Try Not to Step There, Mr. T

Once upon a time, while on vacation at Fort Polk, Louisiana, I remember a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant who used a unique phrase to capture one trainee's attention when he committed an error or didn't make the grade for whatever task was at hand.

He said, "You're steppin on your d**k, maggot. Try again.” The sentence was usually delivered with considerable emphasis and accompanied with a few other descriptors plus a generous amount of additional physical activity on the trainee's part.

Particularly inspiring, isn’t it? Of course that time is long gone and well before the U.S. Army became a gender-free organization.

My flashback came to mind when I read another of Mr. T's asinine comments. You know, the person who believes he can be our Commander in Chief. From the podium at a recent campaign stump, he wondered aloud if the military generals would be willing to take orders from President Hillary Clinton. (She is a woman, after all.)

I thought it appropriate to remind Mr. T. that many women are serving with distinction in a variety of capacities in today’s military. Consider, for instance, Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson. She is a four-star general and the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. A whole lot of men and women are under her command.

Gen. Robinson is the highest ranking female service member in our nation’s history. While women have reached the rank of four-star before — including Adm. Michelle Howard, who currently serves as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations — none have reached a position as high as a unified combatant command like NORTHCOM.

The facts are that men have been taking orders from female commanders for a very long time.

However, no one actually knows if anyone will follow Mr. T’s orders if he is elected.

Mr. Trump, who never served in the military due to his five draft deferments, has never taken orders from male or female commanders, nor has he given orders. So, we really don’t know what he will do when the goin’ gets a little tough, do we? Nor do you know if anyone will find him a leader worth following.

My guess is he will continue, “stepping on his d**k”. Sadly, Mr. T will not have the benefit of a US Army Drill Sergeant to help him remove his foot.