Captain Brad Geary

And here's the thing that's interesting about that to me, and this is one of the things we learned in this three-year process, is even the great admirals out there, which there's some great ones, and the great generals out there, have become so institutionalized that they're in many ways incapable of even criticizing the process when they see it acting unjustly. They just can't do it.

I don't want to speak too generally, right? I think there are some absolute altruists out there who want to keep leading because they love the organization, they love the nation. What I've noticed, though, is it's an interesting pattern. When something goes wrong, and I have a theory on it, when something goes wrong, commanding officers are kind of hung out to dry, right?

I don't want to speak too generally, right? I think there are some absolute altruists out there who want to keep leading because they love the organization, they love the nation. What I've noticed, though, is it's an interesting pattern. When something goes wrong, and I have a theory on it, when something goes wrong, commanding officers are kind of hung out to dry, right?

I don't want to speak too generally, right? I think there are some absolute altruists out there who want to keep leading because they love the organization, they love the nation. What I've noticed, though, is it's an interesting pattern. When something goes wrong, and I have a theory on it, when something goes wrong, commanding officers are kind of hung out to dry, right?

Well, you were in command. We have to have total responsibility and accountability. So you see COs getting fired all the time for lack of trust and confidence. Yet if you pull the thread on like root cause analysis on a lot of these ones, what you'll find is they probably or might be working under some other Commodore or some other Admiral who is somewhat of a toxic leader or not a good leader.

Well, you were in command. We have to have total responsibility and accountability. So you see COs getting fired all the time for lack of trust and confidence. Yet if you pull the thread on like root cause analysis on a lot of these ones, what you'll find is they probably or might be working under some other Commodore or some other Admiral who is somewhat of a toxic leader or not a good leader.

Well, you were in command. We have to have total responsibility and accountability. So you see COs getting fired all the time for lack of trust and confidence. Yet if you pull the thread on like root cause analysis on a lot of these ones, what you'll find is they probably or might be working under some other Commodore or some other Admiral who is somewhat of a toxic leader or not a good leader.

And that trickled down to that CO. But you never ever see or very rarely do you see a Commodore or an Admiral fired. And I think it's because at the command level, you represent that command. Everything above that, you now represent the institution. And if you're going to fire someone who represents the institution, that is a criticism against the institution.

And that trickled down to that CO. But you never ever see or very rarely do you see a Commodore or an Admiral fired. And I think it's because at the command level, you represent that command. Everything above that, you now represent the institution. And if you're going to fire someone who represents the institution, that is a criticism against the institution.

And that trickled down to that CO. But you never ever see or very rarely do you see a Commodore or an Admiral fired. And I think it's because at the command level, you represent that command. Everything above that, you now represent the institution. And if you're going to fire someone who represents the institution, that is a criticism against the institution.

And they view that as their chief goal, preserving the institution. And I think that's where we see gradually what happened is a bit of a misplacement of loyalties. where, and I think it's what we saw in our case, was, well, the institution decided we're going to go with this narrative. Doesn't matter whether it's true or not.

And they view that as their chief goal, preserving the institution. And I think that's where we see gradually what happened is a bit of a misplacement of loyalties. where, and I think it's what we saw in our case, was, well, the institution decided we're going to go with this narrative. Doesn't matter whether it's true or not.

And they view that as their chief goal, preserving the institution. And I think that's where we see gradually what happened is a bit of a misplacement of loyalties. where, and I think it's what we saw in our case, was, well, the institution decided we're going to go with this narrative. Doesn't matter whether it's true or not.

Now we have to defend the institution's decision, and we're going to follow this through all the way to the end, even when it made no more rational sense. Even when we exposed, to quote Congress,

Now we have to defend the institution's decision, and we're going to follow this through all the way to the end, even when it made no more rational sense. Even when we exposed, to quote Congress,

Now we have to defend the institution's decision, and we're going to follow this through all the way to the end, even when it made no more rational sense. Even when we exposed, to quote Congress,

I think the quote was grossly unethical practices, and I'm quoting them now, it's words to that effect, and a lack of investigative integrity from a congressional letterhead because, well, we can't criticize the institution because the public trusts the institution.

I think the quote was grossly unethical practices, and I'm quoting them now, it's words to that effect, and a lack of investigative integrity from a congressional letterhead because, well, we can't criticize the institution because the public trusts the institution.

I think the quote was grossly unethical practices, and I'm quoting them now, it's words to that effect, and a lack of investigative integrity from a congressional letterhead because, well, we can't criticize the institution because the public trusts the institution.

What I think happens subliminally with a lot of these guys is not they're so power hungry, it's that over time, their loyalty flips, and instead of remembering that they made an oath to the Constitution, they somehow start placing the institution above that. And that shapes decision-making.