Category: Journal ISSN 1078-1935

Article below started to circulate in the office on Friday and appears in today's Washington Post. LTG (R) Barno is spot-on.  He describes the Army I retired from and, substantially, the Army I was commissioned into in 1971.  In Iraq and Afghanistan, the threats were IEDs, snipers, etc.  In the Army to return, the threats will be Semi-Annual Training Briefs, PT tests, maintenance inspections, barracks inspections, shortages of white paint for rocks, etc.  For the junior officers and, to a significant extent for the Soldiers, during the 13 years of combat, they have been working within intent, with significant autonomy and opportunity to exercise initiative.  And they have done well.  Now they face infinite micromanagement with emphasis on uniforms, tatoos, police call, pulling Staff Duty Officer and Charge of Quarters, motor stables, area beautification, etc.  Principal drivers of this future are a former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and the current Sergeant Major of the Army, who have postulated that this new regime is the silver bullet to restoring discipline within the force and reducing Soldier suicides.  As LTG Barno notes, it's also likely create unattractive command climates thus generating voluntary separations which will contribute to sequestration-driven reduction of end strength.

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: US Army's New Enemy Is Itself”