Don't Be Stupid

It may seem obvious.

In the mid-80’s, a group of junior US Army officers in my battalion were planning a bachelor party for one of our peers. Now don’t jump to conclusions. We weren’t a bunch of unprincipled savages who were planning a drunken, depraved, wild bash.  In fact, we were a group of educated, (generally) responsible, moral, enthusiastic young professionals endowed with a great deal of accountability, who wanted to celebrate with one of our esteemed peers. 

Plans coming together, three self-appointed party organizers went into the office of our new battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Long, to let him know about the gathering, and even to invite him. 

Without saying a word, LTC Long turned in his chair, reached for a book on his credenza and placed it on his desk in front of us. It was his copy of the UCMJ, The Uniform Code of Military Justice. He opened it, and as effortlessly as a Southern Baptist preacher looking up John 3:16, found what he was looking for. 

He then read an applicable passage aloud. Though I don’t remember the exact wording, the particular provision concerned bad behavior by commissioned military officers. It further outlined the potential consequences of that bad behavior. One can imagine it was a brief but sobering discussion.

It’s likely that the bachelor party was toned down from what some in a bunch of spirited 24 year-old men may have had had in mind. And while we may have muttered, a little, about LTC Long being a buzz-kill, he may have saved a dozen or so young men’s careers and futures. LTC Long didn't attend the party, but he was present. As the leader, he made sure he was the adult in a room he wasn't even in.

This episode stuck with me. It probably informed caution over my, and probably some of my peers, subsequent military and business careers. 

There are times when someone needs to be the adult in the room, for everyone’s good. Be the adult in the room. Don’t be stupid.