Brigadier George “Warrie” Mansford AO (Retd) is a warrior poet much loved and respected by the military family.
His poems comment on topical matters. Here is the latest following the commentary.
All for One and One for All
It would seem government authorities obsessed with political correctness are creating double standards within our military to appease minority groups.
It is an unfortunate initiative which many old diggers would find provocative and offensive. Simply put, applying special treatment and separate rules for minority groups create hostility and divisiveness; not unity.
It’s granted that we live in a rapidly changing world and our society must demonstrate flexibility to keep up with the times. Nevertheless, it does not include prostituting or compromising established values of our way of life which includes standards and discipline within our Armed Forces: they are not negotiable.
Diversity is not new and has always been a characteristic within our Military. No matter what pages of our history since Federation, the composition of our Armed Forces has always been from all walks of life in the towns, cities and suburbs to the outback. Just as importantly, contrary to political correctness, no matter the religion or lack of it, race or colour, all must continue to be treated the same if unity is to be achieved.
There should definitely be no favourites. All have and should continue to be subject to the same considerations, the same discipline and the same sense of purpose. They are well established procedures which develop individual and collective pride and respect for each other within the military family.
Hard and demanding training develops personal bonds and teamwork which ultimately implies caring and sharing for each other and facing the same challenges. Such training creates a powerful weapon for operational service, no matter be our military black, brown, brindle or white. It’s called mateship and never them and us.
When time permits, there are church parades for religious worship, however when operational or training demands, duty always comes first. After all, we all took the same oath to serve our country and its way of life and unless there is a further surge of politically correct madness, all will still wear the same uniform of our nation
Our military despise poor leadership which is often revealed by favours and special treatment for a selected few. If it persists, there will be resentment within the ranks and the very fabric of that powerful weapon will begin to tear.
Our warriors from all three Services do understand and accept the demands placed on them. They are willing to put their lives at risk. They are at their best when they’re given as the original ANZAC’s would have said “a fair go”
Put simply “All for one and one for all’—-GM
Times are a Changing
It didn’t matter if divorced, married or single
White, brown, black or brindle
Proddy, Mick, Hindu or whatever faith did call
What counted was the soldiers’ rule, “all for one and one for all”
The same was true for discipline and never any variation
After all, all had sworn the oath to serve as one for our nation
Their badge and motto a true compass for military life
Proudly worn with the national cloth to serve in peace and strife
There were times when prayers and God would have to wait
An hour, a day or even more because of duty and precious mates
It’s was all part of a special religion; sharing and caring for each other
Thus even raw recruits were soon to become sisters and brothers
An aging warrior with a holy wooden stick was their priest
“Left, right, left right” and “About turn” were daily prayers and feasts
Their church a parade ground and the unforgiving sun an altar
On such sacred ground, a heinous sin to yawn, blink, fall or falter
Screaming striped disciples prowled the Assembly ready to crucify
Sinners baptized with terrible names and not allowed to ask why
Today we have the Space Age with *PC increasing by the day
Prostituting equality to appease minority groups in special ways
Promoting that our military strength is based on diversity
Ignoring that our proven past was due to commonality and unity
Please, no favorites, same rules and uniform for all in military life
Let it always be “All for one and one for all” to succeed in any strife
***PC—-Political Correctness
George Mansford © December 2015