Commentary

Regular readers will recall my displeasure with our deteriorating military forces under the Biden administration, from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a retired general, retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, and the individual service chiefs.

The study of critical race theory, renaming our military bases in the spirit of wokeism, and the adherence to addressing the existential threat of climate change has replaced the serious study of warfare and preparedness.

Earlier this week, I was drawn to a piece in Military.com by Gary Anderson, a retired Marine Corps officer, entitled “Why Generals Can’t Think,” in which he recalls how command and staff colleges had traditionally been the places where aspiring senior commanders learned with the serious study of military theory, history and staff planning, but no longer.  It was there that wise and decisive decision-masking was often identified for command-oriented tracks, while others could be culled and prevented from promotion.

Citing what Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper calls recognitional decision-making, he says this cannot be taught.  It must be absorbed through a thorough study of the profession.  This includes the capability and moral courage to make the right decision under pressure. There is a need to have the wisdom to know when to say “no” to a patently stupid order or plan.

My interest peaked when I read that this includes the tact to convince senior civilians that there are better alternatives and the moral courage to offer to resign if an order is illegal or immoral, as I was reminded of the failure of our generals to convince President Biden to rethink his Afghanistan withdrawal plan.

Appearing on national television, Biden denied that his military advisors disagreed with his plan, saying, “No, no one said that to me that I can recall.”

While Gen. Frank McKenzie of Central Command eventually retired, Milley refused to resign when pressured to do so.

Don’t get me wrong.  Trying to carry out the orders of a president isn’t easy.  Generals John Kelly and James Mattis, once spoken of highly by former President Trump, fell in disfavor as did Milley.

I recall my criticism of Admiral Mike Mullen, who as a member of the Accountability Review Board review of responsibilities for the deaths of our ambassador and others in the terrorist attack on Benghazi, failed to name Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by name as accountable.  Clinton had hand-picked Mullen for the Board.

I also recall another highly decorated military leader, Alexander Haig, once the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, whose brash leadership style was met with frustration within the administration of Ronald Reagan.  His bold claim, “I am in control here in the White House,” after the attempted assassination of Reagan, ignoring the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, was the beginning of his fall from grace.

I personally served under Generals Curtis LeMay and Thomas Power and admired how they directed the growth and readiness of the Strategic Air Command.

Of course, it would be difficult not to appreciate the judgement of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was behind the success of the Normandy invasion.  He went on to serve two terms as president of the United States.  I doubt if we will ever again see a former general become president.

But it is Gen. George S. Patton who I have long-admired.  Patton was a student of war that I’m sure General Van Riper would include in his discussion of military education missing today.

When President Trump nominated General Mattis to become Secretary of Defense, much was made of his nickname of “Mad Dog,” his massive library and voracious interest in reading on the military.

It was General Patton, however, who was best known for his study of war. Thanks to the Hollywood movie, “Patton,” and the actor George C. Scott’s adaptation of the general’s character that is so memorable.

Two scenes from the movie stand out in my memory.  Facing his German adversary, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in a Tunisian tank battle, Patton, sensing victory roared “Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book.”  I’ll never forget the gravely voice of Scott delivering that line.

The other scene is particularly memorable to me because it took place in an area of North Africa (Morocco), a site containing Roman ruins I had visited during my time in service there.

In the scene, a Jeep carrying Patton and Gen. Omar Bradley (played by Karl Malden), pull off the gravel road and Patton says, “It was here. The battlefield was here.  The Carthaginians defending the city were attacked by three Roman legions. The Carthaginians were proud and brave, but they couldn’t hold.  They were massacred.  Arab women stripped them of their tunics and their swords and lances. The soldiers lay naked in the sun two thousand years ago; and I was there.”

“You don’t believe me, do you Brad?” Patton said. “You know what the poet said?”

“Through the travail of ages, midst the pomp and toil of war, have I fought and strove and perished, countless times among the stars.

As if through a glass and darkly, the age and strife I see, when I fought in many guises and many names, but always me.”

Do you know who the poet was?  Smiling and shaking his head, Bradley answers, no, and Patton responds – me.”

It makes me want to see the movie again.

As I recently wrote about General Milley’s replacement, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, we can expect our military men and women will continue to be used in the Pentagon’s social experiments of wokeism. Is it any wonder our recruitment levels to the services is suffering?

May God continue to bless the United States of America.