Will the Real Robert Gates Please Stand Up?
Will the Real Robert Gates Please Stand Up?
by Neoptolemus
Download the Full Article: Will the Real Robert Gates Please Stand Up?
It’s hard not to like the provocative nature of the SecDef’s speeches—which often have serious messages and outright swipes at sclerotic bureaucratic habits. For example in his West Point speech, he talked over the heads of the cadets in the room and railed about the future as an “opportunity to attack the institutional and bureaucratic constipation of Big Army, and re-think the way it deals with the outstanding young leaders in its lower- and middle-ranks.”
Likewise, his advocacy for greater diversity and flexibility in careers and educational opportunities. “For example, instead of being assigned to new positions every two or three years,” Mr. Gates opined that officers could “apply for job openings in a competitive system more akin to what happens in large organizations in the private sector.” I really liked his public endorsement of Lieutenant General David Barno’s proposals for Army reform and the need for tomorrow’s smaller professional force to compete and retain the best talent as a “must do” for the incoming Army Chief of Staff.
But Mr. Gates has also a deliberate taste for rhetorical overstretch when he makes irritating if not dangerous comments on “likely” and implausible scenarios about the future use of military force.
Download the Full Article: Will the Real Robert Gates Please Stand Up?
Neoptolemus, a retired infantry officer, is currently imprisoned as a senior defense official in the Pentagon. Neoptolemus was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia in Greek mythology.
