ONE guy did all that? Day-um!
When top spy novelists use your successful battles as fodder for their fiction … AND your PhD thesis (critical of past military mistakes) is on the Marine Corps reading lists for colonels and generals? You can really say you’ve made a mark in life.
That’s not even counting the OTHER stuff he’s bringing to the table.
The Policy mistakes reference were when he was critical of military officers failing to challenge LBJ over Vietnam. [Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam]
He is decorated, medals including Purple Heart, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Joint Service Commendation Medal among numerous others that can be viewed on his Wiki page.
He has served internationally, in the Middle East, in Kuwait and elsewhere.
What is he looking to do?
He is concerned that we are not at the state of military readiness that we need to be. He wants to fix that.
Our military numbers are the smallest they’ve been since WWII. Key vehicles like Transports and Tanks desperately need updating. Other nations are getting an edge in drone tech that we can’t afford to give up.
Besides the conventional military, we also need to address the cyber world, which has been very much in the news lately.
He is the sort of person who is not simply preparing for the LAST war fought, but rather, preparing for the one we are LIKELY to fight next. That said, he is someone who is looking both forward to the future, and backward to the lessons our past engagements have taught us.
Oh, and the spy novel? That was Tom Clancy. His battle of 73 Easting, in which he and his nine tanks were outnumbered by Iraqi troops… and won.
