Now add in DEI and COVID and you get a pretty grim dark trifecta for the DOD. Almost every federal agency needs foundation-level, yet the need for reform comes from the same lack of integrity and courage that will prevent anyone from advocating for that reform.
I agree with you and think SAL is right on point. I want to put a bit if additional focus on the DoS and its complete cluelessness about the mood incountry. We likely went a bit too fast with the equal rights for women, but it was a good cause.
Years ago, I noted that in the active duty military, the further you got away from the flightline, ship decks, deployable ground forces, the lower the quality of personnel and performance you noted. Not revelatory, successful organizations usually have their best at the "sharp end" to get important things done. The leaders had come up through the system, succeeded, and carried on. When that leadership style was changed, and senior leaders were selected for "different" characteristics than performance in the domain task, things began a decline (Clinton era, Wesley Clark stands out to me, open to other observations). Top down direction, and underling observations of the new "path to success" began the slowly gathering avalanche of incompetence that spread from the Personnel Office to the flightline / decks / combat arms, and the current sad state of our military. We've still got capability, and many "sharp end" performers like the SPECOPS community...but nowhere near what we had, and nowhere near enough of them. A fish rots from the head at first...eventually the whole thing just smells bad and falls apart.
WRT Wesley Clark, I was never a fan. Story I heard was that my old CO, J.O. Ellis, then NATO NAVEUR or similar, later StratCom, went over Clark's head to clarify "No, you are not going to drop paratroopers onto an airfield in Georgia? (98 or so) to fight off the Russians."
As a recalcitrant Narcissist I had my occasional disputes with Ellis, even though he ranked me 1 of 47 or so as a Lt, but he was level headed and would never abandon Americans to an untenable situation.
One time in '91 or so in the PG, BG Cdr was having trouble making a decision with respect to a FFG surrounded by harassing patrol boats some distance away. Ellis called down on internal phone to the O-7, who was waiting for word from DC and told him "If this is BS, Tell him to get out of there or I'm taking us to him at 30 knots. You can't leave his ass hanging out there alone." O-7 told him to come on back.
Leaders possessed of character, dignity and honor resign under such circumstances... They accept responsibility when appropriate. Detestable opportunists & the self-serving ilk do no such thing and we are a witness to the fruits of their labor over 2 decades. Senior leadership (both civilian and military) cycled through Afghanistan remained quiet and/or were content to lie to the American public as to the realities on the ground in Afghanistan. Presenting falsehood after falsehood of progress. The culmination of this EPIC lie and failure the world witnessed during the withdrawal. Over a dozen service members taken out by IED (even though a marine sniper - testified before Congress - had the bomber in his sights but was ordered to hold - no accountability for those who gave that order either). Afghans falling to their deaths from transport aircraft taking off just seems like an unimaginable absurd & grotesque display to the closing chapter of this entire debacle. And what has changed... not a damn thing as no one has stepped out to accept that this was an epic failure... Instead we get a response of "no regrets" from those in leadership. What a detestable lot.
"Senior leadership (both civilian and military) cycled through Afghanistan remained quiet and/or were content to lie to the American public as to the realities on the ground in Afghanistan.... "
I repeat, it was not just the senior leadership.
" Over a dozen service members taken out by IED "
Which begs the question, WHY were US servicemen guarding the perimeter of an installation in secure, "friendly" territory when they were supposed to be evacuating? You don't need a staff college diploma to know you don't evacuate troops by reinforcing them and having them secure their perimeter.
The ones that had some idea of the mess we were in and spoke up or wrote a critique were punished by the cabal. Where was Gen Austin? Look what happened to Gen Mike Flynn.
And I suspect that the OER's of few (if any) GO/FO's serving in Iraq or Afghanistan reflected anything but successful and productive tours. With metrics.
End of tour ribbons don't get added to your chest salad if you resign. There are no quitters in the North Korean military...look at how splendid they look. No. Resigning is for losers. Truly it is.
I believe the current buzz-phrase is “a whole-of-government approach”, so that’s what we need, an “I have a little list” whole-of-government “thank you for your service here’s your box for your stuff be out by 5pm” approach to accountability.
I believe the "whole-of-government" approach was the concept that the "smartest people in the room" (TM) concocted. I personally think they should have gone with "The Ipecac" Solution. As ingesting that syrup to induce vomiting just seems to be a much better fit.
Lt. Col. Vindman so loved the interagency process that he was willing to instigate a constitutional crisis against a president over a phone call because he thought very little of that process. I have yet to see the colonel in the front lines in Ukraine.
Back in the late ‘70’s and early 80’s our services were in recovery and rebuilding mode, “7” years of war which was closer to two decades in Viet Nam specifically and Southeast Asia more broadly had damaged all four services, a ruthless lower and middle income draft which left the little rich boys to run and play while the poor payed the tab, a cynical use of 100,000 men with average IQ’s of 85 basically put in place to be murdered because they couldn’t understand a lawful order let alone execute one; had left us in a weakened devasted postion in terms of a “national” defense posture whatever that might have meant.
For the Marine Corps good fortune smiled, im the summer of 1975 General Louis Wilson became the 26th Commandant and captains and majors who would be future generals and commandants came out of Southeast Asia saying “never again.” They prevailed as did the sister services and a better military emerged, more mobile, agile and lethal. But, the All Volunteer Force “AVF” caught up to America. With only 1% of the nation serving no one basically knew/knows what and how the military was and is supposed to work. So another pair of wars of choice and opportunity were presented and to run them we found the sons and grandsons of the arrongant morons who brought us the Southeast Asian mess, having slithered into political, military amd journalism they now found themselves back “in charge.” Now as we fast forward to the disaster of the NEO at HKIA in August of 2021, no one of any consequence was willing to take responsibility for the mess, for the failure, instead anyone who disagreed with the victory of “evacuating” 124,000 people were gaslit and told to S1 and S2. If it had not been for the Marines of the 24th MEU, 2/1 and various and asundry elements of the other services and contractors defeat in detail would have followed and the disaster far worse than what we all watched live and in color. Nothing to see here you foolish Americans but the smell of Naplam or Victory!
And yet, as CDR Salamander so eloquently points out, when originally written and now again today NO ONE has been held to account. The imposters remain, two astronauts stranded on the space station again nothing to see here folks move along. Your navy stretched so thin that important sea lanes are abandoned we use million dollar technology to shoot down 100,000 dollar drones fired by a small rebel militia that is hiding in plain sight, and on and on it goes. The sweetly scented and oiled haired political and military senior “managers” (we no longer have men and women qualified to be called leaders) can not even do the most basic of tasks, take care of their subordinates. Living quarters so shameful for the 1% that serve on active duty, when finally called out on it they respond. If you can’t take care of your men and women you surely can not take care of any tasks greater than scrubbing the heads onboard a ship of war or onboard a mainland base.
I think enormous thanks are owed to CDR Salmander for today’s post. It is bitter yes, it is devastating in its emotion and candor, it ought be welcome salve to the wounded, and maybe whilst we work to correct the corruption in our military provide succor to the American people, and maybe just maybe there are young officers and enlisted out there on active duty saying “never again” and that they will prevail and be promoted and turn the ship around. In the meantime we are listing 20 degrees to port, the engines need to be restarted and the pumps going to correct the list, then maybe just maybe the ship will be righted and turned into the wind again. We can all hope, more meaningfully speaking up doesn’t hurt the effort one little bit.
"The 'Powell Doctrine' on the proper uses of U.S. military power—briefly, that the U.S. should engage only in conflicts that serve our vital interests, with well-defined goals, and with the use of force as a last resort." [AEI 2021}. So . . . how does the USA's involvement in Afghanistan measure up with that metric?
Possibly the most notable moment and one that best encapsulates the “Powell Doctrine” is this extraordinarily tense exchange with Madeleine Albright, then Secretary of State, over whether the Clinton administration should authorize NATO airstrikes on Bosnia in 1993.
"My constant, unwelcome message at all the meetings on Bosnia was simply that we could not commit military forces until we had a clear political objective," Powell wrote in his memoir, “My American Journey.” Albright, he wrote, "asked me, 'What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?' I thought I would have an aneurysm."
Powell also said Albright, who once said the death of 500,000 Iraqi children due to U.S. sanctions was "worth it," was treating American GIs as "toy soldiers to be moved around on some global chessboard."
Please allow me to retitle this excellent piece:"A politically infested and emasculated military allows a feckless administration to force them into a humiliating defeat".
The initial punitive raid was exactly what was needed. Should have pulled out then and reapplied as needed. Big Army was having none of that though, were they?
The MIC was certainly involved, which means "Whole of Government". Afghanistan fed them for twenty years. A punitive raid, while it did what we needed to do, did not provide any bonuses for the MIC executives. $$ talks.
To kill a snake you cut off its head. The rot in our civilian and military leadership starts at the top. We won't see new leadership at DOJ, Dept. of State, or the Pentagon unless we see a different leadership team in the White House. We notice that no general or flag officers died in the abandonment of Afghanistan, and maybe that's the problem you spoke of - no accountability. If the generals were on the field with Snuffy Smith they might have been more careful with their planning and security. Major changes need to be made to all US leadership, and you point out, nothing seems to work.
Nations generally get the governments they deserve. America is under judgment, and probably has been under judgment since around 1990 or so.
I'm a Calvinist, so I'm very optimistic about the long run for me & mine. But America, as a nation, needs to repent and about face before it destroys itself. No election is going to save us, folks. Surely that must be obvious by now.
Read Psalm 2 and the Great Commission if you need further advice on what to do next.
Accountability... wow. Is that something new? Sorry - the snark is not aimed at you ... you are so absolutely on the money. Where and how do we begin? Abdication of constitutional authority by Congress - a complacent and disengaged public whose attention and concerns are satiated with social media driven populism - a hubristic executive elite that disdains responsibility and treats much of the citizenry with derision as ignorant boobs to be bought off with gimmicks and treats - and nobody to stand athwart the trends yelling "stop!" Our media has always been partisan, and as in our judicial system that adversarial struggle enabled public judgment of truth. But lately our media is evolved beyond partisan into PR flackery of no substance. Accountability requires integrity, at least a few basic inviolable principles, shame, a commitment to something bigger and more durable than personal interest and tribal conflicts. There are those few out there who fit such characterizations – emphasis on ‘few’ – so perhaps there is hope? The question then being, how do we best encourage them?
Accountabililty starts at home. Be an example. Make things happen. If you are not flying a crisp, clean American flag outside your home for all to see, you might start there. I'm serious. Do it today. It's a revolutionary act.
> Where have all the good leaders gone??
Obama purged them.
Now add in DEI and COVID and you get a pretty grim dark trifecta for the DOD. Almost every federal agency needs foundation-level, yet the need for reform comes from the same lack of integrity and courage that will prevent anyone from advocating for that reform.
If you speak out your career is over.
I agree with you and think SAL is right on point. I want to put a bit if additional focus on the DoS and its complete cluelessness about the mood incountry. We likely went a bit too fast with the equal rights for women, but it was a good cause.
State should understand the culture.
Flying Pride Flags from the Embassy?
The work of clueless buffoons
Years ago, I noted that in the active duty military, the further you got away from the flightline, ship decks, deployable ground forces, the lower the quality of personnel and performance you noted. Not revelatory, successful organizations usually have their best at the "sharp end" to get important things done. The leaders had come up through the system, succeeded, and carried on. When that leadership style was changed, and senior leaders were selected for "different" characteristics than performance in the domain task, things began a decline (Clinton era, Wesley Clark stands out to me, open to other observations). Top down direction, and underling observations of the new "path to success" began the slowly gathering avalanche of incompetence that spread from the Personnel Office to the flightline / decks / combat arms, and the current sad state of our military. We've still got capability, and many "sharp end" performers like the SPECOPS community...but nowhere near what we had, and nowhere near enough of them. A fish rots from the head at first...eventually the whole thing just smells bad and falls apart.
"successful organizations usually have their best at the "sharp end" to get important things done. "
God help us, then. I only spent 4 years at "the sharp end", but it was not impressive.
Don't sell yourself short:)
WRT Wesley Clark, I was never a fan. Story I heard was that my old CO, J.O. Ellis, then NATO NAVEUR or similar, later StratCom, went over Clark's head to clarify "No, you are not going to drop paratroopers onto an airfield in Georgia? (98 or so) to fight off the Russians."
As a recalcitrant Narcissist I had my occasional disputes with Ellis, even though he ranked me 1 of 47 or so as a Lt, but he was level headed and would never abandon Americans to an untenable situation.
One time in '91 or so in the PG, BG Cdr was having trouble making a decision with respect to a FFG surrounded by harassing patrol boats some distance away. Ellis called down on internal phone to the O-7, who was waiting for word from DC and told him "If this is BS, Tell him to get out of there or I'm taking us to him at 30 knots. You can't leave his ass hanging out there alone." O-7 told him to come on back.
Always respected him for that.
"another of those little white lies that we do now and then." lovely, just lovely.
thanks CDR, hell of a weekend
Leaders possessed of character, dignity and honor resign under such circumstances... They accept responsibility when appropriate. Detestable opportunists & the self-serving ilk do no such thing and we are a witness to the fruits of their labor over 2 decades. Senior leadership (both civilian and military) cycled through Afghanistan remained quiet and/or were content to lie to the American public as to the realities on the ground in Afghanistan. Presenting falsehood after falsehood of progress. The culmination of this EPIC lie and failure the world witnessed during the withdrawal. Over a dozen service members taken out by IED (even though a marine sniper - testified before Congress - had the bomber in his sights but was ordered to hold - no accountability for those who gave that order either). Afghans falling to their deaths from transport aircraft taking off just seems like an unimaginable absurd & grotesque display to the closing chapter of this entire debacle. And what has changed... not a damn thing as no one has stepped out to accept that this was an epic failure... Instead we get a response of "no regrets" from those in leadership. What a detestable lot.
"Senior leadership (both civilian and military) cycled through Afghanistan remained quiet and/or were content to lie to the American public as to the realities on the ground in Afghanistan.... "
I repeat, it was not just the senior leadership.
" Over a dozen service members taken out by IED "
Which begs the question, WHY were US servicemen guarding the perimeter of an installation in secure, "friendly" territory when they were supposed to be evacuating? You don't need a staff college diploma to know you don't evacuate troops by reinforcing them and having them secure their perimeter.
The ones that had some idea of the mess we were in and spoke up or wrote a critique were punished by the cabal. Where was Gen Austin? Look what happened to Gen Mike Flynn.
And I suspect that the OER's of few (if any) GO/FO's serving in Iraq or Afghanistan reflected anything but successful and productive tours. With metrics.
End of tour ribbons don't get added to your chest salad if you resign. There are no quitters in the North Korean military...look at how splendid they look. No. Resigning is for losers. Truly it is.
a few with entrance wounds behind their ears, but no quitters
The more Communist we get in practice, the more we may need to embrace such End of Tour awards.
"Contra la pared" is a common refrain, Orwell, the last most fellow travelers hear.
I believe the current buzz-phrase is “a whole-of-government approach”, so that’s what we need, an “I have a little list” whole-of-government “thank you for your service here’s your box for your stuff be out by 5pm” approach to accountability.
I believe the "whole-of-government" approach was the concept that the "smartest people in the room" (TM) concocted. I personally think they should have gone with "The Ipecac" Solution. As ingesting that syrup to induce vomiting just seems to be a much better fit.
Whole government approach is just a way to deflect responsibility.
Stealing elections has consequences.
You chant Joint Combined Interagency, and it is almost like a magic spell that will solve all problems.
Lt. Col. Vindman so loved the interagency process that he was willing to instigate a constitutional crisis against a president over a phone call because he thought very little of that process. I have yet to see the colonel in the front lines in Ukraine.
Fuck that douche.
We are unlikely to see that, sadly.
Back in the late ‘70’s and early 80’s our services were in recovery and rebuilding mode, “7” years of war which was closer to two decades in Viet Nam specifically and Southeast Asia more broadly had damaged all four services, a ruthless lower and middle income draft which left the little rich boys to run and play while the poor payed the tab, a cynical use of 100,000 men with average IQ’s of 85 basically put in place to be murdered because they couldn’t understand a lawful order let alone execute one; had left us in a weakened devasted postion in terms of a “national” defense posture whatever that might have meant.
For the Marine Corps good fortune smiled, im the summer of 1975 General Louis Wilson became the 26th Commandant and captains and majors who would be future generals and commandants came out of Southeast Asia saying “never again.” They prevailed as did the sister services and a better military emerged, more mobile, agile and lethal. But, the All Volunteer Force “AVF” caught up to America. With only 1% of the nation serving no one basically knew/knows what and how the military was and is supposed to work. So another pair of wars of choice and opportunity were presented and to run them we found the sons and grandsons of the arrongant morons who brought us the Southeast Asian mess, having slithered into political, military amd journalism they now found themselves back “in charge.” Now as we fast forward to the disaster of the NEO at HKIA in August of 2021, no one of any consequence was willing to take responsibility for the mess, for the failure, instead anyone who disagreed with the victory of “evacuating” 124,000 people were gaslit and told to S1 and S2. If it had not been for the Marines of the 24th MEU, 2/1 and various and asundry elements of the other services and contractors defeat in detail would have followed and the disaster far worse than what we all watched live and in color. Nothing to see here you foolish Americans but the smell of Naplam or Victory!
And yet, as CDR Salamander so eloquently points out, when originally written and now again today NO ONE has been held to account. The imposters remain, two astronauts stranded on the space station again nothing to see here folks move along. Your navy stretched so thin that important sea lanes are abandoned we use million dollar technology to shoot down 100,000 dollar drones fired by a small rebel militia that is hiding in plain sight, and on and on it goes. The sweetly scented and oiled haired political and military senior “managers” (we no longer have men and women qualified to be called leaders) can not even do the most basic of tasks, take care of their subordinates. Living quarters so shameful for the 1% that serve on active duty, when finally called out on it they respond. If you can’t take care of your men and women you surely can not take care of any tasks greater than scrubbing the heads onboard a ship of war or onboard a mainland base.
I think enormous thanks are owed to CDR Salmander for today’s post. It is bitter yes, it is devastating in its emotion and candor, it ought be welcome salve to the wounded, and maybe whilst we work to correct the corruption in our military provide succor to the American people, and maybe just maybe there are young officers and enlisted out there on active duty saying “never again” and that they will prevail and be promoted and turn the ship around. In the meantime we are listing 20 degrees to port, the engines need to be restarted and the pumps going to correct the list, then maybe just maybe the ship will be righted and turned into the wind again. We can all hope, more meaningfully speaking up doesn’t hurt the effort one little bit.
It was called "Project 100000," but the numbers were around 3-400000.
I had a Project 100000 airman in 73!
We also had a bit of race troubles down in a California AFB.
Is it at Deja Vue?
"We also had a bit of race troubles...."
There was a fair amount of that around back then. 1968 was an interesting year for a number of reasons.
"The 'Powell Doctrine' on the proper uses of U.S. military power—briefly, that the U.S. should engage only in conflicts that serve our vital interests, with well-defined goals, and with the use of force as a last resort." [AEI 2021}. So . . . how does the USA's involvement in Afghanistan measure up with that metric?
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/10/18/remembering-powells-revealing-exchange-with-madeleine-albright/
Possibly the most notable moment and one that best encapsulates the “Powell Doctrine” is this extraordinarily tense exchange with Madeleine Albright, then Secretary of State, over whether the Clinton administration should authorize NATO airstrikes on Bosnia in 1993.
"My constant, unwelcome message at all the meetings on Bosnia was simply that we could not commit military forces until we had a clear political objective," Powell wrote in his memoir, “My American Journey.” Albright, he wrote, "asked me, 'What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?' I thought I would have an aneurysm."
Powell also said Albright, who once said the death of 500,000 Iraqi children due to U.S. sanctions was "worth it," was treating American GIs as "toy soldiers to be moved around on some global chessboard."
My Dad always called her Madeline “Notsobright.”
The same as they did in Vietnam, in Afghanistan and now in Ukriane.
They doctrine was borne out of the hallow military of the 70’s. Powell lived it.
The real problem with Powell is "you break it you bought it" which forecloses punitive raids.
Please allow me to retitle this excellent piece:"A politically infested and emasculated military allows a feckless administration to force them into a humiliating defeat".
Sorry, but no force was necessary.
Sorry: Wrong.
The initial punitive raid was exactly what was needed. Should have pulled out then and reapplied as needed. Big Army was having none of that though, were they?
Concur. Not sure who decided to FUBAR, I suspect a "Whole of Government" approach though.
The MIC was certainly involved, which means "Whole of Government". Afghanistan fed them for twenty years. A punitive raid, while it did what we needed to do, did not provide any bonuses for the MIC executives. $$ talks.
I think Gaza is even worse than Afghanistan as an example of the corruption and incompetence of the people in control of our government and military.
And it's not just because of the inability to construct a pier.
Why?
- there were no Ivy League college presidents who were sympathetic to the Taliban.
- the Senate Majority Leader did not call for the leader of a country to resign for fighting
back against the Taliban. (Isn't that election interference?}
- the administration did not withhold arms from an ally out of fear of losing two or three states in the
general election following a primary in Michigan.
Afghanistan led to Ukraine, Gaza and Yemen. And worse may come.
How do you tie Afghanistan to Gaza? Hamas is a Iran construct, not an Arab one. Israel / Afghanistan connect is what, exactly?
The same way you tie Germany Italy and Japan together. Evil organizations have ways of cooperating with each other.
We think WWII began with the German invasion of Poland. In Asia they believe it began with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and China.
To kill a snake you cut off its head. The rot in our civilian and military leadership starts at the top. We won't see new leadership at DOJ, Dept. of State, or the Pentagon unless we see a different leadership team in the White House. We notice that no general or flag officers died in the abandonment of Afghanistan, and maybe that's the problem you spoke of - no accountability. If the generals were on the field with Snuffy Smith they might have been more careful with their planning and security. Major changes need to be made to all US leadership, and you point out, nothing seems to work.
" If the generals were on the field with Snuffy Smith they might have been more careful with their planning and security."
Maybe, but self-interest does not necessarily create competence.
Nations generally get the governments they deserve. America is under judgment, and probably has been under judgment since around 1990 or so.
I'm a Calvinist, so I'm very optimistic about the long run for me & mine. But America, as a nation, needs to repent and about face before it destroys itself. No election is going to save us, folks. Surely that must be obvious by now.
Read Psalm 2 and the Great Commission if you need further advice on what to do next.
Accountability... wow. Is that something new? Sorry - the snark is not aimed at you ... you are so absolutely on the money. Where and how do we begin? Abdication of constitutional authority by Congress - a complacent and disengaged public whose attention and concerns are satiated with social media driven populism - a hubristic executive elite that disdains responsibility and treats much of the citizenry with derision as ignorant boobs to be bought off with gimmicks and treats - and nobody to stand athwart the trends yelling "stop!" Our media has always been partisan, and as in our judicial system that adversarial struggle enabled public judgment of truth. But lately our media is evolved beyond partisan into PR flackery of no substance. Accountability requires integrity, at least a few basic inviolable principles, shame, a commitment to something bigger and more durable than personal interest and tribal conflicts. There are those few out there who fit such characterizations – emphasis on ‘few’ – so perhaps there is hope? The question then being, how do we best encourage them?
Accountabililty starts at home. Be an example. Make things happen. If you are not flying a crisp, clean American flag outside your home for all to see, you might start there. I'm serious. Do it today. It's a revolutionary act.
How about the Bars and Stars?