Posted on 08/05/2008 3:08:51 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
This was why many Army officers were excited when Petraeus was appointed to chair this year's promotion board. Rarely, if ever, had a combat commander been called back from an ongoing war to assume that role. It almost certainly meant that McMaster would get his due. (Some referred to the panel as "the McMaster promotion board.")
McMaster did get his star—but so did many others of his ilk. That's what makes this list an eyebrow-raiser. Among the 40 newly named one-star generals are Sean MacFarland, commander of the unit that brought order to Ramadi; Steve Townsend, who cleared and held Baqubah; Michael Garrett, who commanded the infantry brigade that helped turn around the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad; Stephen Fogarty, the intelligence officer in Afghanistan; Colleen McGuire, an officer in the military police (a branch of the service that almost never makes generals). At least eight special-operations officers are on the list (though not all of them are identified as such), as well as the unit commanders of various "light" forces—in Stryker light-armor brigades or the 10th Mountain Division—that have tended to be ignored by the Army's "heavy"-leaning armor and artillery chiefs.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
I was in Ramadi the rotation before him.
The PA Guard unit I was working under was from John Murtha's home district.
We all got T-shirts made up for the trip: "I Survived Iraq Under Damnyankee Leadership."
It is my observation that what makes for success in peace time is NOT what makes for a good combat leader.
Most every war we have fought, where we began with a standing Army, has shown that warriors must be brought out.
Its certainly my experience that the most dynamic officers leave or get sidelined before they see a flag board.
I’m not sure that this is fixable. The best we can do may be to ensure rapid replacement and promotion during war time. That appears to be the case now.
Ping!
From a fellow citizen, thanks, Old Sarge, for serving.
So somebody is actually promoting combat-tested officers?
If my memory on Revolutionary War battles is good, General Gates (a rival of Gen. Washington) was not combat-tested, and was a disaster. But he was a general. Seems this has been an issue for a long, long time.
Very good news. Officers that can operate effectively in combat should be the ones promoted and it’s good to see Gen. Petraeus do this.
Fightin Generals to the front.This is great news.
By God there may be hope that we’ll finally fight the current war without the detritus from the last one.
Thanks for the ping. This apparently wasn’t the usual O-7 promotion board that passes over the real warriors and promotes the political favorites.
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