon leader, (one of two flavors of lieutenant) who both have a lot more resources, training and education than you do, are going to bat for you. Lawyers will be summoned. Regulations will be read. Details will be parsed. Your lieutenant will become a stomp-down expert on the piss test. The colonel will be asking for briefings about you and your test, and exactly what they're doing to help you. He will want to know exactly what heaven and which earth they are planning to move on your behalf.
And the third thing you could count on was that after everything was said and done, if four or five tests in a row came back dirty, once all the options had been exhausted, every argument answered, the jury polled, if you were really guilty, your commanding officer would hang you personally.
Leaders do not abandon their people at the first drop of rain.
I am not impressed.