Article

2010-03-05 -Short Attention Span Theater-

The Rise and Fall of a Female Captain Bligh

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Posted by Anonymoose 2010-03-05 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Read about this when she was cashiered. Evidently a good (read: non-psychotic) officer until she got command, and then went absolutely power-mad. Made everyone's lives miserable with abuse. It's a miracle she got removed at all, I think what tore it was punching an ensign. Her being incompetent at her job wasn't cause for removal.

Posted by gromky 2010-03-05 01:09|| 2010-03-05 01:09|| Front Page Top

#2 Bogart in the "modern role" with geometric logic:

Posted by Omiger Munster7997 2010-03-05 06:33|| 2010-03-05 06:33|| Front Page Top

#3 Wonder who wrote her fitness reports.

Did they give her top scores on everything? What about the promotion panel? Did they have any information other than the fitness reports?

Posted by lord garth 2010-03-05 09:03|| 2010-03-05 09:03|| Front Page Top

#4 http://www.susankatzkeating.com/2010/01/captain-holly-graf-plows-down-whale.html

There a bunch more here, comments from ex-crew. She sounds like a monster. Choking crew, throwing radios and coffee mugs at them, not helping those junior office who ask for guidance. Good riddance for a bad leader.

Posted by Shineng Ebbolush2214 2010-03-05 09:21|| 2010-03-05 09:21|| Front Page Top

#5 I think it was the end for her when she was publicly disrespectful to a master chief. I'm not military but even I know better than that.

Posted by Steve White 2010-03-05 09:34|| 2010-03-05 09:34|| Front Page Top

#6 I've seen nepotism in every service - the Navy wanted a female skipper for a high profile ship - they got it, and one that had prior admirals in the family. The Navy failed by not looking more into this woman's idiotic behavior over a decade ago. I'm not trying to be overly harsh on the Navy as I've seen some of the same instances in the Corps w/the offspring of colonel's/generals etc. Most are good, but the ones that are shitheads are real shitheads.

Posted by Broadhead6 2010-03-05 09:38|| 2010-03-05 09:38|| Front Page Top

#7 I wasn't there but I would point out to the peanut gallery that if this were the 8th Army sweeping across Europe in 1945 her name would be PATTON. Poor sailors being pushed around but a mere woman.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2010-03-05 10:00|| 2010-03-05 10:00|| Front Page Top

#8 The really sad thing is that the Navy's Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community routinely produces (or attracts?) jerks like this. From personal experience, I can tell you that Graf is by no means the exception, and her gender has absolutely nothing to do with it.

A Naval Academy professor wrote a paper 2-3 years ago about how he had just learned about the bullying nature of SWOs. My only response was: "Where the hell had you been hiding all these years?"

Posted by Dreadnought 2010-03-05 10:01|| 2010-03-05 10:01|| Front Page Top

#9 This woman is mad. And Captain Bligh had better character than people give him credit for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Bligh

"The Bounty's log shows that Bligh resorted to punishments relatively sparingly. He scolded when other captains would have whipped and whipped when other captains would have hanged. He was an educated man, deeply interested in science, convinced that good diet and sanitation were necessary for the welfare of his crew. He took a great interest in his crew's exercise, was very careful about the quality of their food, and insisted upon the Bounty being kept very clean. He tried (unsuccessfully) to check the spread of venereal disease among them.[citation needed]. Prior to the mutiny only 2 members of the Ships crew had died, one seaman from infection and the ship's doctor from indolence. J. C. Beaglehole has described the chief flaw in this otherwise enlightened naval officer: "[Bligh made] dogmatic judgements which he felt himself entitled to make; he saw fools about him too easily... thin-skinned vanity was his curse through life... [Bligh] never learnt that you do not make friends of men by insulting them."

Beaglehole's judgement is supported by the small settlers in NSW (see Bligh's tenure as NSW Governor), who named sons after him. Bligh had the moral courage to take on what he saw was wrong, but he strongly supported those he thought were right.

Popular fiction often confuses Bligh with Edward Edwards of HMS Pandora, who was sent on the Royal Navy's expedition to the South Pacific to find the mutineers and bring them to trial. Edwards was allegedly every bit the cruel man that Bligh was accused of being; the 14 men that he captured were confined in a cramped 18' x 11' x 5' 8" wooden cell on the Pandora's quarterdeck. When the Pandora ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef, 4 of the prisoners and 31 of the crew were killed. The prisoners would have all perished, had not William Moulter, a bosun's mate, unlocked their cage before jumping off the sinking vessel.[5]

Posted by mom 2010-03-05 10:06|| 2010-03-05 10:06|| Front Page Top

#10 Mom: I've read elsewhere that Bligh's big failing was that he wanted, craved, to be loved by his crew, that he wanted to be their "friend". But at the same time, he felt guilt in being too soft on them. So one minute he was overly nice, and the next, nasty. This made them terribly apprehensive, with no certainty of reward or punishment.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-03-05 10:47|| 2010-03-05 10:47|| Front Page Top

#11 Cyber Sarge: Do not hold up Patton as too much of a shining light. To start with, his men didn't particularly like him, because he was all too willing to get them killed to start a fight.

Other, more conservative generals were of the mind that it was just as important to minimize American casualties as it was to maximize enemy casualties.

Nobody liked his "reconnaissance in force" idea, which was to intentionally start a fight with a much larger enemy unit, then demand that his higher headquarters send reinforcements to pull his ashes out of the fire, before they were ready for a fight.

In many ways, he was the opposite of MacArthur (PBUH), who always tried to hit the enemies weak spots and logistics, instead of attacking them at their strong points. Which saved countless American lives.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-03-05 11:02|| 2010-03-05 11:02|| Front Page Top

#12 So MacArthur's your idea of a good general?

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-05 11:53|| 2010-03-05 11:53|| Front Page Top

#13 That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-03-05 11:58|| 2010-03-05 11:58|| Front Page Top

#14 Bligh, whatever his faults as a commander, was one hell of a sailor.

Posted by mojo 2010-03-05 12:08|| 2010-03-05 12:08|| Front Page Top

#15 "Many times I raised my tone (and used swear words) to ensure they knew this times, it was no kidding," she wrote.

Affirmative action is getting bad publicity these days. Its not confined to the military in the lower echelons. Doesn't seem to be working out in the Commander in Chief role either.

Posted by Omoter Speaking for Boskone7794 2010-03-05 12:10|| 2010-03-05 12:10|| Front Page Top

#16 I had three commanders that were very much like this officer, all were male, and nobody ever thought of whining about language. I guess the Navy can't take a little hard languge? What have they become?

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2010-03-05 12:44|| 2010-03-05 12:44|| Front Page Top

#17 They're on a "Heart Healthy" salty language free diet.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-03-05 13:08|| 2010-03-05 13:08|| Front Page Top

#18 Cyber Sarge: I think it's the difference between those who are genuine hardasses, who are consistent about it, and those that are acting like hardasses, with the emphasis on acting.

I remember working for one who was clearly a psychopath, and everybody thought he was the greatest, because you always knew where you stood. Total confidence in his command abilities, because you knew that emotion was never a factor, only cold calculation.

But having a CO who runs hot and cold, and you don't know WTF is going on, and your gut churns whenever you see them because they could be all smiles or chew your head off, for no reason, will about drive you nuts.

Add to that leaving knowingly incompetent junior officers to their own devices, which is a terrible idea, and humiliating a senior NCO in front of subordinates, which is a monumentally stupid idea.

I'm sure what isn't in the report was even worse than what was in it. It's not just cursing.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-03-05 13:30|| 2010-03-05 13:30|| Front Page Top

#19 She better not retire in California.

Facing Bankruptcy, California Pols Pass Bill Banning Cursing

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-03-05 13:42|| 2010-03-05 13:42|| Front Page Top

#20

Bligh, whatever his faults as a commander, was one hell of a sailor.
Posted by: mojo

no doubt. getting to land from where he was set off was one heck of an achievement.

Posted by abu do you love 2010-03-05 13:45|| 2010-03-05 13:45|| Front Page Top

#21 RE: #11. I've always admired Patton since reading his biography (Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago) 40 years ago and, of course, the movie - one of my favorites. I remembered he is supposed to have killed and captured more Germans, covered more ground, and lost fewer soldiers than any other general. I'm sure there are several ways to measure each of those metrics, however. He appeared to have a compassionate side, unlike Captain Holly.

Posted by Bobby 2010-03-05 16:42|| 2010-03-05 16:42|| Front Page Top

#22 Captain Graf failed one of the basic tenets of leadership: praise in public, berate in private. It is one thing to demand excellence from your crew. It is quite another to humiliate someone publicly, no matter how badly he/she screwed up. And there is NEVER any reason to assault someone.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2010-03-05 16:49|| 2010-03-05 16:49|| Front Page Top

#23 And another thing: If I had been an officer or enlisted on the Cowpens, I would have been very nervous about talking to the IG. Such investigations are supposed to be confidential. However, if Captain Graf had not been removed, anyone who had talked to the IG would have been toast - she would have made their lives extra miserable.
In my civilian job, I had a manager removed from their position after an HR investigation. I didn't talk to HR, but if they had asked, I don't know if I would have talked to them unless I was sure that the manager would get removed. This particular manager was definitely into revenge, and would have taken action against anyone she considered a threat.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2010-03-05 17:00|| 2010-03-05 17:00|| Front Page Top

#24 Methinks the Story here that that the MSM-Net is trying hard NOT to talk about is that economically trubled Amerika + future OWG-NWO must create ONE UNIFIED SERVICE ACADEMY FOR ALL THE ARMED SERVICES, E.G. STARFLEET COMMAND = STARFLEET ACADEMY.

Or the COLD WAR SOVIET-COMMIE BLOC.

* TOPIX > WINDS OF CHANGE IN THE [US] AIR FORCE, i.e. Why-o-Why does America = Amerika, the OWG Mighty USSA = Weak USRoA Global SSR, still need an INDEPENDENT AIR FORCE???

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-03-05 19:41|| 2010-03-05 19:41|| Front Page Top

#25 just looks at her clenched and jaw narrow eyes, big trouble for anyone who bothered to critically review this woman, not to mention ,dont ask, dont tell......."snicker"

Posted by 746 2010-03-05 19:46|| 2010-03-05 19:46|| Front Page Top

#26 Woman? Hermaphradite? Don't ask, cause no one can tell.

Posted by GirlThursday 2010-03-05 20:27|| 2010-03-05 20:27|| Front Page Top

#27 Disclosure: I knew Captain Graf way back in the late 80s, when she was a Lieutenant and I a lowly (and on-hold) Ensign. She was a mentor of sorts; advised me on what to do when I came off the disabled-list.

Dreadnought is right in a way - the SWO community attracts a lot of jerks. But the community is and always has been very cut-throat to begin with. The old saying is that "The SWO community eats its young". S'what happens when you're told from commissioning onward that your ultimate goal is "obtaining a command".

Some can deal with it, some can't. I've had some fantastic COs who I'd follow into Hell. I've also had "screamers" and ones who made their way to admiral on the backs of their crew. I had one hot-tempered CO bust his hand after punching out a bulkhead. I got into a shouting match with an XO on a bridge wing and later dressed him down in the wardroom (I was an Ensign) after he publicly humiliated my first class in front of a damage control party. He was also banned from going into the CPO mess except on business. He also ended up commanding a "major ship" about 15 years later; I gather it was not a happy ship.

As for Captain Graf's appearance: grow up.

Posted by Pappy 2010-03-05 22:09|| 2010-03-05 22:09|| Front Page Top

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