Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I see we have a new Ollie North. Can't wait to hear about the book deal and his upcoming show on Newsmax. If you disregard orders, with malice, then don't expect to just be restricted to quarters.
This whole thing was a political witch hunt. Look at Crozier. The SECNAV recommended reinstatement for him after he was relieved of command. I get it, Esper stopped it, and Crozier eventually was ruled against. However, he’s still on a staff somewhere.
Will anyone in the USMC recommend reinstatement for this Marine? Of course not, he’s on the wrong side of the political aisle.
He was an officer who knew the consequences of his actions. He wanted the USMC to make a martyr out of him, and they did. Don't be surprised if he runs for political office.
IF President Truman relieved General MacArthur of duty because of General MacArthur's public statements to the media, then certainly a Lieutenant Colonel is not going to fare any better when making public statements to the media in defiance of a direct order.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe from dayton
He was an officer who knew the consequences of his actions. He wanted the USMC to make a martyr out of him, and they did. Don't be surprised if he runs for political office.
Exactly, you just don't rise to the rank of LT. Col. in the USMC by openly and very publicly disobeying direct orders from your superior officers. You'll b**** privately with your peers and subordinates about how FUBAR an operation was conducted vowing never to repeat those mistakes if you ever get to be in that position of command. Challenging authority is a big no no with serious consequences in the Marine Corps. He damn well wouldn't not have tolerated his subordinates in his chain of command disobeying his direct orders especially after warning them repeatedly.
It wasn't like he was making any whistleblowing profound ground breaking revelations that we didn't already know, it was clearly evident to the whole world that this was a big clusterf***. He's just trying to gain clout for his post military career.
He was an officer who knew the consequences of his actions. He wanted the USMC to make a martyr out of him, and they did. Don't be surprised if he runs for political office.
That’s not what this is about. It’s about real leaders of men who stand up to politicians who get military members killed with their stupidity. He wanted to know if Milley, or any of the rest up the chain of command, actually called the Biden administration on their BS.
The answer was no, we are feckless and weak, and we went along with whatever Biden’s team said to do, regardless of the consequences.
That’s what he was criticizing and that’s why he is in jail right now. If this guy would’ve been in charge, there wouldn’t have been 13 dead military members at HKIA.
Meanwhile there is Milley, Austin,and McKenzie all testifying under oath before the Senate, “It’s not my fault.”
IMHO, the Marines are making a serious mistake with locking this LTC up since the longer they suppress him, the more powerful he becomes.
In today’s America, we do have a two-tier justice system and depending on your politics and your level of WOKE-ISM, you could be severely screwed, like this LTC.
I don’t have a dog in this fight since I’m retired, but I get what this LTC is saying and it now up to the Generals and Admirals to lead by example… Screw that “do as I say, but not as I do” BS since the “system” will be questioned and most likely be openly challenged by many in the ranks if the top leaders fail at leading the Armed Forces AND setting the standards for all to follow.
Without standards and faith in the leadership, we’re in trouble, as a fighting force. This also includes accountability, which is lacking at the most senior levels today.
As a citizen of the United States, I support the LTC and only wish I had a set of nutz has big as his. The DoD is doing its best to harpoon him, but I’m thinking it’s too late since the damage is done.
Trump announced he had had enough and was going to pull everyone out of Syria. That was an absolutely horrible idea and is no way in our best interests as a country.
General Mattis went behind closed doors and tried to talk Trump out of it. He refused, partly because Mattis liked to undermine the President whenever he could, but also because Trump thought he was doing the right thing.
Anyway, after Mattis realized he couldn’t talk Trump out of it, he submitted his resignation in protest, and made sure the story got out. That he was firmly against withdrawal from Syria, which would’ve gotten many Kurds in the SDF slaughtered.
Trump now realized that he “owned” Syrian policy, and he would be responsible for Assad and the Russians & Iranians who would inevitably kill and overrun NE Syria.
So Trump backed down. I’m not a huge fan of Mattis, but that’s what real leadership looks like.
Gen Milley, Gen Austin, and Gen McKenzie all knew that the Afghan Army would fall and that US and coalition personnel, along with AMCits and Afghan people who worked for the US, would all be in serious danger.
They did nothing, their careers were more important than the lives of the 13 dead military members, and the 180 or so Afghans, many who had ties to the US mission in Afghan.
If you are a parent of one of those 13, how can you ever come to terms with this? Failed leadership got their son or daughter killed. Not enemy capability, but failed leadership alone.
Despite this absolute fact, there is zero accountability. Not a single person has lost their job, besides the LTC who spoke up about this atrocity of failed leadership.
As a former SNCO, this whole thing sickens me. I know there are a lot of older, retired people on this forum, and I’m straight up telling you, this isn’t the military of your youth. The capability is still there, in fact, it’s better, but the leadership isn’t there anymore.
Trump announced he had had enough and was going to pull everyone out of Syria. That was an absolutely horrible idea and is no way in our best interests as a country.
General Mattis went behind closed doors and tried to talk Trump out of it. He refused, partly because Mattis liked to undermine the President whenever he could, but also because Trump thought he was doing the right thing.
Anyway, after Mattis realized he couldn’t talk Trump out of it, he submitted his resignation in protest, and made sure the story got out. That he was firmly against withdrawal from Syria, which would’ve gotten many Kurds in the SDF slaughtered.
Trump now realized that he “owned” Syrian policy, and he would be responsible for Assad and the Russians & Iranians who would inevitably kill and overrun NE Syria.
So Trump backed down. I’m not a huge fan of Mattis, but that’s what real leadership looks like.
Gen Milley, Gen Austin, and Gen McKenzie all knew that the Afghan Army would fall and that US and coalition personnel, along with AMCits and Afghan people who worked for the US, would all be in serious danger.
They did nothing, their careers were more important than the lives of the 13 dead military members, and the 180 or so Afghans, many who had ties to the US mission in Afghan.
If you are a parent of one of those 13, how can you ever come to terms with this? Failed leadership got their son or daughter killed. Not enemy capability, but failed leadership alone.
Despite this absolute fact, there is zero accountability. Not a single person has lost their job, besides the LTC who spoke up about this atrocity of failed leadership.
As a former SNCO, this whole thing sickens me. I know there are a lot of older, retired people on this forum, and I’m straight up telling you, this isn’t the military of your youth. The capability is still there, in fact, it’s better, but the leadership isn’t there anymore.
Milley strikes me as the kind of officer we hated. The kind who felt they could do no wrong and if anything did go wrong it was always someone else’s fault. They also tended to be more focused on moving up to the next rank/position than the job the command they currently had as officers. These tended to be the ones who “brown nose” those above them in the hopes of making network “good ole boy” connections to move up and out. Sadly the officers we did like serving under rarely were moved up in promotions. These were the officers who legitimately tried to do the best job they could and managed those who served under them instead of either barking orders or handing off virtually all responsibilities to the NCO.
Milley strikes me as the kind of officer we hated. The kind who felt they could do no wrong and if anything did go wrong it was always someone else’s fault. They also tended to be more focused on moving up to the next rank/position than the job the command they currently had as officers. These tended to be the ones who “brown nose” those above them in the hopes of making network “good ole boy” connections to move up and out. Sadly the officers we did like serving under rarely were moved up in promotions. These were the officers who legitimately tried to do the best job they could and managed those who served under them instead of either barking orders or handing off virtually all responsibilities to the NCO.
To quote a retired Marine MGySgt buddy "How the hell did Milley ever make it through SF Selection?" He obviously had political aspirations. Based on what I know about SF Selection, the Q Course and duty with an SF Group I don't understand why anyone would want to leave SOCOM and jump into the scrum of being a general. Life is more about more money and power.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
