The post below is worth reading (the OP is followed by Hegseth),...
Labrador Skeptic@SaysSimulation
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Dec 17, 2024
~2 min read
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The post below is worth reading (the OP is followed by Hegseth), but what's really interesting is the numerous comments, both with this post, and particularly his other post that he links.
This is the third component where the US military may be in deep trouble: personnel
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This is the third component where the US military may be in deep trouble: personnel
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Cynical Publius@CynicalPublius
The DEI rot in the military is worse than even I feared, apparently.
My posts linked below, and the responses to them, have been a bit surprising, even to me. I knew there was a DEI rot at the top levels of the Pentagon, but I don’t think I realized until now the full corrosive effect it is having on leaders at the tactical unit level (i.e., mostly units and ships commanded by O-5s (lieutenant colonels in the Army, Marines, USAF; commanders in the Navy and Coast Guard)).
Back in the day (i.e., 20 years ago), if you were a white male commanding officer and you gave an Article 15 or a poor efficiency report to a minority or female soldier, you ran the risk of getting an Inspector General (IG) complaint for race or sex discrimination. But good officers of all types never let that stop them from doing the right thing. So long as you could show the IG that the Article 15 or poor efficiency report was justified, the IG did not care. (My favorite example of this was when I pursued a court martial against a barracks drug dealer who coincidentally happened to be black, and the drug dealer went to the IG to claim racism, against both me AND my black command sergeant major. Nutty stuff. The IG laughed.)
However, and back to the present day, what I’m hearing as a result of the reposts below and in private DMs is that today the mere existence of such a claim of racism, sexism, or (nowadays) homophobia, regardless of whether there is any substantiating proof to it, is enough for a commander to be relieved from command for cause because the senior chain of command has suffered a “loss in confidence” in that commander.
(FYI, I personally know of a senior officer who was relieved over a "loss in confidence” because of a racism claim, even though the IG investigation revealed that there was zero racism of any kind. However, the MERE EXISTENCE of that claim, regardless of its inaccuracy, was enough to cause that “loss in confidence.” I would dearly love to tell that story in full, but I’m sworn to secrecy.)
So basically, if you are a U.S. military unit commander in 2024, you necessarily live in fear of some subordinate claiming that you are a racist or a sexist or a homophobe, regardless of whether there is even the slightest hint of truth to the claim. I can promise you that the fear of such unwarranted claims being successful will compromise the judgment and leadership of anyone faced with such fear. A military unit or ship cannot function as a combat-effective force when its commander lives in the shadow of such fear. It cannot. And the service members in such a combat ineffective unit or ship will suffer—and some will die—as a result.
This is a tragically serious issue.
It also explains why Army O-5s are declining command opportunities at unprecedented rates. Why offer to make yourself a sacrificial lamb and suffer life- and reputation-altering defamation and ignominy that stays with you forever? It all makes sense in this context.
This corrosive culture of fear must be cleaned-up, and commanders must be allowed to command again. Otherwise we will keep losing wars.
My posts linked below, and the responses to them, have been a bit surprising, even to me. I knew there was a DEI rot at the top levels of the Pentagon, but I don’t think I realized until now the full corrosive effect it is having on leaders at the tactical unit level (i.e., mostly units and ships commanded by O-5s (lieutenant colonels in the Army, Marines, USAF; commanders in the Navy and Coast Guard)).
Back in the day (i.e., 20 years ago), if you were a white male commanding officer and you gave an Article 15 or a poor efficiency report to a minority or female soldier, you ran the risk of getting an Inspector General (IG) complaint for race or sex discrimination. But good officers of all types never let that stop them from doing the right thing. So long as you could show the IG that the Article 15 or poor efficiency report was justified, the IG did not care. (My favorite example of this was when I pursued a court martial against a barracks drug dealer who coincidentally happened to be black, and the drug dealer went to the IG to claim racism, against both me AND my black command sergeant major. Nutty stuff. The IG laughed.)
However, and back to the present day, what I’m hearing as a result of the reposts below and in private DMs is that today the mere existence of such a claim of racism, sexism, or (nowadays) homophobia, regardless of whether there is any substantiating proof to it, is enough for a commander to be relieved from command for cause because the senior chain of command has suffered a “loss in confidence” in that commander.
(FYI, I personally know of a senior officer who was relieved over a "loss in confidence” because of a racism claim, even though the IG investigation revealed that there was zero racism of any kind. However, the MERE EXISTENCE of that claim, regardless of its inaccuracy, was enough to cause that “loss in confidence.” I would dearly love to tell that story in full, but I’m sworn to secrecy.)
So basically, if you are a U.S. military unit commander in 2024, you necessarily live in fear of some subordinate claiming that you are a racist or a sexist or a homophobe, regardless of whether there is even the slightest hint of truth to the claim. I can promise you that the fear of such unwarranted claims being successful will compromise the judgment and leadership of anyone faced with such fear. A military unit or ship cannot function as a combat-effective force when its commander lives in the shadow of such fear. It cannot. And the service members in such a combat ineffective unit or ship will suffer—and some will die—as a result.
This is a tragically serious issue.
It also explains why Army O-5s are declining command opportunities at unprecedented rates. Why offer to make yourself a sacrificial lamb and suffer life- and reputation-altering defamation and ignominy that stays with you forever? It all makes sense in this context.
This corrosive culture of fear must be cleaned-up, and commanders must be allowed to command again. Otherwise we will keep losing wars.
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& command. The degree of rot & dysfunction that is described, in the comments in particular, is extraordinary & not at all compatible with fighting a real war with a peer power.
The Democratic party, government & military are all obsessed with DEI.
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The Democratic party, government & military are all obsessed with DEI.
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The rot has been going on for a long time, but Obama made it much worse when he purged much of the leadership ten years ago - and it sounds like it has gotten much worse since then.
The 3-way dilemma is that first the US does not have nearly enough weapons
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The 3-way dilemma is that first the US does not have nearly enough weapons
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to fight a real war against a near-peer power. They would run out of key missiles in 3-4 weeks.
Second - and this also relates to DEI - the US defense manufacturing base is a fraction of its former size, it builds very slowly in small numbers, and it would take years to
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Second - and this also relates to DEI - the US defense manufacturing base is a fraction of its former size, it builds very slowly in small numbers, and it would take years to
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rebuild stocks of what would be used in weeks. And the US military would be very weak for every bit of those years.
The 3rd weakness could be the worst, although it is the hardest to put an objective handle at this point. Much of the US military command - and also personnel -
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The 3rd weakness could be the worst, although it is the hardest to put an objective handle at this point. Much of the US military command - and also personnel -
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are toxic at this point. They are not promoted or put in command for reasons of merit, but because of race, gender, sexual orientation & radical political beliefs.
Until these three issues can be fixed, a real major war could be a disaster for the US. At the same time,
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Until these three issues can be fixed, a real major war could be a disaster for the US. At the same time,
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the gross incompetents in the Ruling Coalition are trying to trigger wars around the world, because they are too clueless to realize what has become of US military might.
This is a very good for the US to turn inward, and avoid all foreign wars.
ht: @ICBarrett
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This is a very good for the US to turn inward, and avoid all foreign wars.
ht: @ICBarrett
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