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3 comments:
This Good Man was a Hero in so many ways. Thanks so much for your service to This Country and This County. May he Rest in Peace. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.
This week I have established a New Group on Face Book : "Reform The Atlanta VA Medical Center Now !!!"
Just a very few years ago we had 18 Veterans a day committing suicide. The new numbers of Veterans committing suicide now stands at 23 Veterans a day. That's 161 a week and 8,372 a year.
I know that many of you are Veterans, I can no longer sit idle by as these awful loses continue in our Veteran Ranks. Thanks Jerry
Col.Howington was a good man. A fair man. What I saw with him,was what I got. If he liked you,he liked you. If he didn't,he didn't. Both were very obvious,and he had his reasons for both. I preface this by saying,if you were a honest,reputable,hard working officer,you had his respect,and support. If not,well,you would have many a long shift,and handle some of the least desirable,unpleasant details,until your inevitable plea for your dismissal. He never yelled,threatened,or demeaned anyone. Don't think that he was shy about administering a "nasty' ass chewing,if that would suffice.If not,he believed in the "power of the pen". He was a rules,and reg's,kind of guy. Do something "wrong"/wrong,stand up,and take your lumps. Being we were both old Department of the Navy veteran's,he would tell me,"don't come in here,and waste a perfectly good lie.Just tell me what happened". Hard core discipline,with a dash of humor.He would "run you up,and disc you",in a heartbeat. No slack.No apologies. No select,protected,disciplinary actions. Samey same for any,and all(except for the Director,or Chief's "protected" cronies). He "wrote it up/sent it up",anyway,for it to only fall in the more than predictable,"upstairs black hole",never/ever to be seen,or heard from again. That was,and still is,the management s.o.p. style of all police departments,back then,as well as,today. Col. Howinton's personal management style was,"The rules and regulations of this department,exist,and are enforced,for a reason. They are not flexible,nor am I". Got to respect that from a man,in any leadership position. He adamantly refused to lower the standards of this department,regarding the selection,and more importantly,the retention of questional,or,unqualified officer's,or the recruitment of potential candidate/recruits. During his assignment,as the Commander of the Training Division, the instructor's recommendations were sacrosanct,and he respected,supported,and approved our decisions,unquestionably.(I can personally attest to this,as a recruit class started out with 40 recruits in a class,and less than half graduated). He definitely had his "heels locked",many times over these types of academy outcomes. Those times are long,long gone. This,unfortunately has "morphed" into a more warm and fuzzy,dont be insensitive,quantity than quality attitude. Like it or not,agree,or disagree,this department had far,far fewer incidents involving conduct unbecoming/oath of office violations,and criminal acts.,while he was manning one of the many wheels of this department.
Thankfully/hopefully,all,or most of these "undesireable's" are gone,or will be. Once again,thankfully,the good officer's are still here,carrying the load. He would be proud.But it goes without saying,none of these "questional" applicants would have ever made it past Col Howington,to begin with. He knew,and believed that potential police officers like this,make or break any department. You can all thank Jack Howington,for this brief respite of "just go ahead and lower the standards. Everybody else does"! He made sure that "all" of the recruit's "made the cut",to progress in their continued training, If not,they quickly,and quietly,received their "pink slip",ultimately leading to taking that long,lonely walk across the parking lot. No doubt,his leadership style,went way,way back,to his "old salty",Chief Petty Officer,Navy days. Fair wind,and following seas,shipmate. Fair wind,and following seas. You were one of the good ones,Skipper. R.I.P..
RIP Sir, and thank you for your service.
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