An internet buddy -- a former USAF E-8, master sergeant, and refueling boom operator, who naturally goes by the handle "Boomer" -- sent me a link to a video with the comment that our recently re-elected commander-in-chief could learn a lesson in leadership from it.

Retired Brigadier General Steve Richie, who is delivering the talk on the rescue of a downed Air Force weapons officer in Vietnam, is an excellent, almost charismatic speaker.  After checking BG Richie out on Wikipedia, I learned that he is, in fact, a bit of a charismatic warrior, who once was a youthful, wise-guy, hotshot jet jockey with cojones of steel -- the kind of brash, self-confident young warrior who can scare the hell out of his comrades and his commanders, but who gets results.  In that regard, he is one of only three Air Force aces from the Vietnam War and a recipient of the Air Force Cross, an award for valor second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Take time to watch this short, very entertaining video, "The Rescue of Roger Locher," and see if you don't come away feeling a bit better about our country, our military, and even our generals, a couple of whom have been casting a pall upon their brethren recently.  Watch it, and I believe you will also agree with my buddy Boomer that our president and some of the perfumed princes in the Pentagon could pick up some pointers from General Richie and his colleagues.

As someone who is in contact with other members of our military community on a frequent and ongoing basis, I can tell you: our younger warriors, both troops and leaders, don't need those pointers.  This is code by which they have always lived -- and still do.