From: shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham)
Subject: Re: Favorite Star Wars Moments
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 01:06:13 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.173850.7984@cs.hw.ac.uk> adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:
>
>Then there is the conversation between
>Piett and Ozzel, where Piett reports finding something and Ozzel, acting
>somewhat arrogant, dismisses it.  Then Vader interrupts, and Ozzel's tone
>changes quite drastically.  But my real favourite bit is right at the end
>of this sequence, when Ozzel gives Piett a truly dirty look.
>
>Another part I liked was when Ozzel tried to report to Vader, who just
>choked Ozzel while talking to Piett, starting his conversation by
>addressing him as Captain, and finishing with "You are in command now,
>Admiral Piett".  And Piett just looked down at Ozzel and rolled his eyes
>up.

Yea, you picked one of my favorite sequences too.

Piett was more than happy to go over Ozzel's head when Vader approached
(hence earned the dirty look). In a properly run chain of command, when 
Vader asks "You found something?", Piett is supposed to keep quiet while his
superior (Ozzel) makes the judgement of wether the reports from Hoth are
worthy of Vader's attention. At most, Piett could allow himself a glaring
look to make it hard for Ozzel to simply answer "no" (in military
organizations, even such a glare may be frowned upon). What actually happened,
is Piett jumped to answer Vader before Ozzel even had a chance!

Going over your superior's head is a risky move in any organization - let
alone *The* Evil Empire. Piett had just earned himself the animosity of his
boss. Sure, Ozzel would not retaliate against Piett when Vader is around, but
(normaly) Vader would not always be around to protect Piett (or might not
care to). The "dirty look" served as a reminder - "I won't forget this"!
The gamble does pay off (as it did in ESB) when your insight is, in fact,
*correct* - hence earning you some visibility and credit in the top office
(Vader), *AND* the top office remembers you, *AND* there is a promotion
available *very* soon afterward (if it takes too long, your boss gets his
chance to harm your reputation or your person)

Generaly speaking, only the highly ambitious officers take these risks.

The risks are attenuated, but not removed, if Piett was allready a Vader
protege - protected by the latter. A "special relationship" between Piett
and Vader seems to be an under-current in ESB and ROJ. It is entirely
possible that Vader was overly harsh with Ozzel (and maybe Needa as well) 
as an exuse to get his own men to replace (presumbly) Tarkin's appointee(s).
(Even Vader might find it difficult to keep Morale up and Emperor support with
arbitrary personal changes. He might need exuses to get rid of underperformers)


BTW, it is interesting that Ozzel and Piett are still at the same (Piett's?)
station when they arrive at Hoth (presumbly, some hours later - at least). One
might think that the Admiral would be at his command post while arranging the
intricate task of assembelling a fleet of star destroyers and going into
battle.  Possibly, Ozzel was so rattled at being out-maneuvered by Piett, that
he instead spent his time overseeing / conferring with Piett. 
 - No wonder he *&^% up the approach.


Dan Shoham               shoham@ll.mit.edu
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