Twelve O’ Clock High is a movie about an American Air Force unit in 1942 that is experiencing problems. The 918th squadron is a squadron of men who fly mission for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Members of the 918th are Colonel Keith Davenport, Lieutenant Ben Gately, General Frank Savage, Major Cobb, Lieutenant Jesse Bishop, Major Kaiser, Lieutenant Birdwell, Lieutenant Zimmerman, and Major Harvey Stovall. At first glance many people see this movie as just another old World War 2 movie, but if you look deeper into it you will find that it also tells a great story about leadership and relationships. Colonel Keith Davenport is the commander of the 918th and is the soft caring commander that believes his men are perfect and that the mistakes they …show more content…
make are not their fault, but the fault of the missions because they are too hard. Lieutenant Ben Gately is a member of the 918th is the flight surgeon who made a mistake and resulted in the disastrous mission that led to Davenport being relieved. General Frank Savage is the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations who assumes control of the 918th. General Frank Savage is a hard commander who believes every mission is possible and that no one should make mistakes and if you do they should have consequences. Major Cobb was a standard member of the 918th. Lieutenant Jesse Bishop is a Medal of Honor recipient who Savage trusts and is also a member of the 918th. Major Kaiser is a member of the 918th as well as their flight surgeon. Lieutenant Birdwell and Lieutenant Zimmerman are standard members of the 918th. Major Harvey Stovall is a 918th member as well as the group Adjutant. The story begins when the 918th squadron comes back from a particularly disastrous mission and the crew realizes their defeat. Davenport being the squad leader is upset however he believes that the mission was not anyone’s fault, he believes that the mission was impossible. The next day the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations Frank Savage who believes the fault is on Ben Gately assigns Gately a low altitude dangerous mission the next day. Davenport argues for his crewmember however this leads to Savage getting the impression that Davenport has grown to close to his members and is no longer fit to command. Savage reports this to the commanding general and they begin to investigate. After investigating they confirm Davenport can no longer command and is relieved of duty. This leads to Savage being put in charge of the 918th squadron. With Savage in command of the squad he runs things very different. The crew was used to a caring leader who always believed in each of the members and never assigned blame to any of the members only to the missions, and said that they were too difficult and not possible. The first change Savage makes is firing Gately and hiring Cobb. In doing so the 918th realizes they will no longer be able to make mistakes and get away with it so they all apply for transfers. However, Savage being the smart man he is realizes this and asks Stovall to delay the transfers. With the transfers delayed Savage can begin his work. He starts by leading a mission through heavy weather and ignoring recall orders. The 918th crew completes their mission and is the only one who does, as well as having every member return safely. After a few missions the inspector general arrives to go over transfer files and this leads Savage to believe it’s all over, however the members of the squadron withdraw their transfer requests. Savage is surprised but happy and warms up to the members and no longer so tough on them. Throughout the movie many forms of leadership are portrayed, but it mainly focuses on two. The main two forms of leadership are Autocratic and Laissez-Faire. Colonel Keith Davenport portrays more of a Laissez-Faire style of leadership however he also has some characteristics of democratic. Laissez-Faire leadership is when you are relaxed and you take the hands off approach to most situations, or when you just let things unfold. Davenport shows this in the movie because he is always relaxed and lest the crew members do whatever because he believes they are doing their best. However, Davenport also portrays a Democratic style of leadership that I think describes or fits him better. Democratic leadership is when someone likes to share the responsibilities and values everyone equally. In the movie we learn that Davenport likes to share the responsibility with his crew which is a good and bad thing because when the crew makes mistakes and the blame should be on one person then he believes it should be on them all. General Frank Savage portrays himself as an Autocratic leader but also falls under Bureaucratic as well. An Autocratic leader is a leader who views themselves as the only important one and the one who makes the decisions, they also often focus on completing goals. In the movie we see that Savage clearly portrays this type of leadership especially in the beginning of the movie when he first assumes command. Savage also falls under the bureaucratic form of leadership, which is the type of leader who is strictly by the book and relies on rules and regulations. Even though Savage breaks a direct order that says to come back in because of dangerous weather overall he is a leader who respects rules and regulations. Overall I feel like I can relate more to Savage because I am more of an Autocratic leader who likes to work alone and focuses on completing goals kind of like Savage does. The movie Twelve O’ Clock High also does a good job at showing how some of the 918th squadron members act or even grow over time.
One particularly good example for this is Lieutenant Ben Gately. In the movie Gately makes many mistakes and doesn’t seem to care about his position on the squadron and it shows, but he knows he will always have a spot on the squadron because of the easy going Colonel Keith Davenport. Once Davenport is fired and Savage is hired the first thing Savage does is dress down Gatley and force him to fly with an incompetent crew as a punishment. With no other choice Gatley has to accept and flies all his missions he is assigned. Not long after Gatley ends up getting hurt and is bedridden. Savage has his doubts and goes to visit him in order to find out what happened. When Savage finds that the reason Gatley is injured is because he continued to fly while hurt he earns Savages respect and is reinstated into the squadron. Savage is happy with the way Gatley has grown and matured in regards to responsibility and the two develop a relationship. After many successful missions the 918th succumbs to time and many of the members are shot down or killed in the war. This leads to Savage breaking and being physically unable to pull himself up into his plane due to trauma, however the redeemed Ben Gately who was dressed down and forced to fly tough missions with an incompetent crew is there to take command and lead the
918th. In Twelve O’ Clock High and in life we learn that leaders in general tend to have a little bit of all the leadership types. While someone may clearly portray one form of leadership most people also have characteristics of all four types of leaderships. Overall Twelve O’ Clock High is a great war movie that teaches a lot about the different types and forms of leadership and I would recommend that anyone find the time to watch it.
The film “A League of Their Own,” depicts a fictionalized tale of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was started during World War II when many of the Major Leagues Biggest stars were drafted to the war. MLB owners decided to start this league with hopes of making money while the men were overseas fighting. Traditional stereotypes of women in sports were already in force before the league even begins. One of the scouts letts Dottie, one of the films main characters she is the perfect combination of looks as well as talent. The scout even rejects one potential player because she is not as pretty as the league is looking for even though she is a great baseball player. The player, Marla’s father said if she was a boy she would be playing for the Yankee’s. Eventually Mara’s father is able to convince the scout to take Marla to try outs because he raised her on his own after her mother died. Her father says it is his fault his daughter is a tomboy. In this case the film reinforces the traditional stereotype that mothers are in charge of raising their daughters and teaching them to be a lady, where fathers are incapable of raising girls to be anything other than a tomboy. The focus on beauty also reinforces the traditional stereotype that men will only be interested in women’s sports when the females participating in
Take Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, for example. Although he had no desire to be in Vietnam, not to mention be leading troops there, it is evident that he is selfless in the pursuit of the war, and genuinely concerned about the welfare of his men. Unfortunately, he is blinded by guilt to these qualities.
It is often the case that media and more specifically, film, perpetuates the stereotypes of black men. These stereotypes include not showing emotion, being physically aggressive, embrace violence, supposed criminality, associated with drug use, lack a father figure, sexually exploit women, and others. In the film, Boyz n the Hood, Tre’s father, Furious Styles, encourages Tre to demonstrate loyalty to other people in relationships, resist aggressive behavior, and foster and exhibit sexual responsibility. Thus, throughout the film, Tre challenges the society’s stereotyped norms of black masculinity and what it means to be a black man.
Colonel Davenport, while basically "a nice man", has a myopic view of the 918th. He is only able to see "mission to mission" and cannot foresee how the actions of his group play a role in the larger scheme of things, i.e., winning the war against Germany. As a result he is unable to notice the performance gaps of his group and how their dismal performance plays a role in the war against Germany at large. Even his body language is one of resignation and lacks the contagious confidence that a leader needs to posses [1]. It is no surprise that the men in 918 under Davenport lack the pride and self esteem required for the job and give excuses to stay on the ground.
Natural born leaders are almost nonexistent in today’s military. Military members have to complete numerous leadership classes as you progress through the military ranks whether you are an enlisted or as an officer. There are many attributes that people would have to possess to be considered a great leader. Some of those attributes include honesty, respect, trustworthy, and enthusiasm just to name a few. There have been many leaders I have worked with or for over my past 19 years in the Army. One of the most important one would have to be honesty. Honesty is important because if the people that work for you cannot believe what you tell them, they will never trust you or support you. Employees can make or break their supervisor. If they do not like or trust the manager they will not respect them and they will only do the least amount possible. When your employees believe that, you value their opinion and their work ethic. Like you and trust, you they will do anything you ask of them. Whether the decision is right or wrong it is a decision, a leader never want to leave their subordinat...
The term “hillbilly” is a stereotype for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the USA. Because a stereotypical expression, “hillbilly” includes images of being violent and backward, many Americans feel offensive when they hear the word.
Although each youth group as a whole is unique, the same types of people can be found within all of them. In most books and movies, there are the three teens that make up the main clique: the leader, the sidekick, and the romantic interest, as well as the uniform groups consisting of the nerds, the jocks, the artists, etc. Many of us might find these movie stereotypes difficult to identify with (though some are immensely accurate), but in my experience, a youth group wouldn’t be a youth group without these few key personalities to hold it together.
Staff Sergeant (SSGT) Louis Moeller shaped me into the Recon Marine I wanted to be and the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) that I am now. By embodying the Recon Creed and always setting the example, he made me want to be an NCO that my troops would look up to and want to follow. Even when not in charge he was constantly the one peers and junior Marines alike, turned to for guidance and inspiration. To this day, I still find myself asking “What would Louis do?” when confronted with a leadership dilemma.
who is not. In the play Mr Briggs is often shouting at the children or
On television today you will see stereyotypes of male and female roles in society. These stereyotyps are exemplified in many tv shows and even childrens cartoons. Some shows which stereyotype sex roles include, the flintstones, the jetsons, and almost every sitcom on television.
This film is set during the Vietnam War. It follows a group of friends from a small, industrial Pennsylvania town. Half of the men of the group goes to war, while the other half stays home. Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher) are the three men who go to war. Stan (John Cazale) George Dzundza (John) and Chuck Aspegren (Axel) are the three who stay home, along with Nick’s girlfriend Linda (Meryl Streep) and Steven’s new wife Angela (Rutanya Alda). The film chronicles how war changes those who experienced it, including how they interact with their friends once they return.
Media, even today, portrays many degrading stereotypes of women, and throughout the years I would simply watch any television show without thinking about the underlying messages being taught. Over the past few years the show Parks and Recreation has especially caught my attention. Being more media literate, I now see Parks and Recreation has a strong connection in my mind because I can positively identify as a woman through watching the show. The series conveys women being people rather than objects, and women achieving goals, which positively inspires my identity as a woman.
CLAIM: The most powerful message of the play was that people take the easy way out and assume things. ESTABLISH EVIDENCE: This ties into stereo typing very well. The play 12 Angry men had many stereotypes in it. EVIDENCE: One example was when Juror number 10 said “Look, you know how these people *lie!* It's *born* in them! I mean, what the heck? I don't have to tell you! They don't know what the truth *is!* And lemme tell ya: they don't need any real big reason to kill someone, either! No *sir!* (Rose, 56) ANALYSIS: because he was stereotyping the people of the slums that is where the boy who was accused of shooting his dad was from was from. LINK: This is a very big connection to the world now because stereo typing goes on so much in the world today and it is very important that we know we do it.
Teenage girls are another kind of human. In the television show The Last Man Standing there is one particular stereotype that stands out an extreme amount due to the fact that three of the five main characters are teenage girls. These three teenage girls are all sisters living under the same roof with the same parents. The stereotyping of teenage girls is displayed storngly through these three girls. In the television show The Last Man Standing teenage girls are inaccurately stereotyped.
Over the years I have learned many lessons in leadership from different NCOs and civilians I have worked under, as well as various commanders. It is my hypothesis that the leader who will most affect one’s career is that first leader who spends the time to mentor the young Soldier. The leader who had the most influence over me was Staff Sergeant James M. (J.J.) Johnson, Junior. He was not the best NCO in the world, but he was the consistent NCO in my world. I met him at my first duty station, Operations Company, U.S. Army Field Station Korea (OPNS Co., USAFSK) in September, 1983. He was one of many NCOs in a very tangled and confusing chain of command, but he was identified as my squad leader. I learned all about event oriented counseling from him, and that there are promotions and demotions. After serving a year at the Field Station, I PCSd to the 102nd MI Bn, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Hovey, participating in the QuickFix Platoon, a heliborne collection and jamming platform. I hit my first re-enlistment at the 2nd ID and chose USAFSK as my assignment of choice. My platoon also decided that I had grown enough to be boarded for Sergeant, so that was my reward for a wonderful tactical year.