'A tank crew pulling comm wire from the undercarriage': Lieutenant's dumb command gets maliciously complied with to disastrous results

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Jul 20, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

If you're going to approach leadership with the attitude that everyone should obey everything you ask without question—you should probably think twice about every command that you order. Because when your subordinates follow every command without question or thought, you might end up with some results that you didn't anticipate.

It's no secret that this attitude is often prevalent in the military… and for good reason too. After all, the last thing you want is to have a soldier decide to go off script and do something unpredictable—their way—in the midst of an engagement. But that means, predictably, when this leadership style bleeds over into less serious things, you end up with some hilarious examples of malicious compliance. I mean, there's a reason why "military malicious compliance" is a thing.

We've long been a fan of these types of stories, and this latest post is no exception. When this "know nothing" second lieutenant decided to put his foot down and demand that things were done his way—in an area where he had no experience or jurisdiction—he set up a chain of events that would see him on the wrong side of command's watchful eye.