what the "real" game was most of the time. I would assume that most of the intelligence gathered in Nam was time sensitive (at least theater of battle type) and so they wouldn't be able able to send a plain old letter to Sam the custodial engineer at Fort George S..
It is my deepest hope that the intelligence community doesn't let the bureaucracy above dictate anything SOP filter down to the field. More specifically, nothing is worse IMHO for an intelligence agency to be than "predictable"... As I said, it is my hope.
I know in your latest thread with the B. you were describing (pretty accurately, I'm affraid) the general incompetence of the military as an organization and it's individuals. As a general rule of thumb, I can't disagree... but I would add that a few of the brightest people I have ever run across were 30 and 40 something Warrant's and Sergeants. I even met a couple of remarkable "real" officers ( :p ) at the Colonel level. (Like teachers) they weren't in it for the pay, most probably not "duty" either, but they really had just found a niche and didn't feel they wanted (or could) do anything else... I also know the military has a way of burning these folks out and Mickey Mousing them out, but some of them still survive. I base my hope on them. I know it's not much to grab onto, but I try to think that they are still there and protecting the rest of us.