http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/an-officer-corps-that-cant-score/
Bill Lind and Col (ret) Boyd both gave classes to my TBS class. If you don't know who these gentlemen are, get to reading.
I disagree with his entire premise.
Does he expect General and Flag officers to use their status to hold press hearings so that they can publicly disagree with their bosses? Would anyone expect to still have a job, private or government, after doing such a thing? Does he expect junior and mid grade officers to don dress uniforms and march on Washington in protest?
Anytime I've heard a flag officer speak, I've gotten the impression that he has a very firm grasp of the problems facing the military. The problem is overcoming a monumental amount of institutional inertia to institute any meaningful changes, which often would include getting Congress to change the law, and that organization doesn't move on anything unless it potentially threatens their campaign funding.
Let's wind back the clock to 2001 when the plans to invade Iraq were being drafted. You're Gen Franks. You tell SECDEF Rumsfeld you need ~300k troops to successfully invade Iraq and overhaul the government. He says bullshit, do it with half that. This goes on for over a year. What do you ultimately tell SECDEF when the order to invade comes and you're only getting half your original number? He is your boss, giving you a lawful order to execute a resolution passed by Congress. and endorsed by the President, your commander-in-chief. Do you say 'yes sir' because after decades of service you believe you're the best leader to get it done, or do you fall on your sword and risk going to prison so the next guy can do it?
You look at the wars that didn't go well in the 20th century, and you will always find a disconnect between the advice given to the President by military leadership and the policy that actually gets enacted by the administration. But the President is the boss, and until we stop electing leaders that think they can use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but you're only allowed to swing the sledgehammer with your pinky finger, this is what we'll get.
PS: You might not like writing reports when PO Schmukatelli gets a DUI, but those flags don't like sitting in front of the national defense committee explaining why male servicemembers sexually assault their female coworkers at a rate substantially higher than the civilian population.
