Generals On Duty?

The highest Honor one Warrior can give another is not "He's a nice guy," or "He gets things done," but "I'd follow that man into the Gates of Hell," or "I'd trust him to cover my six any day of the week."  It's not about whether they like the person or not. It's not about the rank of the person discussed.  It's about respect earned by his actions.

But as one climbs the rank structure, hopefully for doing the right things, and not as a matter of punching the right tickets, certain duties are no longer required, or expected, of them.  Some call this the "privilege of rank," but reality is that they have other duties that are more important, more stressful, and don't allow for some of the more menial tasks they once conducted on a regular basis.

Still, wise leaders will on occasion return to duties, serving subordinates, on special occasions.  Most notable is a military tradition of the highest ranking serving meals to the lower ranks on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Even President George W. Bush has done this, in combat zones.  But pulling guard duty?  That's not the norm or tradition, not even on holidays.  Some poor unlucky sap whose number has come up, literally, gets the duty.  But there is a story of one General who did so, on Christmas one year.

General Mattis is one of those Combat Leaders who has a helluva reputation with Warriors.  The Marines have a tendency to produce top-notch Generals, with great reputations, not always based on the same criteria.  The Army produces some (Petraeus, Powell, Swarzkopf, Patton, MacArthur) of the best as well, perhaps even some that are more revered than the ones the Marines produce, but per capita, the Marines produce (Puller, Pace, Mattis) more of them.

The story goes that General Mattis was once found on Guard Duty on Christmas.  The Rumor Doctor looked into it.  And the General that he consulted?  Yeah, he was surprised that a young Marine couldn't comprehend his questions either. 

"Marine Gen. Charles Krulak, who was commandant when the story took place. Every Christmas during his tenure, Krulak delivered cookies to every Marine duty post around Washington and Quantico, VA...

Back in 1998, he was making his final delivery to Marine Corps Combat Development Command headquarters at Quantico when he asked the Marine on duty who the officer of the day was.

“The young Marine said, ‘Sir, it’s Brigadier General Mattis.’”

Yeah, General Krulak figured he had one of those dense, uneducated Marines, Senator Kerry tells us about, on his hands.  But to find out whether the story holds water, or General Krulak's suspicions were confirmed, you'll have to read the results of the investigation by The Rumor Doctor.