This article leaves me completely gobsmacked. You recently published / promoted excellent pieces on the expertise and discipline required to lead soldiers in a complex military. "A Letter From an Air Force SNCO" had me reaching for my notebook to write down excerpts that illuminated integrity, ingenuity, guts and loyalty. Your depictions of your incredibly brave and dedicated Afghan partners left an indelible mark.
But Hesgeth? He's a punk. He's not some hard-knock youngster who can be forgiven youthful indiscretions. He's a misongynistic, frat boy, wanna-be who is telling people like Whitney Burton that she doesn't belong in military leadership. He assaulted a woman for God's sake - and then paid her off. But then again, so did Trump so apparently a plurality of voters think rape is not disqualifying for leadership. What does that say about us as a people?
One of Hesgeth's first actions was to have the Army remove its sexual harassment and assault prevention policy from the website that houses service rules. Are you going to be reaching out to the women who are subsequently raped/assaulted/harassed and explain to them why there is no longer a published prevention policy?
Furthermore, Hesgeth is a White Christian Nationalist who has advocated purging the very Muslim population you served and the brethren you fight so hard to save.
Do you really think that Trump will blow everything up to make life better for the soldiers he called "suckers" and "losers"? When Trump offered to bring the Taliban to Camp David right before 9/11 did it signal respect for American Sacrifice? When Trump freed 5000 Taliban fighters, allowing them to return to the battlefield and set the stage for the disastrous Afghan withdrawal did he care about U.S. service members and our Afghan allies? He has been held accountable for nothing, and Hesgeth is cut from the same cloth.
When it comes, I'm hoping the "elite" members of the military are brave enough to defy the illegal order to fire on American citizens for protesting. (I'm old enough to remember Kent State) Because Hesgeth sure as hell will betray the constitution, his fellow citizens and democracy itself to wreak vengeance in pursuit of his patriarchal, autocratic, racist fantasies.
I think Will is looking at what will probably be a train wreck and just hoping that all turns out better than we fear. I think he also values experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, which I also regard as valuable— but not in the form of Pete Hegseth.
Thank you Marilee. I was trying to formulate a response, but you have relieved me of that burden. I am disappointed in Will's post, but I will continue to read and support him. It boggles my mind how he can see any intellectual and leadership abilities in Hegseth. Pete may have been a dynamo in the combat zone, but as for a job like his....
Fran - I also will continue to subscribe and read GCV posts. I find Will's content to be illuminating and give him and his colleagues a great deal of credit for their sacrifice, their service and their continuing rescue efforts. The idea that we need to blow everything up, or "turn the school over to the truants" because political decision makers and generals make unsavory or arrogant decisions during military operations is short sighted. I would really like to better understand what alternatives would have allowed success in the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. I also absolutely support fully funding the VA and Veterna's services. If we have a Trillion dollars to spend on destruction and death, we have money to spend on services for the veterans who made the sacrifice. With their budget cuts and freezes, the gop, Trump and Hesgeth apparantly think veterans are expendable.
I'm currently listening to the podcasts produced by Bletchley Park that allow us to see the errors and chaos that were commonplace during the 'good war'. Even the best generals - the ones we now regard as heroes, made some terrible decisions. (Google "Bletchley Park" for a fascinating trove of material)
If we want better policy, we need to elect representatives who will subborn the interest of the corporate oligarchs to the benefit of the people. I was one of a few who vocally opposed the US invasion of Iraq promoted by the Bush hawks, and I had friends who considered me unpatriotic for it.
I'm very much looking forward to it. The piece this morning; "The Journey of an Interpreter", had me reaching for my notebook yet again, with tears on the page. Profound writing. These stories are gems that need to be protected and preserved.
This is the first time that I really just flat out disagreed with some of your post. I'm a 30 year retiree, but was Navy so never in combat but have experienced mortaritaville on Balad a few times. I think what is not helping me here is my argument with my MAGA "friends" (it seems like every time we talk...the friends part takes more of a hit) where they say the military is completely downtrodden today because of DEI. So...my response back to them is that isn't Hegseth essentially a DEI hire, but the criteria isn't skin color it's their loyalty to Trump? Worse yet..when you are talking about quotas in the military...you are NEVER talking about putting someone in a job that is completely unqualified. Hegseth is completely unqualified! What gets me is that my friends are professionals who have all been managers hiring people and they would NEVER contemplate hiring someone who didn't have the relevant experience to be successful much less if they knew that there were potential personal problems AND his 2 leadership ventures outside the military were complete and utter failures. OK...so let's be honest...he's not a little underqualified and a low risk...he's extremely underqualified and a HIGH risk. I wouldn't do that sort of hiring in my field of business....why the heck would we consider rolling the dice with our military at the highest levels???
The other comment that I bristled with is blaming Austin for getting us out of Afghanistan. You do realize that Trump started the process to get us out, right? Do you think Hegseth, being so beholden to Trump, would have pushed back on Trump? My point being is that you are heaping blame on a SecDef who reports to the POTUS. Wait...wasn't it you who pointed out that a President who won an election should get a lot deference on their decisions and choices?
Part of that particular point about pulling out of Afghanistan that bothers me is how much blame Biden got even though Trump started the process and placed Biden in a pretty poor position. You do realize that the suicide bomber was a guy who was released due to terrible negotiating by Trump where they released all the bad guys without involving the Afghan government. So...I didn't support the withdrawal period, but I really bristle that Trump never is held accountable for his actions that led to those 13 service members being killed. Now Trump goes around making it a political bludgeon acting like wasn't planning to do the exact same thing.
I do think we should not have abandoned our Afghan allies and I didn't support Biden on that but to somehow blame Austin and not think that Hegseth would have similarly caved is unrealistic thinking. It just seems like your conflating your points and then ending up with a little bit of the "what the hell...let's go for it" place which I think is extremely risky when we are talking about the SecDef position.
I have to agree with Jeff the Original even though I agree with almost everything you say about the failings of the "elites", though doesn't Austin qualify as a combat brethren? I am not a veteran, though I do have a son in the SF. What has Trump done: 1) Doha is on him; 2) Stranding pre-vetted Afghans is one him; 3) Throwing Ukraine under the bus will be on him; 4) Abandoning NATO and Korea will be on him; 5) Spending trillions on an Iron Dome-type system for all the invisible missiles that fall on us every year; 6) All the orders that are against the Constitution will be on him...and he's just getting started! A callow, smarmy SecDef who will do anything the master orders is not just not ideal, it's insanity.
Well...there were aspects that I didn't like for sure...but if you thought I didn't like the whole thing...my apologies. I certainly am passionate about the subject of the military right now. I'm sure that Austin made that decision about where to do the NEO based upon recommendations from those below him. When I deployed to the ME...I actually reported to the Army. I can mostly definitely say that the Army culture is a far different than the Navy's and I could see where the BOG troops were warning against this and some Officers, far from being boots on ground, overriding their concerns. I had a similar situation where my ADCON command back in CONUS was making decisions for us that displayed just how out of touch they were with the actual situation. I actually saw some of that when I was back in CONUS (before deploying) and heard their discussions about the forward deployed command...and basically making fun of them like THEY were the ones who didn't know what was going on. I'm remember thinking to myself...why the hell would you think you know more than the forward deployed guys? But I guess that's just me...
I appreciate your response and that you have chosen to post given your background and experiences. They are valued and appreciated by this reader.
To be clear, you owe me (and your readers) nothing in particular in the way of research. But if you were going to take on the issue of Pete Hegseth I wish you had chosen to address what to my mind is the elephant in the room: not his drinking and not even alleged sexual assaults (personally I hate it when crap like that comes up only when someone is running for something) but rather the insane comments he has made on Fox News over the last while. Are you against women in the military? How do you feel about his hatred of DEI? His role in the culture war is absolutely fair game to be considered by senators given that by choosing Hegseth, Trump has chosen someone from Fox News--a network that regularly gets out of lawsuits by claiming they are not news, but rather entertainment, and people should expect lying. You seem to be addressing Hegseth only as a veteran, and while I personally believe any Secretary of Defense should be a veteran, his nonstop inflammatory commentary on Fox News is a real problem for me. That doesn't mean it has to be a problem for you but I was hoping to at least hear what you thought about that. As far as I am concerned I would not have approved him (were I a senator) because now he is a partisan hack who does not have the good of America as his first priority. Because if he did he would not be working for a blatantly partisan (liberal or conservative) 24 hours news channel that has done so much to contribute to the roiling division in this country right now.
I think you made a valid point about the difficulty of coming home and how to judge his possible alcoholism.
But what's the vision? I keep hearing all this about shaking up the status quo and the establishment but to replace it with what? for what end?
It seems like there is a vague assumption that for some reason Trump and his appointees have the American people's wellbeing more at heart than their predecessors, but I don't understand why people think this. The people Trump has most elevated at this moment seem to be 1) some of the world's wealthiest people, and 2) mediocre, severely underqualified picks who flatter him.
So yes, Hegseth might extend a sliver of (not great) representation to combat veterans but what are you thinking he will do? And more importantly *what kind of change* do you think he will bring and why do you think he might improve things?
A shake-up is as a shake-up does, and I am so tired of pointless optimism at mere change, with no evidence that it will therefore be a *good* change.
This article leaves me completely gobsmacked. You recently published / promoted excellent pieces on the expertise and discipline required to lead soldiers in a complex military. "A Letter From an Air Force SNCO" had me reaching for my notebook to write down excerpts that illuminated integrity, ingenuity, guts and loyalty. Your depictions of your incredibly brave and dedicated Afghan partners left an indelible mark.
But Hesgeth? He's a punk. He's not some hard-knock youngster who can be forgiven youthful indiscretions. He's a misongynistic, frat boy, wanna-be who is telling people like Whitney Burton that she doesn't belong in military leadership. He assaulted a woman for God's sake - and then paid her off. But then again, so did Trump so apparently a plurality of voters think rape is not disqualifying for leadership. What does that say about us as a people?
One of Hesgeth's first actions was to have the Army remove its sexual harassment and assault prevention policy from the website that houses service rules. Are you going to be reaching out to the women who are subsequently raped/assaulted/harassed and explain to them why there is no longer a published prevention policy?
Furthermore, Hesgeth is a White Christian Nationalist who has advocated purging the very Muslim population you served and the brethren you fight so hard to save.
Do you really think that Trump will blow everything up to make life better for the soldiers he called "suckers" and "losers"? When Trump offered to bring the Taliban to Camp David right before 9/11 did it signal respect for American Sacrifice? When Trump freed 5000 Taliban fighters, allowing them to return to the battlefield and set the stage for the disastrous Afghan withdrawal did he care about U.S. service members and our Afghan allies? He has been held accountable for nothing, and Hesgeth is cut from the same cloth.
When it comes, I'm hoping the "elite" members of the military are brave enough to defy the illegal order to fire on American citizens for protesting. (I'm old enough to remember Kent State) Because Hesgeth sure as hell will betray the constitution, his fellow citizens and democracy itself to wreak vengeance in pursuit of his patriarchal, autocratic, racist fantasies.
I think Will is looking at what will probably be a train wreck and just hoping that all turns out better than we fear. I think he also values experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, which I also regard as valuable— but not in the form of Pete Hegseth.
Thank you Marilee. I was trying to formulate a response, but you have relieved me of that burden. I am disappointed in Will's post, but I will continue to read and support him. It boggles my mind how he can see any intellectual and leadership abilities in Hegseth. Pete may have been a dynamo in the combat zone, but as for a job like his....
Fran - I also will continue to subscribe and read GCV posts. I find Will's content to be illuminating and give him and his colleagues a great deal of credit for their sacrifice, their service and their continuing rescue efforts. The idea that we need to blow everything up, or "turn the school over to the truants" because political decision makers and generals make unsavory or arrogant decisions during military operations is short sighted. I would really like to better understand what alternatives would have allowed success in the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. I also absolutely support fully funding the VA and Veterna's services. If we have a Trillion dollars to spend on destruction and death, we have money to spend on services for the veterans who made the sacrifice. With their budget cuts and freezes, the gop, Trump and Hesgeth apparantly think veterans are expendable.
I'm currently listening to the podcasts produced by Bletchley Park that allow us to see the errors and chaos that were commonplace during the 'good war'. Even the best generals - the ones we now regard as heroes, made some terrible decisions. (Google "Bletchley Park" for a fascinating trove of material)
If we want better policy, we need to elect representatives who will subborn the interest of the corporate oligarchs to the benefit of the people. I was one of a few who vocally opposed the US invasion of Iraq promoted by the Bush hawks, and I had friends who considered me unpatriotic for it.
Best to All as we move forward.
I’m going to write more on this subject soon. Thanks for your comments, Marilee. They’re much appreciated.
I'm very much looking forward to it. The piece this morning; "The Journey of an Interpreter", had me reaching for my notebook yet again, with tears on the page. Profound writing. These stories are gems that need to be protected and preserved.
This is the first time that I really just flat out disagreed with some of your post. I'm a 30 year retiree, but was Navy so never in combat but have experienced mortaritaville on Balad a few times. I think what is not helping me here is my argument with my MAGA "friends" (it seems like every time we talk...the friends part takes more of a hit) where they say the military is completely downtrodden today because of DEI. So...my response back to them is that isn't Hegseth essentially a DEI hire, but the criteria isn't skin color it's their loyalty to Trump? Worse yet..when you are talking about quotas in the military...you are NEVER talking about putting someone in a job that is completely unqualified. Hegseth is completely unqualified! What gets me is that my friends are professionals who have all been managers hiring people and they would NEVER contemplate hiring someone who didn't have the relevant experience to be successful much less if they knew that there were potential personal problems AND his 2 leadership ventures outside the military were complete and utter failures. OK...so let's be honest...he's not a little underqualified and a low risk...he's extremely underqualified and a HIGH risk. I wouldn't do that sort of hiring in my field of business....why the heck would we consider rolling the dice with our military at the highest levels???
The other comment that I bristled with is blaming Austin for getting us out of Afghanistan. You do realize that Trump started the process to get us out, right? Do you think Hegseth, being so beholden to Trump, would have pushed back on Trump? My point being is that you are heaping blame on a SecDef who reports to the POTUS. Wait...wasn't it you who pointed out that a President who won an election should get a lot deference on their decisions and choices?
Part of that particular point about pulling out of Afghanistan that bothers me is how much blame Biden got even though Trump started the process and placed Biden in a pretty poor position. You do realize that the suicide bomber was a guy who was released due to terrible negotiating by Trump where they released all the bad guys without involving the Afghan government. So...I didn't support the withdrawal period, but I really bristle that Trump never is held accountable for his actions that led to those 13 service members being killed. Now Trump goes around making it a political bludgeon acting like wasn't planning to do the exact same thing.
I do think we should not have abandoned our Afghan allies and I didn't support Biden on that but to somehow blame Austin and not think that Hegseth would have similarly caved is unrealistic thinking. It just seems like your conflating your points and then ending up with a little bit of the "what the hell...let's go for it" place which I think is extremely risky when we are talking about the SecDef position.
Sorry you didn’t like this post.
I was in Afghanistan the final year so I’m familiar with Trump.
Austin made a horrible military decision to conduct the NEO at HKIA. He made that decision. Nobody else and he also held nobody accountablez
I have to agree with Jeff the Original even though I agree with almost everything you say about the failings of the "elites", though doesn't Austin qualify as a combat brethren? I am not a veteran, though I do have a son in the SF. What has Trump done: 1) Doha is on him; 2) Stranding pre-vetted Afghans is one him; 3) Throwing Ukraine under the bus will be on him; 4) Abandoning NATO and Korea will be on him; 5) Spending trillions on an Iron Dome-type system for all the invisible missiles that fall on us every year; 6) All the orders that are against the Constitution will be on him...and he's just getting started! A callow, smarmy SecDef who will do anything the master orders is not just not ideal, it's insanity.
Well...there were aspects that I didn't like for sure...but if you thought I didn't like the whole thing...my apologies. I certainly am passionate about the subject of the military right now. I'm sure that Austin made that decision about where to do the NEO based upon recommendations from those below him. When I deployed to the ME...I actually reported to the Army. I can mostly definitely say that the Army culture is a far different than the Navy's and I could see where the BOG troops were warning against this and some Officers, far from being boots on ground, overriding their concerns. I had a similar situation where my ADCON command back in CONUS was making decisions for us that displayed just how out of touch they were with the actual situation. I actually saw some of that when I was back in CONUS (before deploying) and heard their discussions about the forward deployed command...and basically making fun of them like THEY were the ones who didn't know what was going on. I'm remember thinking to myself...why the hell would you think you know more than the forward deployed guys? But I guess that's just me...
I appreciate your response and that you have chosen to post given your background and experiences. They are valued and appreciated by this reader.
To be clear, you owe me (and your readers) nothing in particular in the way of research. But if you were going to take on the issue of Pete Hegseth I wish you had chosen to address what to my mind is the elephant in the room: not his drinking and not even alleged sexual assaults (personally I hate it when crap like that comes up only when someone is running for something) but rather the insane comments he has made on Fox News over the last while. Are you against women in the military? How do you feel about his hatred of DEI? His role in the culture war is absolutely fair game to be considered by senators given that by choosing Hegseth, Trump has chosen someone from Fox News--a network that regularly gets out of lawsuits by claiming they are not news, but rather entertainment, and people should expect lying. You seem to be addressing Hegseth only as a veteran, and while I personally believe any Secretary of Defense should be a veteran, his nonstop inflammatory commentary on Fox News is a real problem for me. That doesn't mean it has to be a problem for you but I was hoping to at least hear what you thought about that. As far as I am concerned I would not have approved him (were I a senator) because now he is a partisan hack who does not have the good of America as his first priority. Because if he did he would not be working for a blatantly partisan (liberal or conservative) 24 hours news channel that has done so much to contribute to the roiling division in this country right now.
I think you made a valid point about the difficulty of coming home and how to judge his possible alcoholism.
But what's the vision? I keep hearing all this about shaking up the status quo and the establishment but to replace it with what? for what end?
It seems like there is a vague assumption that for some reason Trump and his appointees have the American people's wellbeing more at heart than their predecessors, but I don't understand why people think this. The people Trump has most elevated at this moment seem to be 1) some of the world's wealthiest people, and 2) mediocre, severely underqualified picks who flatter him.
So yes, Hegseth might extend a sliver of (not great) representation to combat veterans but what are you thinking he will do? And more importantly *what kind of change* do you think he will bring and why do you think he might improve things?
A shake-up is as a shake-up does, and I am so tired of pointless optimism at mere change, with no evidence that it will therefore be a *good* change.