Sicinnus thinks students don't benefit from competitive athletics.
Capt. Taylor was born in 1942. He was educated in England. He play football, rugby and probably ran track. From that smile, he was a rugger. Sport in schools then was mandatory.
Warriors are competitive. Sport is war without violence, or in the case of hockey, lacrosse, and association football, deadly violence. The military leader, and the accomplished athlete share the same skill set. The grit and determination that lets athletes succeed on the playing field is the same grit and determination required of a sailor under fire. The cooperation and communication that makes a winning baseball team translates to the engine room.
Then, there is the physical attributes of sport, the way competitive athletics transforms the body increasing strength, and coordination. Soldiers, sailors and marines all benefit from physical fitness; even the Air Force person in his/her/their dark, air-conditioned rooms can move their joysticks more accurately if they are physically fit.
That fact of the matter is that the best kids, the best leaders; like all kids; benefit from athletic competition. One of the reasons the US is so weak, (and so fat), is because we don’t force students into sport. Athletes are leaders and leaders are athletes.
"even the Air Force person in his/her/their dark, air-conditioned rooms can move their joysticks more accurately if they are physically fit."
HA! still remember with incredulity and fondness, visiting quarters at an Air Force base....from my Marine barracks. Lordy, two REAL beds instead of stacked metal racks, actual hot water in the shower.......and, AND....a civilian MAID came 'round to tidy up the room!
here is more than you ever wanted to know about them
"The porbeagle belongs to the family Lamnidae, commonly called the mackerel sharks. The name porbeagle is derived from the Cornish “porgh-bugel,” and probably comes from a combination of “porpoise,” referring to its shape, and “beagle,” referring to its hunting prowess.
In French, the porbeagle is known as requin-taupe commun, in Spanish, marrajo sardinero, and in German, Heringshai. Other English language common names include Atlantic mackerel shark, blue dog, bottle-nosed shark, and Beaumaris shark."
I don’t know how the RN run things today, but my understanding of earlier days is that the RN referred to students at Dartmouth Naval College as Cadets, and that Midshipmen were Dartmouth graduates, making a RN Midshipman the functional equivalent of a USN Ensign. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I will also point out that a RN Watchkeeping Certificate would be a serious challenge for any of our young SWO’s. The only way to get superior performance is to provide superior training, and then demand performance at the same level. Softy, softy equals fail.
Gee, it's almost as if a one-mistake Navy (or Army, or Air Force...) misses out on the wisdom and experience that come from officers who have had a chance to make more than a few!
I thought I did right by my mission and my men. I can only wish they would have been willing to sacrifice 200 calories of glorious baked wonder to save my honor
For an ignorant Yank like myself the post WW2 British military experience is somewhat choppy - Korea…the Falkands(!)….Gulf War, etc. Took some self-educating (thanks a lot YouTube) to catch up on the lesser “incidents” (Malaysia, Borneo, Aden, etc) that, while not necessarily front-pagers in the US, provided invaluable real-world experience to generations of UK servicemen.
During a staff-donkey excursion in the desert I was privileged to share a desk with professorial looking RAF fighter nav who was one rank above me…but old enough to be my father! Came to find out he’d started out flying Phantoms in the 80’s and had selected the “operational” career path to continue flying - hence why he was “only” an O-4 nearly 30 years later!
Good on CAPT Taylor for riding out the peaks & troughs to finish out a long & successful career; I’d like to believe that it was due to his exceptional talent & professionalism and not because he had an influential “sea daddy” somewhere up the line.
I'm most jealous of:
"Midshipman Taylor found himself in command of a klotok (a large riverine canoe) with 20 Gurkha soldiers,"
A mission right out of an early Hornblower tale...
Clearly he did not play enough team sports to learn how to lead. Here's a link to the Southampton BOI. https://www.3peaks.org.uk/Downloads/HMSSOUTHAMPTONMVTORBAY3Sept1998BOIReport.pdf
He was educated in England, he played plenty of team sports.
More courtsmartial convictions than Custer, ;)
He's the Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the Royal Navy.
Glorious.
Sicinnus thinks students don't benefit from competitive athletics.
Capt. Taylor was born in 1942. He was educated in England. He play football, rugby and probably ran track. From that smile, he was a rugger. Sport in schools then was mandatory.
Warriors are competitive. Sport is war without violence, or in the case of hockey, lacrosse, and association football, deadly violence. The military leader, and the accomplished athlete share the same skill set. The grit and determination that lets athletes succeed on the playing field is the same grit and determination required of a sailor under fire. The cooperation and communication that makes a winning baseball team translates to the engine room.
Then, there is the physical attributes of sport, the way competitive athletics transforms the body increasing strength, and coordination. Soldiers, sailors and marines all benefit from physical fitness; even the Air Force person in his/her/their dark, air-conditioned rooms can move their joysticks more accurately if they are physically fit.
That fact of the matter is that the best kids, the best leaders; like all kids; benefit from athletic competition. One of the reasons the US is so weak, (and so fat), is because we don’t force students into sport. Athletes are leaders and leaders are athletes.
"even the Air Force person in his/her/their dark, air-conditioned rooms can move their joysticks more accurately if they are physically fit."
HA! still remember with incredulity and fondness, visiting quarters at an Air Force base....from my Marine barracks. Lordy, two REAL beds instead of stacked metal racks, actual hot water in the shower.......and, AND....a civilian MAID came 'round to tidy up the room!
If you were on a ship where Marines belong, you'd have had hot water. Not very much water, but it is hot.
Sea showers build character, youngster! *harrumph*
You should have posted the photo of him with the porbeagles that the French caught
Somehow I made it to middle age without using the word "porbeagle." This has now been remedied. As sharks go, they seem rather neighborly.
here is more than you ever wanted to know about them
"The porbeagle belongs to the family Lamnidae, commonly called the mackerel sharks. The name porbeagle is derived from the Cornish “porgh-bugel,” and probably comes from a combination of “porpoise,” referring to its shape, and “beagle,” referring to its hunting prowess.
In French, the porbeagle is known as requin-taupe commun, in Spanish, marrajo sardinero, and in German, Heringshai. Other English language common names include Atlantic mackerel shark, blue dog, bottle-nosed shark, and Beaumaris shark."
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/lamna-nasus/
Excellent:)
The Porbeagle is the S-10 version of the White Shark.
Excellent:)
But what pronouns?
Sir!
Wonderful story.
I don’t know how the RN run things today, but my understanding of earlier days is that the RN referred to students at Dartmouth Naval College as Cadets, and that Midshipmen were Dartmouth graduates, making a RN Midshipman the functional equivalent of a USN Ensign. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I will also point out that a RN Watchkeeping Certificate would be a serious challenge for any of our young SWO’s. The only way to get superior performance is to provide superior training, and then demand performance at the same level. Softy, softy equals fail.
Gee, it's almost as if a one-mistake Navy (or Army, or Air Force...) misses out on the wisdom and experience that come from officers who have had a chance to make more than a few!
FADM Chester Nimitz, former skipper of USS DECATUR (DD-5), would agree.
I thought I did right by my mission and my men. I can only wish they would have been willing to sacrifice 200 calories of glorious baked wonder to save my honor
For an ignorant Yank like myself the post WW2 British military experience is somewhat choppy - Korea…the Falkands(!)….Gulf War, etc. Took some self-educating (thanks a lot YouTube) to catch up on the lesser “incidents” (Malaysia, Borneo, Aden, etc) that, while not necessarily front-pagers in the US, provided invaluable real-world experience to generations of UK servicemen.
During a staff-donkey excursion in the desert I was privileged to share a desk with professorial looking RAF fighter nav who was one rank above me…but old enough to be my father! Came to find out he’d started out flying Phantoms in the 80’s and had selected the “operational” career path to continue flying - hence why he was “only” an O-4 nearly 30 years later!
Good on CAPT Taylor for riding out the peaks & troughs to finish out a long & successful career; I’d like to believe that it was due to his exceptional talent & professionalism and not because he had an influential “sea daddy” somewhere up the line.
The smile is because at one time, the Navy was a passion and a hobby and a profession. Not a job.
An adventure.
An almost exact contemporary of mine. USN could learn much from this about retaining true leaders.
This is exactly the kind of man whom the diversity commissars want to exclude.