“The Secrets of Leadership”

I found this in a book I was reading, “American Sailor: More Adventures to Go with the Job.” I hope you all enjoy …

During the build-up of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, General Schwarzkopf planned a visit to the USS Independence one day. Admiral Unruh wanted to show the General what he knew about seamanship, so he decided to take the Admiral’s barge out for an afternoon fishing trip.  The barge was a modified motor whale boat with a cabin top and more comfortable seats onboard. Admiral Unruh decided that he could be his own coxswain for the afternoon with just him and the General onboard.

When the General arrived, he got the five and dime tour of the ship as the deck department lowered the Admiral’s barge into the water and then brought it over to the area where the import gangway was located and lowered the gangway for the Admiral and the General. 

When it came time for them to depart on the fishing expedition, then went down the gangway to board the barge.  The Admiral showed his good seamanship skills by pulling the barge away from the ship and headed out. 

The found a good fishing place about two miles away from the ship.  They were chatting and having a good time fishing when all of the sudden one of those Persian Gulf storms began to brew up so quick the Admiral did not have time to get the barge started to head back to the ship. 

The wind began blowing and the waves became white caps. The barge was being tossed around like a rag doll.  The barge was then upended tossing the Admiral and the General into the water.  Then the storm stopped as quickly as it began.

The General was handling the situation very well and began swimming back to the upturned barge.  As he began swimming he saw the Admiral struggling and decided to go assist him.  The Admiral was beginning to go under for the third time when the General reached him.

The General grabbed the Admiral and began swimming and pulling the Admiral with him. It took a little while for them to get to the upturned barge but when they finally made it, the General pushed the Admiral on top of the hull and then climbed up himself.

After both of them were able to catch their breath, the Admiral spoke up and said,

“Norm, can you keep a secret?”

Norm told him he could …

“Norm, don’t let the guys know that I can’t swim.”

The General said …

“Jerry, your secret is safe with me. Just don’t let the guys know that I can’t walk on water!”