Controversial Imaah “Chesty” Chehesti, General, Imperial Marines, Retired Today
- Thread starter david.wendelken
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david.wendelken
SOC-12
Congratulations.
Did she dress for it?
She was very happy to be properly dressed for the occasion.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I beg to strongly differ.
What, not realistic or behavior becoming of a marine much less an officer much less a heroic empire-wide marine officer?
The character is fun as hell, plays with all those marine stereotypes and a little bit of fan service, and delivers on protecting the Imperium when it counts. Hell yes classic character.
More to the point, its the kind of character that WOULD have inhabited the sci-fi mags and novels Traveller springs from.
And, given that the general consensus is that the Imperium is a government of men not of laws, most of the time propitious behavior is even MORE important to convey the 'right attitude and example' especially in the absence of ability, but 1000s of years of experience would also support a person who has personality quirks but commands the respect, affection and loyalty of their subordinates and gets it done.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I had the "privilege" of commanding a mixed unit in the Army. Have you ever commanded a mixed unit?
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Chesty is a bit of silly name for a woman, you may as well call her booby or some other derivation of mammary gland slang.
It is an amusing yarn, let the man indulge in his creativity...
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Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
For those who do not know, Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, was the most decorated Marine of World War 2, and managed to win 5 Navy Crosses without winning the Medal of Honor. His biography makes interesting reading. He retired as a Lieutenant General. I am not impressed with the play on words.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Parents could have been Shakespeare scholars and named her Titania.
okay ...
I've met someone named Booby. Young Thai lad. I've also met Phil Hallus (Фил Халус). Several boys named Sue, and a Lonny Wang. Not to mention over a dozen Chewbacca's in various spellings. And three girls named Princess. And Precious Dou (pronounced Dō). Her brother is Jonny. And Phuc Mi Vang. And A Phornsavant (the H is ignored, and the T silent) family.
Immigration can result in some really inappropriate names.
Chehesti is well within the realm of "Bad idea to not change it, but it's our name and we ARE keeping it."
Bravo!
No I have not but I am aware that a bunch of 20 year olds of mixed sex and healthy physiology, often in environments with little else to do, is a recipe for trouble, disruptive pregnancies, behaviors and mismatched priorities/loyalties, and a real command challenge.
Apparently an ongoing one in RL given current policies. Going forward, it will just have to get done, wise manpower policy or not.
In RL Chesty's exuberant behavior and those of her troops would likely be squashed and proper discipline maintained, even moreso to keep units functional and modelling behavior for an Imperium whose armed forces would be very polyglot with all the incredibly diverse societies that would make up the recruits.
So, if you absolutely must have deadly realistic force behavior in your games and literature, and in addition it's a real life irritant running across people who 'get it wrong', well this character isn't for you.
I'm thinking though that sometimes the rules bend or change for certain personalities with accomplishment, an interstellar organization that is a 'government of men' is more flexible to quirks to get the benefit of people with very different ways of doing things, and it's not impossible for such a story to occur.
Don't have to go much further then TE Lawrence, Wingate or Jack Churchill to find examples of eccentric behavior tolerated for a larger goal. Patton for an American example.
So, I think with that kind of mentality and governance, it's more a matter of the Emperor saying 'I can't spare this woman, she fights', and people having to accede to it.
So much for justification of the referee sort. From a game/entertainment perspective, she's just fun, and this thread is a highlight for me.
Your experience obviously varies.
I have had the experience in a different sort of game then Traveller having a 'subordinate' who wanted to achieve in game what he had tried to do his whole RL career and not achieved to his satisfaction- imposing a force doctrine so everyone fought as one under the same approach.
When it became clear that internet gamers are not professional soldiers you can order after all and I as the organization's CO wasn't going to undercut the larger mission of running the game for his agenda, this and some other issues about our approach caused him to quit.
It was too frustrating to revisit his professional frustrations in his entertainment and so he quit the position and the game, and to my knowledge is still out there canoeing and fishing (although it has been 12 years ago).
So I won't denigrate what is obviously a similar professional frustration seemingly revisited in a gaming forum you inhabit with 'clueless' civilians not rendering the service experience realistically.
I doubt very much there could be much persuasion or 'look at it this way' that would work with you, and I certainly am not going to seek to alter what you find displeasing or compelling material.
But just remember, the rest of us may have a very different approach and entertainment experience to how to run characters and the game.
A Chinese coworker's given name was Kock, once it was explained to him what that sounded like he went by Kelvin.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
It's okay to admit when you're Wong.
Let him know we won't make him eat his keyboard.
Hovtej
SOC-12
Yes. Back in the mid-70s as a young AF Captain I was the Detachment Commander of an isolated satellite tracking site in the mountains about forty miles from the nearest base. The crew consisted of five AF personnel (one of whom was female), five civil service, and three contractors. The senior civil servant was a retired AF Chief Master Sergeant. Even at this early date, the mix was not considered unusual. (My wife was also AF.)
BTW, One of the civilian's nickname was "Rosie", short for his last name.
david.wendelken
SOC-12
Gosh, some people don't like my sense of humor.
Okey-dokey. I hope all of them have a nice day anyway.
As for realism, do you think soldiers don't cuss? Because I have to tell you they sure as hell do. It's F'ing this, F'ing that. I'll count that word 5 to 10 times from just one person in just one conversation. It has no shock effect, it's like saying "uhhhh" every half-breath.
The difference is that most of them are not articulate about it.
Chehesti is articulate about her cussing. She cusses when she needs to "get shit done now!". She uses it like a surgeon's scalpel so people who need to know something get the point both intellectually, emotionally and quickly.
For an example, just before "The Battle of the Caves", Chehesti was told not to damage archaeologically valuable stuff while rescuing hostages. Her response, “Not to worry, sir! We won’t kill anyone who’s already <traditional Marine expression> dead," was extremely succinct. It meant, "That's the stupidest idea I've heard in a while, SIR, so I'm going rescue the hostages and be damned to the artifacts."
But she said it with true elan and thus the comment is very memorable, unlike my father, a US Army Captain who once told Gen. "Cider Joe" Stillwell that the general's orders to him were, and I quote, "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard, sir." The general, after asking for and getting his explanation, agreed. Sometimes it's not what you say, it truly is how you say it. He did a fine job as an officer, but he stayed a captain.
Otherwise, she doesn't all that much. Her senate testimony is evidence of an ability to be extremely professional and civil under very trying circumstances.
History is full of truly capable military "characters". I suggest you read about the Filthy Thirteen (the real life paratroopers who inspired the Dirty Dozen) to see just how much talented soldiers can get away with. Patton drove leadership up the wall but he was tolerated because he got stuff done. T.E. Lawrence certainly had his oddities. Grant was described as a drunk to Lincoln. Lincoln suggested they find out what Grant drank and send a case to the rest of the generals. He could not spare Grant, Grant fought and won.
Chehesti got ahead on sheer merit helped along by extremely loyal soldiers in her command and a few lucky breaks that made her a popular heroine. She had difficulties because she wasn't from a noble background or even a middle class one. She was better than most of her fellow officers despite all their advantages and that caused problems for her. History is full of talented commoners forcing their way upwards into the ranks despite being held back by the nobles. Example: Pompey the Great. Thomas Becket.
Is Chehesti a bit over the top? Sure! So was Teddy Roosevelt! That man was an unstoppable dynamo of energy and determination.
I'm working on an extension to this material covering the Byret/Mora campaign in more detail. You'll be learning how Chehesti met a young Naval Intelligence officer by the name of Norris and how that worked out for both of them.
Okey-dokey. I hope all of them have a nice day anyway.
As for realism, do you think soldiers don't cuss? Because I have to tell you they sure as hell do. It's F'ing this, F'ing that. I'll count that word 5 to 10 times from just one person in just one conversation. It has no shock effect, it's like saying "uhhhh" every half-breath.
The difference is that most of them are not articulate about it.
Chehesti is articulate about her cussing. She cusses when she needs to "get shit done now!". She uses it like a surgeon's scalpel so people who need to know something get the point both intellectually, emotionally and quickly.
For an example, just before "The Battle of the Caves", Chehesti was told not to damage archaeologically valuable stuff while rescuing hostages. Her response, “Not to worry, sir! We won’t kill anyone who’s already <traditional Marine expression> dead," was extremely succinct. It meant, "That's the stupidest idea I've heard in a while, SIR, so I'm going rescue the hostages and be damned to the artifacts."
But she said it with true elan and thus the comment is very memorable, unlike my father, a US Army Captain who once told Gen. "Cider Joe" Stillwell that the general's orders to him were, and I quote, "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard, sir." The general, after asking for and getting his explanation, agreed. Sometimes it's not what you say, it truly is how you say it. He did a fine job as an officer, but he stayed a captain.
Otherwise, she doesn't all that much. Her senate testimony is evidence of an ability to be extremely professional and civil under very trying circumstances.
History is full of truly capable military "characters". I suggest you read about the Filthy Thirteen (the real life paratroopers who inspired the Dirty Dozen) to see just how much talented soldiers can get away with. Patton drove leadership up the wall but he was tolerated because he got stuff done. T.E. Lawrence certainly had his oddities. Grant was described as a drunk to Lincoln. Lincoln suggested they find out what Grant drank and send a case to the rest of the generals. He could not spare Grant, Grant fought and won.
Chehesti got ahead on sheer merit helped along by extremely loyal soldiers in her command and a few lucky breaks that made her a popular heroine. She had difficulties because she wasn't from a noble background or even a middle class one. She was better than most of her fellow officers despite all their advantages and that caused problems for her. History is full of talented commoners forcing their way upwards into the ranks despite being held back by the nobles. Example: Pompey the Great. Thomas Becket.
Is Chehesti a bit over the top? Sure! So was Teddy Roosevelt! That man was an unstoppable dynamo of energy and determination.
I'm working on an extension to this material covering the Byret/Mora campaign in more detail. You'll be learning how Chehesti met a young Naval Intelligence officer by the name of Norris and how that worked out for both of them.
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