When in Doubt: Mustaches

[dapaterson]

An American Marine Reserve Lieutenant Colonel reflects on his time as a governor in Iraq:

http://www.cracked.com/article_21303_8-things-i-learned-as-american-ruling-iraqi-province.html

 

[pbi]

Good read.

One thing that has struck me over the years  about the US forces is their severe aversion to officers wearing moustaches. I guess Grant, Jackson, Lee and Pershing would never cut it in the Army or Marines today.

 

[Old Sweat]

Good read.

One thing that has struck me over the years  about the US forces is their severe aversion to officers wearing moustaches. I guess Grant, Jackson, Lee and Pershing would never cut it in the Army or Marines today.

I recently read a[n unverifiable] statement that Sir Arthur Currie was the only general officer in the British armies on the western front without a moustache.

 

[dimsum]

[tangent]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nEFLKpknM4

[/tangent]

;D

 

[OldSolduer]

Good read.

One thing that has struck me over the years  about the US forces is their severe aversion to officers wearing moustaches. I guess Grant, Jackson, Lee and Pershing would never cut it in the Army or Marines today.

I find US officers and to some extent their Senior NCOs to be humourless as well.
Maybe I was just at the wrong place.

 

[dapaterson]

All the best WWI generals had moustaches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vafxnkWndI

 

[dimsum]

I find US officers and to some extent their Senior NCOs to be humourless as well.
Maybe I was just at the wrong place.

I never really noticed it until I started living in Oz, but American humour is different than "Commonwealth" humour.  One of the most frequent comments that I get when Aussies find out I'm Canadian (thanks to my neutral North American accent) is that Canadians/Aussies/Kiwis/Brits  *get* sarcasm and when people are "taking the piss" more so than the typical (stereotypical?) American.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I find US officers and to some extent their Senior NCOs to be humourless as well.
Maybe I was just at the wrong place.

They have a sense of humour... it's just rationed a little more than most of their weapon systems  ;D

 

[OldSolduer]

They have a sense of humour... it's just rationed a little more than most of their weapon systems  ;D

Who wants to join me this afternoon marchin up and down the square?

Marchin up and down the square not good enough for you?

 

[CombatDoc]

I recently read a[n unverifiable] statement that Sir Arthur Currie was the only general officer in the British armies on the western front without a moustache.

He was likely the only "pear-shaped" GO on the Western Front, so didn't need a moustache for recognition or status.  ;D

 

[Old Sweat]

He was likely the only "pear-shaped" GO on the Western Front, so didn't need a moustache for recognition or status.  ;D

The statement did note that he had several things that would have prevented his rise if he had been British. These included, besides his lack of a moustache and his pear-shaped body, his origin as a militia officer, his careless attitude towards dress and his very profane manner of speech.

 

[Edward Campbell]

The statement did note that he had several things that would have prevented his rise if he had been British. These included, besides his lack of a moustache and his pear-shaped body, his origin as a militia officer, his careless attitude towards dress and his very profane manner of speech.

Not to mention some hints of impropriety in his financial affairs.

 

[pbi]

I find US officers and to some extent their Senior NCOs to be humourless as well.
Maybe I was just at the wrong place.

Jim: I had a similar experience with most (but not all) of the US types I served with over the years. I think the issue is not really that they're humourless, but that we may have a somewhat different sense of humour from them. I think that a bunch of Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and Brits would probably all laugh at the same joke, more or less. I'm not at all sure that if there were US folks in the group that they would get it.

I should say that when I lived in the US, this was also generally true of people in service jobs such as shops, restaurants, etc. Usually in Canada you can share a bit of quick humour with these foks and you will all laugh: I found that about half or more of the times in the US, that fell flat.

Maybe Americans have higher standards for humour than we do.

 

[pbi]

I never really noticed it until I started living in Oz, but American humour is different than "Commonwealth" humour.  One of the most frequent comments that I get when Aussies find out I'm Canadian (thanks to my neutral North American accent) is that Canadians/Aussies/Kiwis/Brits  *get* sarcasm and when people are "taking the piss" more so than the typical (stereotypical?) American.

This is exactly what I was trying to say. I also find that they sometimes don't do too well in laughing at themselves.

 

[pbi]

The statement did note that he had several things that would have prevented his rise if he had been British. These included, besides his lack of a moustache and his pear-shaped body, his origin as a militia officer, his careless attitude towards dress and his very profane manner of speech.

Yes, shocking fellow! And, do you know what else about that Colonial wretch? I hear the beggar was actually a businessman before the war!!! Good God, one can just nevah be sure of whom one is serving with, can one??? Bwah, bwah.

 

[dimsum]

The statement did note that he had several things that would have prevented his rise if he had been British. These included, besides his lack of a moustache and his pear-shaped body, his origin as a militia officer, his careless attitude towards dress and his very profane manner of speech.

Sir John Monash (Cdr of the Australian Corps and, with Currie, the person who planned the Battle of Amiens) would probably have been snubbed as well, as he was also a militia officer (before transferring) and German-Jewish. 

 

[Edward Campbell]

My American colleagues, in my last job, were, almost universally splendid people - funny, able to laugh at themselves, etc, etc - when we were together in our own community. The problem was when they were mixed in with their American confrères: then they lost their individual and collective senses of humour and all that went with it.

Th problem, I suspect, is with the American military culture, which takes itself very, Very, VERY seriously, not with the people, themselves.

Many Aussies, Brits, Canadians and Kiwis with whom I worked took their jobs very seriously, but not themselves nor the military establishment in which they served.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I too have noticed this American military personnel.  Warm and funny when you mix them into a mostly Canadian setting; cold and reserved when there is a certain critical mass of other Americans around.

There is something akin to religious fervour within the institutional US military, towards the institution itself.

You just don't see that in Canada.

 

[observor 69]

My impression from working with USAF personnel is they take their responsibility as "Defenders of the free world" very very  seriously.


[size=8pt][size=10pt]Where's that darn sarcasm icon?[/size][/size]

 

[Transporter]

Unless something has changed in the past few years (and I don't believe it has), US Army officers are still required to provide up-to-date photos of themselves, in full dress uniform, for their Pers files (or whatever the US equiv is called). I've been told the photos are not just window dressing, but are indeed "looked at" and duly considered within the selection process for things like command, etc. You probably don't want to stand out as "mustache guy" when the general consensus within the organization is that officers are to be clean-shaven... zigging whilst everyone else is zagging doesn't go over well.