There are a bunch of things to try to answer your questions, so, I'll do my best to hit upon as many as possible. These aren't necessarily in any given order.
Lt. Hauk is a US Army Second Lieutenant (O-1 designation). A 2nd Lt. normally has less than 18 months experience in rank. A US Army Sgt. Major (E-9 designation) is a career Army enlisted Non-Commission Officer with many years of experience and normally would assist officers who are in charge of 300 to 1,000 soldiers. A 2nd Lt. would be clearly encouraged to learn from his Sgt. Major, who are "charged" with carrying on the traditions of the Army. Even without that, any Lt. would primarily interact with the Sgt. (Sgt. Major or "plain" Sgt.) who would then be in charge of those below him.
As far as Lt. Hauk not being around toward the end, it's quite possible, in fact, quite likely, that when the General found out that Sgt. Major Dickerson sent Cronauer into danger like that, he may well have "fired" the Lt. (transferred him) immediately, then both because of the serious nature of the problems and his ongoing knowledge and relationship over the years with Sgt. Major Dickerson, the General decided that he had to handle both Cronauer and Dickerson personally.
Finally, just for clarification, a Captains Mast is strictly a US Navy and US Coast Guard term. In the Army, it would be called an Article 15. Overall, they are all forms of Non-Judicial Punishment.
Hope this helps some.
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HarveyManfredSinJohn
9 years ago
Do you think Lt. Hauk knew of/was complicit in Sgt. Major Dickerson's order to send Cronauer into dangerous territory?
Although Hauk was a jerk, he didn't strike me as a malicious or mean man who would knowingly sent a non-combat officer (please advise me of the correct terminology ) to likely death.
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The_Dougster
8 years ago
Although Hauk was a jerk, he didn't strike me as a malicious or mean man who would knowingly sent a non-combat officer (please advise me of the correct terminology ) to likely death.
I agree. It seemed quite clear that Dickerson made that decision "on the spot" after confirming with soldiers in the field that the road wasn't safe. There's no indication at all that Hauk was involved in that.
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fountaincap
8 years ago
Thanks for that clarification on the relationship between lieutenant and sergeant major. I guess it's similar to the situation in Platoon where, although they had a young lieutenant with them, on a day to day basis, it was the gunnery and staff sergeants giving the orders.
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