At the risk of sounding disrespectful, Sal, ADM Crowley wasn’t “Patient Zero”. I submit that all GOFOs are politicians to some degree because the relationship skills that get a person promoted to that pay grade are the same ones that are useful in getting elected. But some have served as “over the top” examples. And unfortunately, too many O-6s have viewed those as what we engineers refer to as “worked examples in the textbook”. I mention Douglas MacArthur and his Chief of Staff as my primary exhibits from WW2.
WOW! This one of your all time best, Sir! While the decay has been there for decades, it has really taken off under the Clinton and Obama administrations, when warriors were cleared from the officer corps, and social justice warriors substituted. How non warriors advanced in rank to where they could be placed in high level posts is an excellent question in itself.
After all, our miliary's job is to bring death and destruction to our nation's enimies, not to participate in our own nation's destruction.
Sal, a couple of points where I disagree with you premise. Race and racism are not “political” (unless one makes them so). The military has dealt with racial issues under administrations of all parties, starting with Lincoln. Second, each administration selects military leaders (wasn’t Gilday appointed by President Trump, who was lauded for bypassing the old guard?) so are all “political” to some extent.
I couldn't sleep and seeing the title decided to read. Another biting commentary that rings true. I sometimes wonder how long it takes you to create these or if it is a refined stream of consciousness.
I agree with everything but the diagnosis of the cause. Politics now more than ever define who is at the top rungs from which those GOFO are selected. By one star they are in a camp, and when a red or blue president takes over they reach into their cadre. The whiplash back and forth causes confusion, posturing and turf wars that are much worse than when we came up. I don't see this being solved quickly but it does have to happen from the CINC level, and maybe law. Instead we see relatively willing participants in uniform on both sides becasuse that is the way it has become, with the blue side a bit more inventive and aggressive in using the military. Bill and his life partner really set the tone.
Great commentary and as it has been linked by RealClearDefense, I hope its read by the above-mentioned audience. In that vain....a friend of mine has 4 sons. He is a 101st Combat vet of two tours, a sniper instructor with SOF and now a small business owner that supports a myriad of vet causes. His oldest already serves in the NG and has for some time. His next went Coast Guard and the other two will as well. They were slated for the Army and Marines in the next 24 months. Our circle of friends, including a highly decorated Faluja Marine, a career Tanker (me) and others all have pushed them elsewhere. This conversation is happening around vet tables everywhere. It would appear that both vet households with kids and Red America in general will be sitting out the next war. We didn't leave you...you left us. Good luck
The very last thing I want to do is defend GOFO conduct, but in the cases you cited, these are all GOFOs trying to get something done in DC, and to function in DC, you must be *of* DC. And today, being *of* DC means in part embracing without question the principles of identity politics. What you rightly label as political, or controversial is entirely non-controversial inside the Beltway and instead taken as holy writ, or at least beyond question. What you describe is actually a symptom of the larger political/ideological monoculture that has developed in DC - those cultural matters that people in the provinces find to be controversial are entirely embraced inside the Beltway, and to be seen as not embracing them, much less opposing them, signals being outside of DC, and thus entirely incapable of exerting influence. I'll leave it up to others to determine if figures such as ADM Gilday really believe in the cultural marxism stuff, or simply are cynically signaling fealty in order to remain relevant in DC, but the results remain the same and both conditions require accepting that these political beliefs enjoy near unanimous support in the commanding heights of our society.
Your article details what I believe is the effect, NOT the cause. As a young Marine Lt in the early '70s I was told that all promotions to GOFO ranks are political. They must be approved by Congress and the President. Especially since WWII politicians have refused to promote officers who do not agree with them. As a means of self-preservation, officers go along to get along. I am saddened by 2 aspects of this. First is the pressure and influence by politicians to weed out officers who don't comply. Second is gutless officers more concerned with their careers than their branch of service. I expect this kind of activity from politicians, but am shamed by the officers.
Drop the last five years…. As President Trump commenced his attacks on the military. POWs aren’t heros, following orders is more important than the Oath, etc. you’ve targeted the wrong problem. Trump’s GOP has put loyalty to one person and weird, narcissistic notions of manliness above loyalty to nation and Constitution. His followers buy this. The military hasn’t changed, but the GOP base sure has.
In what way did Gen Miley put politics over Oath? In every instance he made news save one, he put Oath over politics. Guess what? A corrupt President can hurt the military if flag officers are not willing to call BS. Miley was unwilling to allow President Trump to harm the nation through rash, irrational, or illegal orders. Gen Miley did his job. His job was not to obey every order. His job is to fulfill his Oath. While that includes following orders, it does not mean every order, or to follow them without asking questions, not at the CJCS level.
The one instance Miley was acting badly he admits, when he allowed himself to be used as a prop for President Trump to violently clear peaceful protestors then awkwardly hold up a Bible in front of an historic church. Gen Miley admitted he should have not gone with the President on that walk, that his presence in uniform there harmed the military.
Well said. Generals are inherently political creatures. I spent a decade in the Army/NG working SIGINT and commo. Got a political science degree, set out to change the world, spent a decade in "netroots." So guess what, this feels very familiar:
>> I have active duty officers and enlisted reach out to little ‘ole me almost daily on what some now call “woke-ism.” A plurality of each emphasized how closed the discussion space is. You are told and you nod and comply. There is no conversation. There are no alternative perspectives. There is diktat. <<
Change the active duty officers and enlisteds to Democrats and progressive organizers. I cannot tell you how many radical feminist friends have been unpersoned, how many liberal voices silenced, how many blue dogs have backed away, because the orthodoxy must be respected, but also changes constantly. Wokeness is a cancer. It eats everything it touches, like the Blob.
At the risk of sounding disrespectful, Sal, ADM Crowley wasn’t “Patient Zero”. I submit that all GOFOs are politicians to some degree because the relationship skills that get a person promoted to that pay grade are the same ones that are useful in getting elected. But some have served as “over the top” examples. And unfortunately, too many O-6s have viewed those as what we engineers refer to as “worked examples in the textbook”. I mention Douglas MacArthur and his Chief of Staff as my primary exhibits from WW2.
Preach 👏🏻
Amen! Preach on!
WOW! This one of your all time best, Sir! While the decay has been there for decades, it has really taken off under the Clinton and Obama administrations, when warriors were cleared from the officer corps, and social justice warriors substituted. How non warriors advanced in rank to where they could be placed in high level posts is an excellent question in itself.
After all, our miliary's job is to bring death and destruction to our nation's enimies, not to participate in our own nation's destruction.
Sal, a couple of points where I disagree with you premise. Race and racism are not “political” (unless one makes them so). The military has dealt with racial issues under administrations of all parties, starting with Lincoln. Second, each administration selects military leaders (wasn’t Gilday appointed by President Trump, who was lauded for bypassing the old guard?) so are all “political” to some extent.
I couldn't sleep and seeing the title decided to read. Another biting commentary that rings true. I sometimes wonder how long it takes you to create these or if it is a refined stream of consciousness.
I agree with everything but the diagnosis of the cause. Politics now more than ever define who is at the top rungs from which those GOFO are selected. By one star they are in a camp, and when a red or blue president takes over they reach into their cadre. The whiplash back and forth causes confusion, posturing and turf wars that are much worse than when we came up. I don't see this being solved quickly but it does have to happen from the CINC level, and maybe law. Instead we see relatively willing participants in uniform on both sides becasuse that is the way it has become, with the blue side a bit more inventive and aggressive in using the military. Bill and his life partner really set the tone.
Well done sir.
Great commentary and as it has been linked by RealClearDefense, I hope its read by the above-mentioned audience. In that vain....a friend of mine has 4 sons. He is a 101st Combat vet of two tours, a sniper instructor with SOF and now a small business owner that supports a myriad of vet causes. His oldest already serves in the NG and has for some time. His next went Coast Guard and the other two will as well. They were slated for the Army and Marines in the next 24 months. Our circle of friends, including a highly decorated Faluja Marine, a career Tanker (me) and others all have pushed them elsewhere. This conversation is happening around vet tables everywhere. It would appear that both vet households with kids and Red America in general will be sitting out the next war. We didn't leave you...you left us. Good luck
Damnation! too much to read at one sitting.
The very last thing I want to do is defend GOFO conduct, but in the cases you cited, these are all GOFOs trying to get something done in DC, and to function in DC, you must be *of* DC. And today, being *of* DC means in part embracing without question the principles of identity politics. What you rightly label as political, or controversial is entirely non-controversial inside the Beltway and instead taken as holy writ, or at least beyond question. What you describe is actually a symptom of the larger political/ideological monoculture that has developed in DC - those cultural matters that people in the provinces find to be controversial are entirely embraced inside the Beltway, and to be seen as not embracing them, much less opposing them, signals being outside of DC, and thus entirely incapable of exerting influence. I'll leave it up to others to determine if figures such as ADM Gilday really believe in the cultural marxism stuff, or simply are cynically signaling fealty in order to remain relevant in DC, but the results remain the same and both conditions require accepting that these political beliefs enjoy near unanimous support in the commanding heights of our society.
I’d love to hear the arguments on why our Army is too large.
Your article details what I believe is the effect, NOT the cause. As a young Marine Lt in the early '70s I was told that all promotions to GOFO ranks are political. They must be approved by Congress and the President. Especially since WWII politicians have refused to promote officers who do not agree with them. As a means of self-preservation, officers go along to get along. I am saddened by 2 aspects of this. First is the pressure and influence by politicians to weed out officers who don't comply. Second is gutless officers more concerned with their careers than their branch of service. I expect this kind of activity from politicians, but am shamed by the officers.
Drop the last five years…. As President Trump commenced his attacks on the military. POWs aren’t heros, following orders is more important than the Oath, etc. you’ve targeted the wrong problem. Trump’s GOP has put loyalty to one person and weird, narcissistic notions of manliness above loyalty to nation and Constitution. His followers buy this. The military hasn’t changed, but the GOP base sure has.
In what way did Gen Miley put politics over Oath? In every instance he made news save one, he put Oath over politics. Guess what? A corrupt President can hurt the military if flag officers are not willing to call BS. Miley was unwilling to allow President Trump to harm the nation through rash, irrational, or illegal orders. Gen Miley did his job. His job was not to obey every order. His job is to fulfill his Oath. While that includes following orders, it does not mean every order, or to follow them without asking questions, not at the CJCS level.
The one instance Miley was acting badly he admits, when he allowed himself to be used as a prop for President Trump to violently clear peaceful protestors then awkwardly hold up a Bible in front of an historic church. Gen Miley admitted he should have not gone with the President on that walk, that his presence in uniform there harmed the military.
Well said. Generals are inherently political creatures. I spent a decade in the Army/NG working SIGINT and commo. Got a political science degree, set out to change the world, spent a decade in "netroots." So guess what, this feels very familiar:
>> I have active duty officers and enlisted reach out to little ‘ole me almost daily on what some now call “woke-ism.” A plurality of each emphasized how closed the discussion space is. You are told and you nod and comply. There is no conversation. There are no alternative perspectives. There is diktat. <<
Change the active duty officers and enlisteds to Democrats and progressive organizers. I cannot tell you how many radical feminist friends have been unpersoned, how many liberal voices silenced, how many blue dogs have backed away, because the orthodoxy must be respected, but also changes constantly. Wokeness is a cancer. It eats everything it touches, like the Blob.