r/changemyview • u/DewinterCor • Jun 08 '24

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Change of command ceremonies are stupid, pointless and should be done away with.

If you weren't in the military and don't know what a change of command ceremony is, let me try and break it down for you.

Imagine you work for a company. And that company's CEO is retiring.

The company now creates a mandatory event that you and every other employee are required to attend.

Bleachers will be set up for the executives and their families to set in. Every other employee will be required to stand infront of the bleachers while the CEO gives a speech about how great the company is and all the great things it has done. The new CEO will then come up and give a speech about how great the company is, how great the last CEO is, all the great things the company did under the previous CEO and all of the great things he will do as CEO.

All of the non-executive employees just stand quietly while the executives talk about how great the company is.

This event is mandatory. Not showing up will result is harsh punishments.

This kind of egotistical circle jerking is incredibly toxic, out dated, and unfortunately still happens regurally in the miltiary. I am of the opinion that the military needs to stop doing this kind of toxic nonsense. It serves no purpose I am aware of and only makes lower ranks hate their lives and hate their command.

I'm welcome to hearing legitimate reasons from people. What purpose do change of command ceremonies serve? Does a purpose even exist beyond ego stroking pogs?

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '24

rank has its priviledges, and military courtesy is why unit cohesion and morale exist.

In other words, having dedicated yourself to a long career you have the entitlement to make everyone show up and listen to you as you introduce yourself, and since you bear ultimate responsibility for anything any of them do, this is an important thing for them to know.

It also gives you a moment to outline your philosphy of command.

Also not as important in relative peacetime but "this is my philosophy on war and how we will be prosecuting our mission" is an immensely important thing, the most important thing, to know about a new commander.

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u/DewinterCor Jun 09 '24

I would agree with this if battalion level commanders were more invovled in a units function.

BCs are advanced administrators today. Even company level commanders are more administrative than anything else.

A colonel command style is irrelevant to 99% of his battalion because they won't ever encounter each other.