The intrepid investigative team at MilitaryCorruption.com has dropped one heck of a bombshell. The wild-eyed Capt. Holly Graf, who proved you don't have to be an enemy combatant to inflict PTSD on American servicemembers, will not be forced to spend the rest of her career scrubbing toilets with a broken coffee cup. The Navy has assigned her to the ballistic missile defense program at Dahlgren, Virginia, home to some vital programs. Now, that's an appropriate place for a mouth-foaming, crew-abusing tyrant who shredded a whale and ran her own ship aground.
I can see the future news story now:
A highly placed Naval officer today was caught duct-taping a subordinate to a missile nose cone during tests of a new sea-based missile defense system. The victim was found with a woman's pink fuzzy slipper stuffed in his mouth. He had sustained a series of superficial wounds that appear to have been inflicted with a broken coffee cup. The officer who duct-taped the victim immediately was whisked via Marine One to the Pentagon, where she was given a promotion with double pay, and treated to a special feast of whale sushi. The ceremony was interrupted when the much feted officer, Captain (Admiral Select) Holly Graf smeared cake on the Chief of Naval Operation's face. The Secretary of Defense quickly sprang forward with a paper towel, and the festivities continued without incident...
Dear Navy: Don't say I didn't warn you.
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7 comments:
How is this getting no coverage in the Washington newspapers?
Good question. My guess is, it's got the wrong angle. Now, if she were a supremely qualified officer who somehow didn't make rank, guess what Big Media would do...
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I knew Holly Graf when I was assigned as the Force Exercise Officer for CTF 70 in Yokosuka. Holly was XO of Wilbur at the time. She came across as the worst example of careerism I've ever seen. Her officers detested -- repeat, DETESTED -- her. Sure, the Exec usually has some nasty things said about him or her in a stateroom or in the field. In Graf's case, the statements were said sotto voce, and in order to determine whether or not someone was part of her provincial, vindictive mafia clique. The first time I met her, when she and her CO had flown to the carrier to meet with the staff prior to an operation, she was introduced to me in the Flag Mess. She shook my hand with gusto, saying "it's an honor to meet you sir." I said, "Holly, you don't have to suck up to ME -- I'm nobody around here." It was self-deprecating black humor, to be sure; everyone else in the space laughed except Holly -- only a careerist would not have laughed. I can personally attest to excellent, non-whining, hard-working JOs who wanted to leave the service because of, and solely because of Holly Graf. But in a service that went from "down-sizing" to "right-sizing" to now capsizing, why should anyone be surprised? Mike Mullen once said he didn't want any pissant little ships in his Navy (that is, Streetfighter cum LCS). After Vern Clark said the Navy was getting LCS, suddenly Mike Mullen was in favor of it. As the original provincial, vindictive mafioso, he built a culture that allowed someone like HOlly Graf to prosper. Oh, but I can talk for hours about the Navy's problems....
I am a retired US Navy Commander. Many of my closest friends have commanded navy ships. Holly and I entered the Naval Academy together in 1981, but I did not stay, as I was a member of the Class of 1984 elsewhere. I was very disappointed to read that she had been relieved and why, although I know what it's like to serve as a junior officer aboard a ship commanded by a tyrant.
In the mid-1980s, when Holly and our classmates were coming up, it was all too common to have Commanding Officers who were over the deep end. Mine was infamously inane and had difficulty understanding our ship's communications technology and other electronic systems. He must have known his shortcomings, because he would try to mask them by tirading, berating officers in front of the crew and on the 1MC (ships PA system), throwing navy manuals at bridge watchstanders, and destroying government property, such as pulling telephones out of bulkheads (walls). He seemed to have the mistaken idea that the ship and the crew he commanded were his, not that they was entrusted to him by U.S. taxpayers.
Most of the officers I knew saw him for what he was--a terrible example; a few went on to emulate him. Perhaps, Holly had similar examples and was rewarded for inexcusable behavior. Very few in our society seem to understand the basic behaviorist concepts of reinforcement and extinction.
I applaud the Navy for sticking up for its sailors, better late than not at all. I have to believe the surface navy (the biggest offender) is getting better, choosing to develop its junior officer and sailors, rather than wasting these precious human resources.
Also, I have to comment on another commentor's suggestion that the vast majority of Admirals are Naval Academy graduates. If I thought so, I might have stayed at the Naval Academy. I have known many admirals in my career. Three wrote letters of recommendation to me for the Commander selection board. Not one was a USNA graduate. When most career officers came from the Naval Academy, most officers, logically, were academy graduates. Now, they are more likely to come from either NROTC or OCS.
Despite her shortcomings, we'd be remiss if we didn't recognize Holly for her accomplishments: she was one of the very first women to command a U.S. Navy warship, let alone three.
When Holly entered the Naval Academy, women didn't even serve on warships, let alone command them. Holly Graf was truly a naval pioneer. It's too bad there is such a dark side to her career.
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