[TUHS] Grace Hopper

[crossd@gmail.com (Dan Cross)]

On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 8:08 PM, Nelson H. F. Beebe <beebe at math.utah.edu>
wrote:

> [...]
> I've always found it amusing that she was a strong proponent of the
> work ethic: "Act first, get permission later", which is in direct
> opposition to the military chain of command, despite her rank as Rear
> Admiral of the US Navy.
>

Sorry, this is a bit off-topic, but I'm going to actually disagree with
this to some extent. In the Naval Services, we're used to bucking the
chain; this has even been codified in the US Marine Corps doctrine of
distributed operations and maneuver warfare [*]; the idea is that the
people on the ground know the local situation best, so empower them to make
decisions in accordance with the overall commander's intent. Sure, you
understand that those decisions aren't going to be perfect, but that's ok.
In this way, RDML Hopper was following a long and noble tradition of the
United States Navy.

        - Dan C.
          (Former Captain, US Marines)

[*] See MCDP-1: Warfighting.
http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCDP%201%20Warfighting.pdf
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