General “I shall return.” MacArthur’s mistress was the hottest actress in the Philippines when he dallied away the years instead of preparing the defenses of the Philippine people. Being an American GO/FO has always been kool. The sugar is even yummier now with an all volunteer force.
Thing to keep in mind is most (~99.9%) of generals started their careers knowing they wanted to become GOs. They are all ticket punchers. Their careers were carefully managed from day one as they ‘punched all the right tickets’ until they got their first star. Mission Accomplished!
I enlisted. That means as an E-1. That road to becoming GO/FO is nearly impossible. (See Gen Gray, USMC. He was a mustang same-same me. I met him and he was chewing tobacco when he came to talk to my IOC class.)
I let my career manage me not vice versa. That is one difference, and a big one.
Next up is they taste the ‘sugar’ and become addicted to the lifestyle. This is our biggest problem in my mind. It starts when they put on their star and they get some special pampering course during which they fly around the world on your dime and everyone kisses their arses. But the killer for me is they all eventually get to study at some Ivy League school for a year or so to pick up a Masters or PhD. That is when and where they ‘lose the bubble’ and will to fight, if they ever really had it.
Do you see how the discarded Colonels (looking at you Chesty) are always put back into positions of command and go on to become heroes when the shit hits the fan and real men are in short supply?
There, of course, are exceptions but they should be resigning more often over Benghazi and such.
Then don’t get me started on affirmative action. In a job where young men (boys really) are putting their lives into my hands, I want to know that the officers appointed over me were the best available on each and everyone of their promotion boards. It is impossible not to wonder sometimes when you know racial set-asides exist. This is unfair for everyone. Life is not fair.
Nobody enlists in any branch with the goal of making it to GO. I preferred my time as an enlisted Marine.
ST UnWoked & UnVaxxed! 
Thank you, Simon: saying it a million times is not enough, but Thank you
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And aren’t we glad you did, ST! (Uncle Colonel’s lady-friend, Miss Lu, told a cool story about Gen. Gray at my pinning.) I’ll share it, if I may, when I’m at the desktop computer later today, to show that mustangs never lose that edge.
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“(Uncle Colonel’s lady-friend, Miss Lu, told a cool story about Gen. Gray at my pinning.) I’ll share it, if I may, when I’m at the desktop computer later today, to show that mustangs never lose that edge.”
It seems that Gen. (then Commandant) Gray was in the Officers’ Club aboard Camp Pendleton and heard a conversation at a nearby table about the awesomeness of a recent ‘carrier-landing’ – a rite-of-passage marking a boot-camp graduation/promotion. Gen. Gray remarked that he’d never experienced one – and asked to have one. The astonished young men cleared the bar of glasses, etc., “lubricated” it with beer. They assisted “Al” in lying prone on the bar, and pushed him toward the opposite end. Unfortunately, they didn’t reckon on their strength (or Gen. Gray’s relatively lighter weight). He sailed off the bar, onto the floor, through the swinging doors into the kitchen. When he came to a stop, he got up, walked out to the main room – with a ruined uniform, a black eye, and a grin from ear-to-ear. He then treated the whole house to a round, and shook the hands of the young men who provided him the experience: A Mustang first, last, and always.
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“The sugar is even yummier now with an all volunteer force.”
I understand that it is much easier to lead volunteers than it is to lead draftees, this is what you are referring to, right?
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Precisely, Judy. Good question krap
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These ideas in this OP will suddenly become common knowledge throughout L! & L2.
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Or, perhaps, “uncommon knowledge”, to borrow a phrase.
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yep
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It sounds as if the military differs little from corporate America. Unfortunately, generals are dealing with human lives and national security and CEOs merely cars.
I would observe that not all GOs are the same; Eisenhower, Ridgway, Petraeus, etc. made this world a better place, no?
As to Judy’s comment above, eliminating the draft made our military that much stronger.
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I would observe that not all GOs are the same; Eisenhower, Ridgway, Petraeus, etc. made this world a better place, no?
Only 1 of your 3 generals is from the all-volunteer era. It is hard for generals to become great outside a war setting. We were at war from 9/11 until Obama decided to pull the plug and give it all back to the Islamic supremacists. That was quite enough time and enough war going on during those years for any shooting stars to make a name for themselves.
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“It is hard for generals to become great outside a war setting.”
But that’s okay; war is what they were trained to do and if they succeeded in that then I can ask for nothing more.
Generals such as Colin Powell who not only did nothing in combat but betrayed his Commanders in Chief annoy me. Now there was a guy obsessed with his media credentials and little else…
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So I was wondering, with the way Mattis, Kelly, Milley have behaved lately: would the rank and file feel the same disloyalty to Trump as they have displayed? I think you’re saying here that they wouldn’t, that it’s only the people who enter the armed forces in order to have a cushy career who would behave the way these guys are behaving….right? If so that’s good news!
(Re your terminology: I gather a “mustang” is an enlisted man? A “FO “ is a foreign officer? And a “GO”….is what? Sorry for dumb🤔)
(Also, I still can’t Like posts, I can only Like comments. Once a wombat….)
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Sorry.
Mustang is an enlisted Marine who becomes an officer. That was my route so my Marines would have always been aware that I was a ‘mustang.’ In other words, I had been one of them and knew both sides of the game.
FO is a ‘flag officer.’ In other words, an Admiral.
GO is a ‘general officer.’ Top brass in the Air Force, Army, and Marines.
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Thanks. But: if it came to a coup, what would the real soldiers, the forces, do? Whose side would they be on, in your opinion?
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The real soldiers will not turn on the American people. The problem is about 10% of the officers are in the military solely for personal gain. Think of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and US Navy Reservist, Haakon Dahl. Those are the people one has to be concerned about in a crisis. Fortunately in the US, the troops recognize these parasites and would not follow them in some hair-brained attempt to reverse an election.
I could see an event wherein the Ruling Class gets so far afield from the Constitution that the military comes in to restore the Constitution. Unfortunately, I am afraid the current crop of GO/FO are just as likely to side with the Ruling Class against our people and Constitution. Taking the side of the powers that be (TPTB) over the common mand is what military brass does all over the world. As long as we have a strong middle class and Bible believers, we can trust our forces to defend the Constitution.
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So I was wondering, with the way Mattis, Kelly, Milley have behaved lately: would the rank and file feel the same disloyalty to Trump as they have displayed?
I think most rank and file feel their loyalty is to the Constitution and civilian leadership. I cannot imagine any GO/FO being able to convince enough troops to follow him in a coup attempt. This disloyalty we are observing is the fact that too many of our top brass get a taste of the lifestyle of the ‘Ruling Class’ and become addicted to the perks and pleasures. They just want to fit into the crowd but America’s darling elites really will never accept them so they bend over backwards trying to prove they deserve to be part of the inner circle.
Obama did the same. He drank the nectar and liked it. Look at how he has gone full ‘statist’ and is now a royal.
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“Do you see how the discarded Colonels (looking at you Chesty) are always put back into positions of command and go on to become heroes when the shit hits the fan and real men are in short supply?”
I was not aware of this, and I don’t really get why it happens? Could you elaborate on this?
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I should re-visit the history of this but I vaguely recall from my studies that some officers are just too rough around the edges for their comrades so they are eased out of “tip of the spear” command assignments in anticipation of putting them, prematurely, out to pasture. Most of those guys we will never hear of because circumstances never allowed them to do what they do best. In the case of Chesty Puller and, I believe also, Patton big Marine Corps and big Army decided they could look past the rough edges when warriors were in both need and short supply. So guys like them go from counting basketballs in the base gym one day to spearheading invasions, the next.
Genera Problem (Part II) will be about how the top brass have formed a ‘gun club.’ At the top it is more fraternity than military.
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Victor Davis Hanson recently penned an article titled “Not-So-Retiring Retired Military Leaders.”
It is short, sweet, and worth a read.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/not-so-retiring-retired-military-leaders/
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I read the article, and it was very interesting. The Code of Military Conduct says that even retired generals should not criticize the President, but they are totally free to run for President if they choose: I totally agree with that. If these generals really believe that Trump is such a threat, then one of them should throw their hat in the arena and go for it: that is the American way. When the generals criticize the President as generals-rather than, as Presidential candidates-they are attempting to turn the position of General into something it shouldn’t be. That is disturbing.
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Few generals have the “people skills” to run and win political office. GO/FOs bad mouthing President Trump are merely virtue signalling to the Ruling Class.
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It is extremely disheartening that the generals are willing to throw the troops under the bus in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the ruling class. After loyalty to the Constitution, generals ought to be loyal to the men who serve under them, whose political opinions will be many and varied-all over the map. Americans don’t need to know what some general thinks about politics, but far more important than that, rank and file soldiers don’t need their commanding officers telling them how they should vote. It is obvious that for the generals who are speaking out against President Trump, the troops are not high on their list of priorities. I wouldn’t want to follow such generals anywhere, who would?
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