"...do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

"For the good of the Air Force, for the good of the armed services and for the good of our country, I urge you to reject convention and careerism..."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Maxwell AFB, April 21, 2008

"You will need to challenge conventional wisdom and call things like you see them to subordinates and superiors alike."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, United States Air Force Academy, March 4, 2011

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Check Your Six - Tony Carr Will Use Your Service Against You


Tony Carr recently thanked the hero who subdued the attacker on the train in Europe, for ignoring efforts by the Air Force to train him into being a "coward."  Tony wrote:

A1C Spencer Stone:

Thank you for ignoring the training you were given, which taught you to be a coward. Instead, you ran toward the danger. If the bastards try to punish you for breaking the rules, give me a call ... and wear their disdain as a richly deserved badge of pride.
Signed,
John Q.

I find it curious how Tony came to the conclusion that this courageous airman might want to call a retired cargo pilot after such a traumatic event.  I imagine Tony thinks checking boxes and pleasing bosses and going to cute little schools and getting the nod to become a cargo squadron commander is a measure of courage, but of course, it's not.  Tony's career certainly isn't an example of "breaking the rules."  That's just not how promotion works.  But setting all that aside, the conversation that ensued on his JQP Facebook page was classic Tony Carr.

Tony drew some criticism and in response to it, he 1) threatened to ban the commentators, 2) claimed to have engaged one commentator's chain-of-command, and 3) justified his free-speech-censoring actions in the name of defending "free speech."

Tony has made the chain-of-command threats with me, as well, it's a staple of his inventory.  He's also threatened to take me to court for my speech responding to him.  Tony trumpets on his page the power he wields in contacting the leadership of those who disagree with him online.

Tony Carr is not interested in dialogue or ideas or making the Air Force or the nation better.  He is interested purely in power, and he wants to use his growing (perhaps plateauing) audience toward that end.  Tony Carr is madly in love with power.  He thirsts for it.  Agree or disagree, I advise active duty service members to check their six when dealing with him.

Tony Carr is not your friend, he is not your advocate.  And he will pick up the phone and engage the machinery of government to punish you, if you do not drink the Tony-Carr-Kool-Aid.

Caveat emptor.

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