Obama gaffe machine going full steam

BoneKracker · Veteran Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 1499 Location: U.S.A.

Responding to question about the book, Dishonorable Disclosure, by SEALs critical of his handling of the bin Laden raid and other covert operations, Obama Blurted:

notageek · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:36 am Post subject:

Hardly a gaffe. He was being respectful, because everybody knows Army > Airforce > Navy. Thus General > Admiral.
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Muso · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:36 am Post subject:

pjp · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:39 pm Post subject:

BoneKracker · Veteran Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 1499 Location: U.S.A.

The actual order of precedence (this is real), is Army, Navy, Air Force. The Marine Corps is part of the Navy.

The two exceptions to this are as follows:

1. The Chiefs of Staff, whose order of precedence is by date of appointment. The Commandant of the Marine Corps does get a seat at the table with the Chiefs of Staff of the three Services. Their individual order of precedence is essentially "first come, first served".

2. The Marine Corps does not march with the Navy. When Marine Corps elements are part of a joint formation, they have precedence over the Navy (as it should be). For such formations, parades, etc., the order of precedence is Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard.

To the point, however, mistaking what service a military member belongs to is a major faux pas and a personal affront. It's almost as bad as referring to a man as a woman. It shows that you failed to notice something very basic and obvious about the person and strongly suggest that you either don't know them at all or have very little regard for them.

A good analogy would be claiming "Father Goldman can tell you that I care deeply about his work", when "Father Goldman" is actually Rabbi Goldman, a Jew.

It sends a pretty clear message that you wouldn't give a rat's ass for "Father Goldman" and his people and you don't really have a clue what it is they are doing.
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