Junk yard operator

Bouncer

Wal-mart greeter

Someone for Arnold S. to kill in his next movie

Constipated senator from the south

Run a multinational corporation, head a large intellectual, conservative think-tank, sit on the board of directors of a few large defense contractors....the man's a two-star general officer. He didn't get there by being being either tactically or strategically stupid. He's a rotary-wing aviator and he commanded the operations group at the National Training Center in Ft. Irwin, CA. That means he headed up the aggressor forces and helped prepare our own forces for the spectacular job they did in rolling up Saddam's forces back in April, 2003. Here's his bio:



Major General James D. Thurman
Commanding General, 4ID

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Major General James D. Thurman is a native of Marietta, Oklahoma. He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from East Central University and a Master of Arts in Management from Webster University. MG Thurman received a Regular Army Commission from the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1975.

Major General Thurman began his career in the 4th Infantry Division serving as Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Motor Officer for 6th Battalion, 32d Armor. MG Thurman has commanded at all levels from Company to Brigade. After attending the Officer Rotary Wing Aviator Course, he commanded the Aero-Scout Platoon and later became the Operations Officer, A Troop, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From 1981-1982, he attended the Armor Officer Advanced Course, United States Armor School, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Upon completion, MG Thurman attended the AH-64 Aviator Qualification Course, United States Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama. MG Thurman then served as Executive Officer, 3rd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas. During 1989-1991, Major General Thurman served as Executive Officer for 1st Battalion, 32d Armor, 1st Cavalry Division and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia. MG Thurman’s previous assignments also include Commander of 2d Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment; 3d Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany; Commander, 2d Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart, Georgia; Commander, Operations Group, United States Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California; Assistant to the Chief of Staff for Plans and Policy, Allied Forces Southern Europe, Regional Command South, Italy; Commanding General, National Training Center and Fort Irwin, Fort Irwin, California; Director of Training, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, United States Army; and Chief, Operations, Coalition Forces Land Component Command, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Camp Doha, Kuwait.

Major General Thurman departed Kuwait to become the Director, Army Aviation Task Force, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, United States Army in Washington, D.C., where he remained until his arrival at Ft. Hood.

Major General Thurman’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal (one oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit (two oak leaf clusters), the Bonze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (five oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal (three oak leaf clusters).

Here's the funny thing. I thought that you were slamming him when you said, "Run a multinational corporation, head a large intellectual, conservative think-tank, sit on the board of directors of a few large defense contractors..." As in, here are other jobs that a-holes do. Only later did I realize you were serious. Funny that.

Yup. Funny that. But, those are probably the things that he'll actually get to do. I had the honor of serving on the staff of one of those two-star, Major General types. Most of them, including the one I served under (he's pictured below) can make most of us ashamed of the pitiful natures of our own existence. I worked closely with this man for 3 years, and I feel better for it. Not to mention that he ran, without fail, 5 miles a day on weekdays, and 10 miles on Sundays (on bad legs):

Vietnam War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Maj. Gen. James Everett Livingston USMC LIVINGSTON, JAMES E. Congressional Medal of Honor citation:

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. place and date: Dai Do, Republic of Vietnam, 2 May 1968. Entered service at: McRae, Ga. Born: 12 January 1940, Towns, Telfair County, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer, Company E, in action against enemy forces. Company E launched a determined assault on the heavily fortified village of Dai Do, which had been seized by the enemy on the preceding evening, isolating a Marine company from the remainder of the battalion. Skillfully employing screening agents, Capt. Livingston maneuvered his men to assault positions across 500 meters of dangerous open rice paddy while under intense enemy fire. Ignoring hostile rounds impacting near him, he fearlessly led his men in a savage assault against enemy emplacements within the village. While adjusting supporting arms fire, Capt. Livingston moved to the points of heaviest resistance, shouting words of encouragement to his Marines, directing their fire, and spurring the dwindling momentum of the attack on repeated occasions. Although twice painfully wounded by grenade fragments, he refused medical treatment and courageously led his men in the destruction of over 100 mutually supporting bunkers, driving the remaining enemy from their positions, and relieving the pressure on the stranded Marine company. As the 2 companies consolidated positions and evacuated casualties, a third company passed through the friendly lines, launching an assault on the adjacent village of Dinh To, only to be halted by a furious counterattack of an enemy battalion. Swiftly assessing the situation and disregarding the heavy volume of enemy fire, Capt. Livingston boldly maneuvered the remaining effective men of his company forward, joined forces with the heavily engaged Marines, and halted the enemy's counterattack. Wounded a third time and unable to walk, he steadfastly remained in the dangerously exposed area, deploying his men to more tenable positions and supervising the evacuation of casualties. Only when assured of the safety of his men did he allow himself to be evacuated. Capt. Livingston's gallant actions uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.Livingston (Maj Gen, USMC), James E

A lot of our leaders are like this gentlemen, despite the fun we make of their sometimes-goofy appearance on a "gotcha" photo. T.

Hey isn't that the Russian from Rambo 2?

"My name iz Colonel Podovsky ... I do not know your name yet, but I vill."

Ah, he, along with Sean Connery are the only impressions I do reasonably well.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

This guy has "Dean of Students" written all over him.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

That guy played a lot of mid-80's bad guy types. He was in the first Beverly Hills Cop picture, I think. The rich, corrupt art gallery owner who Eddie Murphy blew away with his .45 at the end. Dirty commie types, huh? ;-)

T.

WOW. The leadership you must have gleaned by osmosis alone. A CMH recipient, and a two-banger at that. Geez. I'd have paid for an internship there.

Guys like that exist to give the rest of us someone to emulate.

I see a silver star and bronze star as well. Is that other one a DSM or some Vietnamese medal? That guy's a walking PX!

The leadership gleaned is through not only observing and putting into practice what you're taught, but also from professional military education and a wide-range of other training modalities. Don't feel small by comparison, when you look at someone like these two gentlemen. It's not your fault that you weren't lucky enough to have leaders like these two to emulate.

What I've "gleaned" through "osmosis" are tools and abilities that have allowed me to succeed in any field of endeavor to which I've put my mind. I successfully navigate through one of the most heavily-unionized and anti-management employee groups in industry (airline employees), and my men and women consistently score at the top of every metric that we measure (worker safety, ontime departures, cabin cleanliness, aircraft damage and safety, lost work time due to occupational injury....a whole bunch of things, basically). Our station is currently scoring a 4.86 out of a 5.0 for our annual station score, when the average across our airline system is in the low 3s. That comes from managing, motivating and LEADING a team of employees, and them (the employees) knowing that you have them as your number one concern.

That's what you can "glean" from these two guys. And with that, you can succeed in advertising, manufacturing, healthcare administration....you name it.

T.

do you really believe the 'pitiful nature of our own existence' statement?
geeee....

When measured against what General Livingston, or any CMH awardee did? Sure. Wouldn't you feel small by comparison, yourself? Most times, we all spend our whole lives trying to be half the man (or woman) that these folks were, even if what they did took up only a very small portion of their particular lives.

That doesn't mean, though, that I don't take satisfaction in what I've done or are yet to do in my own life. It helps to give me a baseline from which to measure my own progress through life, I'd say, and I'm comfortable with that.

I'm not being flippant or mean or anything, but I'm curious....do the actions or exploits, or just men or women like these folks, make people uncomfortable with themselves or make people want to run down what these men and women did in their lives, nowadays? Are all the grand exploits in our world basically over? No tickertape parades for heroes, anymore? Do we all sit around, jaded and busily cultivating a studied sense of ennui?

Like I said, I'm just curious and am in no way saying that about the majority of the people who post here.

T.

It's often funny how these threads twist and turn. I posted originally without comment, mostly because I couldn't think of anything to add to that incredibly intense visage....

Thanks for posting some of the background of General Livingston...seems like a pretty impressive guy.

Robotic Pitbull