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And “a loss of confidence and trust in their ability to effectively lead and command” is a bureaucratic formula that hides whether the commander actually failed to lead effectively or merely fell out of favor with their superiors! If a commander is relieved for poor judgment, toxic leadership, mission failure, or misconduct, a generic statement can make it difficult to determine whether the action was justified. Specific reasons help demonstrate that standards are being applied fairly. Military organizations improve when leaders understand what went wrong. A vague explanation like "loss of confidence" provides little guidance for subordinate commanders trying to avoid similar mistakes. Also, when people see leaders removed without explanation, they may suspect politics, favoritism or scapegoating. Transparent reasoning can increase confidence that decisions are based on performance and standards. Future leaders, historians, and researchers need more than a boilerplate phrase to understand why a command decision was made and what lessons should be learned. Some will argue that the public does not necessarily have a right to know every detail; but a better balance is needed between transparency and institutional learning, and privacy, fairness, and command discretion!

Required reading for my CGSC class, very insightful! Ricks argues that the U.S. Army's success in World War II was partly due to its willingness to relieve ineffective generals, while the postwar Army became increasingly reluctant to hold senior commanders accountable for poor performance. According to Ricks, this decline in accountability contributed to military shortcomings in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Marshall routinely evaluated commanders and removed those who could not perform under combat conditions. During WWII, dozens (not 600) to include 16 division commanders of generals were relieved, reassigned, or retired when they failed to meet standards. Marshall prioritized mission success over protecting careers, but it wasn't always due to leadership failures. One famous example was Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, who was relieved despite being an aggressive and popular combat leader because Army leadership felt a different type of commander was needed for future operations. Leaders such as Matthew Ridgway, George Patton and Maxwell Taylor are highlighted as officers who adapted to changing conditions and inspired subordinates. Ricks contends that many senior leaders in Vietnam remained in command despite poor results. The Army became focused on preserving institutional reputation rather than candidly assessing failures, and that promotion systems increasingly rewarded conformity and career management. Officers learned to avoid mistakes rather than take calculated risks, and advancement often depended more on navigating bureaucracy than demonstrating battlefield excellence. Early phases of the Iraq War exposed deficiencies in strategic planning and senior leadership. (Petraeus is presented as a notable exception, helping to develop and execute the 2007 Surge strategy) and again Ricks argues many senior commanders were not adequately held accountable for flawed assumptions and operational setbacks. Ricks also highlights that being successful at lower levels of command does not automatically prepare an officer to be a successful general officer, that senior leaders must understand politics, policy, coalition management and strategy, not just battlefield tactics.

Yeah this shit is exhausting. Mainstream media runs with a nothing-burger story because it references Sec Hegseth and the word "Testosterone." And because it has those two things, every one goes wild about it for a week or two until it's forgotten, or overrun by the next nothing-burger story. Meanwhile, if everyone is so concerned about military member's health, where is the reporting on what Hegseth is doing about actually important shit like nutrition? RFK Jr is the Sec of Health and Human Services, and has come out strong on the detrimental effects of things like seed oils in foods. And it's long been known that the Army DFAC's specifically are all-around shitty. What is Hegseth doing in this arena? He talks about things like increased lethality, and logic would dictate the healthier your force, the more lethal they are, but what is he doing in that respect? If he's not doing shit, they where is the media caterwauling about that?

The Naval Aviators responsible for the low beach flyby have been identified.

He retired and went to the airlines quite a while back.

Wyoming ANG wing commander and OG fired.

9 X KC-46....wow.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/20/state-dept-again-deems-cuba-threat-amid-talk-us-push-regime-change/ Expect another regime change in the near future orchestrated by the "no new wars" admin. Because we aren't busy enough...

That’s a good drop! Lots of variety.

He's old as shit, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise.

Our Pres is now getting handled around like Biden did towards the end. FIFA president guiding him around by the arm, confused look on Donnies face. Erdogan same thing.

Don't worry about it.

Yea, that anthrax vaccine sucked.

We just finished a period with a MANDATORY EXPERIMENTAL vaccine...sorry my friend, not a moot point.

Finally, Schedule F (now referred to as Schedule Policy/Career) is law. EO here. Fed employees are wailing on cue: Federal employees face reality of Schedule Policy/Career

Well done, Spain!!

agree with pooter on this. a stupid war that was not in our interest and now we are stuck in another ME conflict. smdh

Would love to hear what takes of mine pertaining to this war are “laughably incorrect” Is it, in no particular order: -That Israel roped us into this -Our own DNI said Iran wasn’t making a nuke prior to the start of the war -Our destruction of a non-factor navy and Air Force doesn’t amount to a strategic win -Iran was never in a weak negotiating position which is why we signed a deal favorable to them -Iran’s TBM stockpile is mostly intact and the primary tool for their power projection -The blockade of their blockade didn’t do shit -Bombing cave entrances in a country of 90 million people the size of the entire eastern US didn’t (and won't currently) accomplish shit -We did not effect regime change and in fact ended up with a more hardline one -The people did not rise up -We have depleted our interceptor and SOW munitions to an alarming level that will take years to replace -We are objectively on the back foot in other AORs that had their resources poached for this boondoggle -Trump’s apocalyptic and incoherent messaging was strategically damaging and galvanized the Iranian public against us -We fell into an escalation trap that we now cannot get out of -Still don’t have the nuke dust -Constant admin goalpost shifting about the objectives where now just getting the strait back open and un-tolled would be considered a win There ya go. Feel free to address any of them specifically and I’ll respond with well sourced arguments. But this hiding behind “you don’t know what you’re talking about” or “you’d know the real story if you were in the strat division vault” is just pathetic BS. We can all see the shitshow unfolding with our own eyes.

I don’t know what clearances you have or don’t have. But I do know from your long and distinguished history of laughably incorrect, half baked posts that you do in fact have zero clue on the topic of this thread. I’m sure there’s things you’re smart on and well informed on, but this ain’t it.

When you have zero coherent argument in support of this war:

It never ceases to amaze me how much humans will run their mouths on things they have zero actual knowledge on. But, I guess egos are going to ego.

...says all the people that don't currently work in the Strat Division... noted

Yeah we wrecked all the parts that didn’t matter in the first place but don’t tell the neocon war hawks that. They just spent the last two months circlejerking about how we obliterated a navy that was totally irrelevant and an Air Force of nothing but museum pieces. Turns out we never made much of a dent in the actual ballistic missile inventory because bombing cave entrances doesn’t destroy anything.. it just denies access to them temporarily. Anyone with half a brain cell knew from the outset that the TBM threat and ability to close the strait were always the two crucial things forming the basis for Iran’s regional power projection. Those both remain intact and will not be solved by renewed bombing. We’re now in the “more cowbell” phase of this dumb war where we’re just doing stuff that already didn’t work, with no clear end in sight. It’s just so sad no one predicted this would devolve into a directionless boondoggle

“Health passport” is a great idea. The positive way to look at this is screening for 30+ is certainly a step in the right direction (and as stated, not nearly enough…but it’s a start). I’m not seeing a negative, at least a logical one. I am 100% against forced therapy/drugs, but that isn’t happening, so it’s a moot point.

How many C-21 bases?