A salute to peers of old

When the movies deal with the internal workings of a particular profession, a certain amount of caterwauling from the real practitioners is expected. Soldiers and sailors are no exception.

For every highly regard “Black Hawk Down” and “Saving Private Ryan,” there is a “Windtalkers” (unrealistic battle scenes, historically inaccurate) and a “G.I. Jane” (don’t ask).

So to find out what active-duty military personnel think of two current releases that deal with war and warriors -- “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and “The Last Samurai “ -- The Times invited a group of Navy captains to watch the former and, several nights later, invited enlisted Marines to watch the latter. In general, both groups gave thumbs up to the films for their depictions of men in battle. Both “Master and Commander” and “The Last Samurai” are historical epics, the first set aboard a British vessel in the early 19th century, the other in Japan in the mid-19th century.

The four Navy commanders are captains of San Diego-based warships, the direct descendants of the “Master and Commander’s” fictional HMS Surprise with its 28 guns. The four Marines are stationed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, where recruits undergo a grueling regimen to make them into warriors that even the legendary samurai could respect and fear.

The captains, already fans of the Patrick O’Brian novels, thought “Master and Commander” captured the burden and the zeal of commanding a ship at sea. The Marines felt an immediate kinship with the samurais. Vice Adm. Deborah Loewer said she would like “Master and Commander” to be used in Navy leadership classes.

As for the Marines, take this mini-review of “The Last Samurai” from semi-amazed Cpl. Yuri Schneider: “This isn’t just Hollywood hokey stuff. They got it right.”

Here’s what both groups had to say:

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Sailors say Crowe masters commander’s role

Flogging, drinking and weevils in the food -- all part of “Master and Commander” -- have long been eliminated from shipboard life, but principles of leadership are as true today as when Captain Jack Aubrey and his HMS Surprise were searching the seas for French marauders, the Navy ship captains agreed.

“It’s leadership they want: strength,” Russell Crowe (Aubrey) tells a junior officer. “You find that within yourself and you’ll earn their respect.” That, the captains assembled for a post-movie meal in downtown San Diego agreed, is the secret to keeping a taut and combat-ready ship. Friendship between captain and crew is optional, but mutual respect, if the ship is to run properly, is mandatory.

“Certain aspects of leadership are time-tested and were as true 200 years ago as today,” said Cmdr. Pat Piercey, commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer Howard. “Jack Aubrey knew how to lead.” For openers, he practiced “management by walking around” and avoided a tendency to stay in his stateroom and wait for reports.

“He knew his ship,” said Cmdr. Jim Loeblein, commander of the frigate Thach. “He didn’t just sit in his stateroom and wait for people to tell him things. He knew how to fight his ship.”

“He wasn’t afraid to face his crew and tell them it’s going to be hard work,” said Cmdr. Ann Phillips, commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer Mustin.

Loewer, in a telephone interview, said Aubrey “knew that true leadership begins by listening and watching.” And the challenges he faced are the same ones that captains face today. When a sailor purposely bumped a junior officer, Aubrey ordered him flogged. Flogging was banned long ago, but there are other punishments a ship’s captain can, and must, mete out to maintain discipline.

“What I dislike most from a crew is active, physical disrespect for a superior,” said Loeblein. “It’s like a cancer. If you don’t cut it out, it can permeate an entire ship.” Aubrey listened to sailors with more experience and expertise -- like the sailing master, who was dubious about the trip around South America -- but was not reluctant to overrule them.

“You’re not out there to be a tyrant, but you’re on your own,” said Phillips. “You take all the advice, but you’re the one who has to make the decision and live with it. Jack knew that.” Aubrey also confronted the problem of junior officers who are not making the grade. It’s one of the most difficult tasks facing a captain and one that Aubrey handled well, the captains said.

“You mentor them, you train them; some will have the ability and some won’t,” said Piercey. “Those that don’t have the ability you thank them for their service and move on.” One lesson of “Master and Commander” that remains true, the captains said, is that a ship becomes an extension of the captain, his or her strengths and weaknesses.

“Each ship adopts the personality of the commanding officer,” said Cmdr. Don Hornbeck, commander of the guided missile destroyer Benfold.

“The crew is looking at you every day for energy, enthusiasm and focus,” said Phillips. (Like Aubrey, Phillips takes a musical instrument to sea for relaxation: her viola.)

Aubrey’s awe for Lord Nelson also has a contemporary parallel. Every captain remembers a figure from early days who shaped his or her sense of leadership and seamanship.

Phillips remembered retired Vice Adm. Hank Giffin: “He was larger than life to me.” And Loeblein served with retired Adm. Archie Clemins: “He was always in control, always walking the deck.” The movie portrays the two extremes of being a captain at sea: the burden of making life and death decisions (like cutting adrift the broken mast, with a sailor clinging to it) but also the joy of being in control of a warship on the high seas.

“Some days are better than others, but some part of every day is good,” said Phillips. “It’s a great job and Jack knew that.” And would Aubrey be at home in the U.S. Navy of today? “He could step right in and feel very comfortable,” said Loeblein.

For civilians, the captains offered one caveat: Don’t take Aubrey’s nickname, Lucky Jack, at face value. One rule remains true in leadership, they said.

“You earn your luck from experience,” said Loeblein.

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Marines recognize aloof ‘Samurai’

For the Marines, the focus was less on the star (Tom Cruise) than on the society that “The Last Samurai” portrayed. They felt right at home in the company of the samurai and their encampment far from the bustling towns of 19th century Japan.

Like the samurai, the Marine Corps is dedicated to protecting a society but remains aloof from that society. In an age when hedonism is the rule, the true warrior remains uncorrupted.

“It’s the warrior ethos, the combat mind-set,” said Sgt. Jack Carrillo, who served in Iraq. “The samurais had it, the Marines have it.” The samurais were a small, closed group. The Marine Corps is the smallest of the military services and prides itself on having the toughest training regimen.

“It’s a commitment to a standard, a way of life,” said Carrillo. “You give up so much, but you want to be pure and excellent in everything you do.” Carrillo noted the contrast between the orderliness of the samurai encampment and the corruption and jumble of the town, with overhead telephone wires, rutted streets and women with painted faces.

“I’m comfortable with our lifestyle,” he said. “I don’t want that kind of chaos that you saw in that street.” Sgt. Rahsaan Wynn, who teaches martial arts at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, said the scenes between Cruise and one of his tormentors in the samurai camp captured the importance of exhaustion in military training. Pummeled to the mud by his rival, Cruise refuses to stay down.

“You’re never going to fight fresh,” Wynn said. “You see a fight between two guys who are fresh, that’s not what it’s about. Martial arts is about maintaining your spirit when you’re tired, like the movie.” There were cross-currents as well. Like the samurai who had enlisted in the emperor’s new army but then felt out of place and welcomed his beheading.

“The old samurai was like an old gunny [gunnery sergeant, a senior enlisted post],” said Wynn. “Things were changing and he had trouble with that. The corps is like that too. Things change and some guys can’t handle that.” During the big battle, Cruise and samurai lord, played by Ken Watanabe, put themselves at maximum risk. “It’s the warrior spirit,” said Schneider. “The samurai leaders led from the front. Marines too.” The samurai sense of the past being part of the present also struck the Marines as familiar. More than any other branch of the U.S. military, the Marine Corps emphasizes its history.

“The samurais refused to abandon their historical ways even though they knew they were going to lose,” Carrillo said. “That’s what the Marines do for you, teach you tradition. We’re like samurais, we’re usually outnumbered but we don’t quit.”

“The Last Samurai” understands what motivates men to risk their lives in combat, the Marines agreed. “You have to have a code to believe in,” said Wynn. “You have to believe in that code and in each other.”