U.S. Naval officer “Bull” Halsey commanded ships at sea on the first day of World War II, and the last. He was a brash officer popular with both the men he commanded and the public he served. A fellow officer said, “He applied himself to what he thought important and avoided what he thought frivolous.” Of importance to him was spirit, bold action, and swift execution. He prized individual initiative and praised creative solutions that went beyond convention. He was a free spirit who loved the chaos, danger and opportunity for greatness offered on the high seas. He relied on guts and intuition and relished any chance to formulate new plans and discover fresh ways of fighting. He demanded bold, aggressive and swift action from his men and stirred their emotions with rousing speeches which advocated reckless violence, a capacity sometimes lacking in his military contemporaries. Urgency and a sense of impending purpose fueled his every move.
He was viewed as a sea-going version of his Army equivalent, the equally bold and impetuous George S. Patton. Halsey was terse if supportive in his orders. He trusted his men to know their objective then utilize their skills and available information in order to devise and implement a best course of action. “Proceed. You know what to do, ” he said. “{I’ll} tell him what to do, but not how to do it,” Halsey said. He was not a perfect man, of course, and he suffered his share of misfortune and made his share of mistakes. He never wavered from his path, regardless. He lived, commanded and fought with his personal battle cry foremost in mind. “Hit hard. Hit fast. Hit often.” He was a man of greatness and will always be remembered.
From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
He was viewed as a sea-going version of his Army equivalent, the equally bold and impetuous George S. Patton. Halsey was terse if supportive in his orders. He trusted his men to know their objective then utilize their skills and available information in order to devise and implement a best course of action. “Proceed. You know what to do, ” he said. “{I’ll} tell him what to do, but not how to do it,” Halsey said. He was not a perfect man, of course, and he suffered his share of misfortune and made his share of mistakes. He never wavered from his path, regardless. He lived, commanded and fought with his personal battle cry foremost in mind. “Hit hard. Hit fast. Hit often.” He was a man of greatness and will always be remembered.
From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
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