Army Strong

Today’s Dumbass – General Charles C. Campbell, decided not to send out letters of reprimand to Army officers responsible for piss-poor planning prior to the battle of Wanat (Afghanistan) that resulted in the deaths of nine US soldiers and the wounding of 27.

Letters of reprimand are effectively career-enders for officers. The initial inquiry was performed by Marine Corps Lieutenant General Richard Natonski, who was a commander in Fallujah. He found the field commanders at fault and made the recommendation for letters of reprimand. General Patraeus approved the findings. Campbell has never commanded troops in combat.

If you know nothing else of this case, know that the commanders had these guys set up a camp near the bottom of a valley, which was surrounded by huge mountains. Also know that warnings by villagers that the Taliban were near were ignored. The troops were undersupplied, and never received building material they were supposed to receive.

Fuck you, General. Fuck you.

When The Going Gets Tough - The Tough(?) Wanna Quit

If the military wanted General Stanley McChrystal to have a public opinion, they would’ve issued him one. I heard variations of that for years during my 21yrs in the military. Apparently he didn’t.

General McChrystal and his aides should have kept their big fucking mouths shut. In the military, you don’t have to agree with your Commander in Chief; you just have to do what he says and shut the fuck up. Really.

I have absolutely no respect for this man. Not only because he set a piss-poor example as a leader for his thousands upon thousands of subordinates, but because – once busted for his commentary – he immediately offered his resignation. The word pansy comes to mind.

When I was coming up in the military, if you screwed up, you owned up to it, took (or received) corrective action and moved the fuck on. Errors in judgment are nothing new for the military or humankind.

McChrystal needs to speak to his troops and tell them his conduct was reprehensible and not in keeping with the traditions and honor of the US military. Then, he needs to take his medicine, preferably in the form of a punitive letter of reprimand from the Secretary of Defense. This should be immediately followed by a no-confidence relief of command, and his retirement.

Those who contend he’s irreplaceable (and I’ve heard a few talking heads mention it already), are full of shit. No one in the military is irreplaceable. No one.