Quote:
Originally posted by Adam White
Believe me sir; having had the privilege of hearing the man speak last year, I believe he has a keen understanding of much if the Army as a whole - and our problems. "Out of touch" is truly not a word I would use. Still, his last real troop time with conventional formations was as an ADC for 1st Cav - a one star billet. His only commands on the conventional side were at the company level (I'm gathering this purely from what you posted, as I did not know prior to this - so I may have missed something above) - . Relative to Generals who have commanded brigades, Divisions, Armies, and Corps, that is a lack of breadth.
Again, I stress RELATIVE to the other generals.
I don't doubt he is the right man for the job, it is just hard for me to not imagine there are intricacies and subtleties in the Pentagon maze that he would have trouble with. On the plus side, he definitely has the respect - and therefore the ear - of the Secretary of Defense. That alone is likely worth its weight in gold for the Army.
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When on June 25, 1942, he was designated Commanding General, European Theater, Dwight D. Eisenhower had never commanded a brigade, division, corps or army, and had only briefly commanded a battalion.
On Sept. 1, 1939, George C. Marshall was named Army Chief of Staff. His highest prior command was of the 5th Infantry Brigade from 1936 to 1938.
Gordon R. Sullivan did command the 1st Infantry Division, but no corps or army command.
Harold K. Johnson never commanded a brigade or higher combat formation. He did serve as commandant of the Command and General Staff College, though.
Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. had extensive command and staff experience, but until arriving in Vietnam to command MAC-V, it was almost entirely in armor. Not a lot of breadth there.