I don't keep in touch with my ex-service buddies. It's been a hell of a long time and we all change.
So it was with a little sadness that I learned of the passing, last year, of CAPT Guy R. Campbell, III, USN, ret.
Captain Campbell was one of the captains whose crews would have followed him into Hell, without hesitation. When I knew him, he had relieved a captain whose crew would have cheerfully sent him to Hell. He believed in mentoring and training his crews, not in chewing them out. An expression of mild disappointment from him would be devastating, as the person receiving it knew that they had let down the Old Man.
One weekend in home port, his ship was open to the public for topside tours. Unbeknownst to him, his kids (ranging from teenagers to pre-teens) took the public tour. When the sailor giving the tour pointed out the Captain's Gig and explained its function, one of the kids giggled and told a sibling: "That's Daddy's boat." The sailor giving the tour overheard that and told the OOD after the tour group left. The OOD told the CDO, who passed it along to the XO. Captain Campbell went to the sailor's workspace the next work day and apologized for what his kids did. He sure as hell didn't need to do that, but word of it spread through the waterfront like wildfire. That's just one example of why he was beloved by his crews.
Captain Campbell was not one of those captains who would step on his crews in order to please his bosses' in-port horseshit. To him, the welfare of his crew was all, for he knew that if his crew had his back, there was nothing that both they and his ship couldn't do.
Fair wins and following seas, Captain.
The Solstice, or On the Road Again ...
4 hours ago
3 comments:
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment
didn't appear. Grrrr... well I'm not writing all that over again. Anyways,
just wanted to say excellent blog!
Great story. I had COs like that...and one, very not like that...Thanks for sharing...:)
I served as the Combat Cargo Officer on board a Wasp Class LHD. Without a doubt, one of the finest Commanding Officers I ever had, both Marine and Navy, was Capt (now Rear Admiral) Daniel Fillion. The man could motivate even the most hard core slacker in the Navy with his unbounded enthusiasm and motivating personality. When I checked on bard the ship for duty, he was the XO. The previous CCO had left a bad taste in the leaderships mouths and because of this, he was placed under the Air Ops Officer (a Marine Major) to be "looked after." That all changed the moment I checked aboard. As I was talking to him, he mentioned that fact. I looked him square in the eye and stated very mater of factly "I only work for two people on this ship, that man down the hallway through your guidance. I am a Department Head and will be treated as such." He sat back in his seat, looked at me with wide eyes and said "Roger that Combat!"
We were off the coast of Nicaragua supporting hurricane relief actions. We had sent a crew to shore to assist in off loading aircraft and loading helicopters for movement of supplies to affected rural areas. The crew ashore had no logistical support to count on and the heat was taking its toll on them. Word got back to the ship that they needed our help getting water to our shipmates ashore. Capt Fillion got on the 1MC and asked for volunteers to help in moving pallets of water from the hangar bay to the flight deck so it could be loaded on the helos. When I got from my office to the hangar bay, it looked like someone had kicked over an ant nest....sailors coming out of the woodwork to help. We set up to lines from cargo elevator 6, across the hangar, up the vehicle ramp to the flight deck, and moved over 8000 lbs of water and supplies in 20 minutes. It wast the most amazing thing I had ever seen. That man, asking for help, and the response from a crew that absolutely loved the man.
I have been retired now for almost 10 years, but if that man asked me to work for him again, it wouldn't even require a moments thought.
Post a Comment