Michael Dorosh
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
Haggis said:Military custom and tradition is somewhat misunderstood as being archaic. This breeds inflexibility as soldiers perceive anything that's "always been done that way" to be a custom or tradition and, therefore, not to be messed with. Not so.
- Adding a quote or cypher to your signature block (i.e. VP, Ubique, Pro Patria etc. etc.);
- Battle crys ("Chimo!" "Advance!" et al.);
A new tradition can be instituted if circumstances support it.
There new "traditions" are scarcely worth the effort. The signature block seems especially trite - especially if you are signing in Gaelic and sending to someone who has no idea what your regimental motto is. "Sincerely" seems to work fine.
As for the 'battle crys' - no engineer ever built a bridge under fire while screaming "Chimo" - the use of that word on this message board (much less on dismissal from a brigade parade, which was embarrassing to watch) seems particularly sophomoric to me, and instead of giving the appearance of professionalism, always signalled to me that the writer hadn't quite figured out the difference between military tradition and stupid shit that American high school football players do.
In my humble opinion, of course.
I agree with the need for changing traditions. The new way to wear a poppy was discussed in depth here; I had no problem with it, even given the accepted rationale. Times do change. Inventing traditions out of whole cloth - especially when they are patterned after our un-military seeming cousins to the south - seems like not a good way to go.
Incidentally, this isn't a slam on the Americans. Their military has always seemed "un-military" to us. In WW II, we thought them unmilitary because they called petrol "gasoline" and torches "flashlights". To a Canadian, the American terms were everyday, the British terms somehow "military." We are no longer in the same boat, but can still spot some of the habits they pick up from civilians (patent leather shoes, those God-awful marching bands with Sousaphones and tinny sounding drums) and call them "unmilitary" when in fact, they aren't - just different from us.
Anyway - DEEDS not WORDS.