I mentioned Senior Military Officers and their opinions in my last post. Let me add this to that discussion, whenever there is a military crisis, of any kind, the News Networks will trot out old soldiers like they were candy. You get lots of opinions, discussions of strategy, etc. Most of it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with the current reality. First of all, some of these guys were often not that stellar in their military careers, and certainly were never charged with looking at the big picture. As an example, some years ago one network (who shall remain nameless), used a lower ranking officer whose experience was extremely limited, and even then it was further limited to just one part of the world. He would rant, rave, and toss the “words” around, but it was clear that, as to the part of the world he was being asked about, he was clueless. On the big picture of the incident, he was worse than clueless. Then there are the guys who were extremely competent, but have been retired awhile. I can tell you from personal experience and observation that the way it was done even two years ago isn’t how it is done now. Military actions are on a learning curve, and as a conflict goes on, there is constant adjustment that will rapidly bypass a dated understanding.
Hence my warning or caveat. When one of these guys pops up on your TV screen to tell you about this or that, be sure to carefully filter it. When he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael G. “Mike” Mullen (Ret.), was faced with a situation where retired Generals and Admirals were trotted out by almost all of the news networks over a particular incident. In his very classy style, Admiral Mullen simply reminded the public of what I’m saying now. The way things were, aren’t necessarily how they are now. Listen closely to what the guys are saying that are currently holding the position and remember, if you’re not getting details from them, then don’t just fill in the blanks from what the retired guys are saying. Doing so will often lead to the wrong conclusions. ~ Michael S. Pauley
Hence my warning or caveat. When one of these guys pops up on your TV screen to tell you about this or that, be sure to carefully filter it. When he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael G. “Mike” Mullen (Ret.), was faced with a situation where retired Generals and Admirals were trotted out by almost all of the news networks over a particular incident. In his very classy style, Admiral Mullen simply reminded the public of what I’m saying now. The way things were, aren’t necessarily how they are now. Listen closely to what the guys are saying that are currently holding the position and remember, if you’re not getting details from them, then don’t just fill in the blanks from what the retired guys are saying. Doing so will often lead to the wrong conclusions. ~ Michael S. Pauley
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