Fired for being funny?

[BimmerDude]

Just read this story and found it interesting.

Official: Navy officer to be relieved of command - Yahoo! News

Mind you, some of his jokes might have been a bit corny and tasteless, but still.

What I find interesting about it is that this is a part of a culture that up until only a couple weeks ago was gung-ho into the misogynist, fratboy behavior and for decades conducted countless witch hunts to identify gays and lesbians so they could kick them out. Now they want to get rid of this guy because he made a few gay jokes. What the hell!!! Did the Navy turn a corner overnight and attain to a new level of fairness and morality? Or is this just another level of hypocrisy?

I don't know much about military culture except what I've heard others who are actually in say about it, but I'm thinking that if you're on a vessel out in the middle of some ocean with a bunch of other guys most of the time, and you have a commanding officer who tries to lighten up the boredom with a little humor then that's not such a bad thing. I don't know. Maybe I'm just too open-minded, but I've always believed that if you can't laugh and have a little fun now and then you might as well be dead.

 

[pickle bunny]

Its different when you are the lead dog.

You are expected to be the standard of measurement...not just one of the guys.
Especially on a fighting carrier of such visability.

Poor judgement. Hope he keeps his job but I doubt it.
The military can't lower the bar to save one guy. But they will sacrifice one to keep the standards in place.

 

[Mr P]

I hear you Bimmer,

The thing is that this guys jokes got out of hand, and the jokes were leaked and of course the Navy is going to react to this.

The Navy like all other Military branches have to follow a code of conduct.
The Navy's code states "It is essential that all Department of the Navy personnel adhere to the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct. The American people put their trust in us and none of us can betray that trust."

I know he didn't go and kill somone, but since the Policy Don't ask dont tell is such a political agenda, they are probably using this case to set an example.

Hey, you have to know when is the right time & place to joke around.

We all have to adhere by the rules, different rules apply to different people, he was a top dog & if he sets the wrong example & the Navy just lets it go, then our Military could be taken as a joke as well, let's not forget how our enemies are watching & judging us, specially our weaknesses.

 

[pickle bunny]

They just canned him. What a shame.
I'll be he was a good leader.

 

[roidedsurfbum]

This story really hits home for me. I used to be in the Navy and I ended up getting out due to an issue similar to this. My chief who I reported to was gay (believe it or not there are a lot of gays in the military...and there is less of a witch-hunt to find them than you think). Anyway my chief decided to come onto me and while I have a huge sense of humor and can laugh at anything...it's no fucking joke when the guy wants to stick his dick in your ass and if you don't let him he'll throw you in the brig.

Needless to say, I went to legal and was able to get out honorably...but seriously, wtf!

It's one thing when it's humor but another when there's seriousness to it. And the military chain of command and standard operating procedures are taken so seriously that they are legally binding to you as a soldier/sailor/airman/marine.

I fought my way out, and it's too bad.

PS: I'll probably edit this later and remove it because I don't want this up for too long.

By the way (interesting FYI for those who don't know): According to the Military Code of Uniform Justice if you fuck your wife in any position other than missionary, it's considered sodomy and you can be thrown in jail. Masturbation is also sodomy...pretty much anything you could do (even non-sexual) is against the law if you're in the military. So they can can you any way they want if they need to.