in today's environment, when you arrive at field grade rank, your oath to uphold the Constitution morphs into an oath to support and defend the Fuehrer, it seems.
I'd put money that the guy writing this email is a field grade MI. Major minimally, perhaps LtCol.
I'm very interested in the judicious omissions mentioned in the intro.
A former student of mine is an Army officer in Iraq. His experience is not as stark as the account in Time, but he's had a bellyful of seeing his men unable to do their jobs because they're required to stand aside (in a kind of guard duty), while very expensive civilian contractors do the support tasks the soldiers were trained to do. It's a Pentagon pig trough over there for well-connected military contractors. My student recently wrote to say he hopes to be home soon. He can't wait.
Ted:
Funny thing. I was a MAJ in MI (35C), US Army. Never in a real hot - war zone, just the cold kind.
The guys at the pointy end of the spear are a band of brothers (and sisters). But the guys in the Polygon (aka, Puzzle Palace) and probably a lot of them in the Green Zone, are a different breed. All generals are politicians, that's both good and bad. Good in that you need to be politically astute, bad because it breeds careerism.
This Col. Devlin is probably toast. A bright and shining lie is required to make BG. He obviously cares more for his troops and telling it like it is, than he does for getting ahead.
I would follow a man like that into hell itself. Not many of them make it to the top.
In another thread SharonB said:
I'd put money that the guy writing this email is a field grade MI. Major minimally, perhaps LtCol.
I'm very interested in the judicious omissions mentioned in the intro.
A former student of mine is an Army officer in Iraq. His experience is not as stark as the account in Time, but he's had a bellyful of seeing his men unable to do their jobs because they're required to stand aside (in a kind of guard duty), while very expensive civilian contractors do the support tasks the soldiers were trained to do. It's a Pentagon pig trough over there for well-connected military contractors. My student recently wrote to say he hopes to be home soon. He can't wait.
check washington monthly's blog by kevin drum he says the author is marine col. pete devlin
We've heard of that guy before.
Ted:
Funny thing. I was a MAJ in MI (35C), US Army. Never in a real hot - war zone, just the cold kind.
The guys at the pointy end of the spear are a band of brothers (and sisters). But the guys in the Polygon (aka, Puzzle Palace) and probably a lot of them in the Green Zone, are a different breed. All generals are politicians, that's both good and bad. Good in that you need to be politically astute, bad because it breeds careerism.
This Col. Devlin is probably toast. A bright and shining lie is required to make BG. He obviously cares more for his troops and telling it like it is, than he does for getting ahead.
I would follow a man like that into hell itself. Not many of them make it to the top.
The writer's candor blows the socks of back office analysts back home. Would that all our commanders were as observant and level headed. I also noted the comment on that tired cliché about athiests, but rich beat me to it. 'Nough said.
So they haven't met these guys?
http://www.atheistfoxholes.org/