A bit Army centric, but lots of goodness in here for us as well.
“A Way” To Develop a Toxic Leader: How We as Leaders Create Our Own Monsters
“A Way” To Develop a Toxic Leader: How We as Leaders Create Our Own Monsters
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Professional Reading Drop Box
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Got some thoughts on leader development? CIMSEC is looking for your thoughts.
An interesting read, but it misses the bigger problem. The issue isn't just his "COL Toxic" example failing in his brigade command. The larger problem is the number of mini-mes he created in his own image that are still being crappy leaders long after he's gone. O-6 is way late to recognize this kind of problem.
Powerful NY Times editorial by a former Marine which, among other things, follows up on Brian Chontosh a decade and a half after he received the Navy Cross in OIF. As Napoleon Bonaparte once wrote, in war, the moral is to the physical as three to one.
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting For
TigerKiller
Active Member
So his article raises some interesting questions; specifically when did it become en vogue/a de facto requirement for retired GOFO to stay out of politics? It seems like it's been pushed a lot lately by a core group of GOFOs, but to what end? There's a long tradition of military leaders going on to political careers not only in the US but in the Western world. In fact, a military career used to be a seen as a natural way to enter the world of politics. And in the post civil war era when politics were dominated by Vets most of the Presidents had come from Army careeers. This whole desire for retired military to remain apolitical is completely at odds with the other complaint that there aren't enough politicians who understand the military. So which is it? Should vets continue their service via a career in politics or should they remain apolitical and only deliver "just the facts" as talking heads on cable news and op/eds?
Former Generals have long transitioned to a career in politics in this country, starting with the first President and some of the first members of Congress, but transition has been a pretty clear one from the military to politics itself. It is when hundreds of retired Generals and Admirals who aren't running but become surrogates for the candidates while using their titles that it starts to become an even bigger issue.
How historically accurate is that? I ask because I don't know. Are there any numbers that show an increase in the number of GOFO who endorse or work for candidates? What's the difference between running as a candidate and working for a candidate? There are numerous historical examples of GOFO who weren't apolitical when active, such as McClellan and MacArthur. You could easily contend that GOFO at the highest levels are politically active when active duty due to the fact that they are politically appointed.
False dichotomy. Some will point to Eisenhower, others will point to Grant - and quite a few in between, and since. I don't think a reasonable person (and the author of the article goes a little far), would ask retired military officers to stay out of politics. I think they would ask them to comport themselves with integrity, dignity, and serve as examples of the men and women they led while in uniform. Regardless of what one thinks of HRC, when Flynn led chants of "lock her up" and then went full retard with his Twitter feed, he sullied his reputation (and it was arguably a shaky reputation to begin with...).
The military continues to be the one government institution that enjoys tremendous public support and confidence - this is a good thing. Things like Fat Leonard, Jeff Sinclair, Flynn.... while all fucked up in their own unique ways can, have, and will continue to test that trust. This is not something that those left in uniform should be asked to absorb.
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Don't take my criticisms of the article as an endorsement of Flynn's actions and behavior.
At some point though I'm not sure a GOFO could run for office and comport themselves with dignity. I just can't imagine a candidate running without getting dirty. So I just wonder if we're expecting too much of our former flags.
There's dirty and then there's what we've seen recently....
Agreed.
From what I know, and even what I remember, the endorsement race with retired Generals and Admirals is pretty recent. There have been some notable examples of Generals and Admirals doing political advocacy before but not in the large numbers there are now and it wasn't promoted like it has been now. Personal stories and support from some was not uncommon, Kennedy and his PT-109 crewmates come to mind, but hundreds of GOFO's endorsing Presidential candidates is pretty new.
