Weakness, Not Wokeness, Plagues US Generals

By John Hughes, MD, former US Army officer, 4 combat tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, USMA ’96

“The military is run by civilians, but the politics are supposed to stay outside,” one currently serving Army lieutenant general told Military.com. “It could be very hard to do our job if we have to constantly be making sure we’re appeasing someone on a political or partisan level.”¹

An active duty three-star general gave this anonymous quote published in military.com in mid-November 2024 reflecting fear and frustration amongst US generals with the coming analysis of American generals and a board to decide which ones are fit to continue to serve. Ironically, this general’s statement sums up EXACTLY why US generals deserve scrutiny and why many deserve the pink slip.

First, the general spoke anonymously, reflecting a lack of personal courage and conviction to put his/her name on the record.

Second, the comment about “appeasing” betrays what generals have been doing for decades.

Generals, like leaders in any industry should be strong willed and confident enough to speak up to correct a wrong, regardless if it is politically unpopular and/or puts their career at risk. Unfortunately, modern generals with this quality are tragically few and far between.

Instead, the legion of generals behave like meerkats, banding together like the comical safari documentaries about the animals. An exploration of exactly why the generals deserve scrutiny and termination for failure to perform their duty follows:

FRAUD

When budgets get extremely inflated, it is very easy to ‘lose money’ through acts of commission or omission by Pentagon leadership. Stories such as these are not uncommon:

(2024): “Raytheon to pay $950m over fraud, bribery, schemes.” The fraud scheme was from 2000 to 2020. Recall that the current SECDEF was an executive at Raytheon 2016-2020 during the height of the fraud…²

(2023): “‘This was not a surprise:’ Pentagon again fails annual audit of $3.8Trillion in assets.”³

(2021): “The Pentagon has Never Passed an Audit. Some Senators Want to Change That.”⁴

WASTE

In the author’s 15 years of active-duty service, the US Army went through the following uniform changes at the expense of billions of taxpayers’ dollars:

3 physical fitness uniforms
3 everyday/combat uniforms
3 formal uniforms
3 dress uniforms

None of these uniform changes contributed in any way to victory in America’s longest war. The only benefactors were the companies that made the uniforms and associated apparel (military industrial complex). Silence from the US generals.

ABUSE

Bloated budgets: The US military budget for 2024 was $849B, more than most of the world put together. With 129 military bases in 55 countries and the world on fire at the time of writing and a mere 3 years from one of our country’s most humiliating defeats to a ‘rag tag’ militia, what is the US public getting for its money?

For comparison, the Chinese have 1 military base outside of mainland China (located in Africa) and, without firing a single bullet or putting a single soldier on the ground, has equal or more political sway as the US does in many parts of the world, with a fraction of the cost and none of the violence. Where is the shame of the US military general officer corps presiding over this debacle? Silence amongst the generals except to ask for more money.

‘Budget Dust:’ a term in US military parlance to describe millions of dollars from much larger budgets that can be wasted and no one seemingly cares. The average US taxpayer paid the US government $19,113 in 2023. So $10M in ‘budget dust’ is the aggregate amount in taxes paid by 523 US taxpayers. Surely those 523 taxpayers who worked hard for a year, spent hours filing their taxes, love to hear that the DoD considers their hard-won tax money ‘budget dust’ to be wasted on a whim.

HEALTH OF THE TROOPS DURING COVID

During COVID, over 8,000 US military members were kicked out of the military for refusing to get the vaccine. In total, over 3 years, COVID claimed the lives of 96 US military members. To put this into proper historical perspective, more than 45,000 US service members died from the 1918-19 flu pandemic, most in under 1 year. Further, during that epic pandemic, the US still managed to WIN a war – World War I.

The US military managed to LOSE Afghanistan during COVID. DoD never published the demographics on the 96; the most likely explanation is that most if not all were those with the 4 or more health problems (older, overweight, less healthy soldiers) and not the young 20-year-old fit members.

Many of the 8,000 were experienced, battle-hardened veterans. Many were replaced by recruits under the new desperate recruitment paradigm that brought in citizens with drug problems, obesity, etc. The prevalence of obesity among soldiers increased from 18% to 23% during COVID. Where was the adult supervision during this mess (ie general officers)?

Why/how did they let this happen? Why didn’t generals protest decorated veterans getting separated from service for refusing to get a vaccine that was largely unnecessary to such healthy athletes? Silence from the generals…

FAILURE TO RETAIN PROVEN WARRIORS

In addition to COVID, the military separated many talented officers and enlisted over DEI. LtCol Matthew Lohmeier was famously fired for merely making public the damaging curriculum DoD was thrusting on the military. Where were the generals who should have stood up to retain these warriors. Silence from the generals.

READINESS

The CDC pointed out years ago that obesity amongst servicemembers increased from 16% in 2015 to 20% in 2020. This translated into 650,000+ lost workdays a year and over $100M in medical costs directly related to an obese military. The CDC even said in this article, “Obesity impairs military readiness.”⁵ Instead of heeding the warning, the US generals led the military to 23% in obesity. Where were the generals in this leadership debacle? Silence from the generals.

In 2024, www.airandspaceforces.com reported that “Mission capable rates across most Air Force fleets declined in fiscal 2023, continuing a broad downward trend, according to information provided by the service.”⁶ The general in charge of the US Air Force during this period of decreased aircraft readiness (despite record military budgets) was promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. In another era (where wars were won), he would have been likely fired. Promoting failure leads to failed wars.

INSTANTLY EMBRACING CLIMATE CHANGE

Without passing judgement, it is widely seen that the Department of Defense is not very green. Being green in warzones can be admittedly tough. A visit to the VA website states, “The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.”⁷ However, like lapdogs, generals loudly and hilariously proclaimed all the ‘green’ initiatives they would roll out once President Biden entered the White House.

For example, in 2022, www.army.mil stated, “The U.S. Army announces the release of its first Climate Strategy that guides decision making in response to threats from climate that affect installation and unit sustainability, readiness, and resilience. The strategy directs how the Army will maintain its strategic advantage through deliberate efforts to reduce future climate impacts and risks to readiness and national security.”⁸ The Army even unveiled a 20-page plan to become green.⁹

The Army cannot win a war but at least it is focusing on solar power at stateside bases. Where are the general officers in this madness? Silence from the generals.

CHEAPENING OF MILITARY AWARDS

The author’s maternal grandfather’s earned a Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) flying B-24’s over Nazi Europe in WW2 (shot down twice and survived). The author’s paternal grandfather earned a Presidential Unit Citation by jumping into Normandy as an infantry platoon leader on D-Day, losing 1,200 of 2,000 men in his regiment in the process. The authors’ father earned a Presidential Unit Citation by serving 18 months during as an infantry lieutenant and captain during the most intense ground combat of the Vietnam War. Clearly, the bar for a unit to earn the Presidential Unit Citation is quite high, or at least it used to be.

In August, 2021, elements of the 82^nd Airborne Division and Marines were inserted into Kabul to help with the evacuation from the airport. The Taliban had signed a truce and the event was almost completely uncontested except for the infamous terror bombing at the gate that killed 13 US servicemembers. The following received the PUC for service in August 2021:

Army:

Headquarters, 82nd Airborne Division
1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
1st Attack Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
DIVARTY, 82nd Airborne Division
82nd Sustainment Brigade
16th Military Police Brigade
82nd Combat Aviation Brigade
50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade
1st Battalion, 101st Field Artillery Regiment, Massachusetts National Guard
319th Ordnance Company, Washington Army National Guard
1st Battalion, 194th Armored Regiment, Minnesota National Guard
249th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USA Network Enterprise Center, Qatar
160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment
8th Psychological Operation Group
95th Civil Affairs Brigade
U.S. Army Special Operations Command

“The bravery of the Soldiers on the ground and the dedication of those who supported every evacuation flight exemplify the ideals of service with honor and compassion,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said. “Until the last aircraft departed, the 82nd Airborne Division and members of JTF-82 [Joint Task Force-82] held the line and provided the safe passage needed to evacuate over 100,000 U.S. citizens, Afghan civilians, and family members. It is a privilege to recognize these Soldiers for their actions during the tumultuous days of August 2021 and to honor their courage at a time when the entire Nation relied on them to complete their mission – which they did with great distinction.”

Marine Corps:

The Department of the Navy has announced the following Marine Corps units will also receive the Presidential Unit Citation for their bravery during Operation Allied Refuge:

24th Marine Expeditionary Unit
Command Element
Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines
Combat Logistics Battalion 24
Marine Tiltrotor Squadron 162 Reinforced
Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Centralf
Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC)
Command Element SPMAGTF-CR-CC 21,1
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines
Combat Logistics Battalion 21
Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 Detachment
Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 352 Detachment A
Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 234 Detachment A
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 364
Marine Operations Group Central-Forward¹⁰

Further, 12 distinguished flying crosses were awarded to USAF crewmembers for the airlift of refugees and equipment out of Kabul. Remember, 0 aircraft were lost and they flew under a truce from the enemy.¹¹

Of note, the PUC paperwork is generated by the officer chain of command (through general officers) to the Secretaries of the military branches to the President for ultimate approval.¹² Thus many generals had to review the recommendations for PUC’s for Afghanistan. How many generals protested the awarding of the PUC for a humanitarian effort in Kabul? Silence from the generals.

What’s next? Medal of Honor for handwashing?

LOSING WARS

Almost all generals were silent despite the epitaph of failure being written as early as 2007. Numerous books were already being written early on Afghanistan’s failure. The ‘brilliant’ and public analysis of the generals after Kabul fell in 2021 was already visible on the ground over a decade before. After Kabul fell in August 2021, Generals (active and retired) suddenly felt ‘safe’ to speak out at the mismanagement of the war. Why didn’t they speak up over a decade and 2,000 American service member deaths earlier? Weakness?

In 2011, Army MG Peter Fuller actually did stand up and criticized the ineptitude of the Afghan government. He was promptly fired for his candor.¹³ The message amongst generals was clear – keep your mouth shut and you will be promoted. Never mind the war was a losing cause. Never mind the US coffins being flown home. Loyalty is to the chain of command, not to reality, not to the troops, not to the country.

In November 2021 at the 25^th Reunion of the United States Military Academy Class of 1996, then BG Scott Naumann stated the following in response to criticism of senior officer leadership failures in Afghanistan:

‘Don’t believe what you read in the news, the military is as ready as it ever has been.’

Keep in mind, now MG Naumann obeyed the party line to dismiss discussion of failure and to in any way analyze the failures of generals during the war. He was rewarded with another star. Some will argue he got promoted for his excellence. The intent is not to single him out in malice. Rather, he made himself an example of one that, when cornered, will side with the party line and ignore leader failures.

2,459 SERVICEMEMBER DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN

While surely generals grieve the loss of soldiers under their commands, the interesting phenomenon is that almost all had no issue looking the other way while unit after unit rotated to the war in what was obviously and plainly visible for over a decade a losing war. This is not strength. It is weakness. The silence of most generals during the war betrays the servicemembers who sacrificed all for their country. The generals were unwilling to risk an early retirement to do what was right.

US MILITARY CREDIBILITY AROUND THE WORLD

In Afghanistan, the US and its military once again bailed and left allies on the battlefield, many to die at the hands of the enemy. Surely, this will weigh on the minds of potential future allies that the US invites to fight on its side in the next war. When times get tough, the US will quit the fight and abandon its coalition partners. For all of the talk of coalition warfare by US generals, what have they said about the dire implications of Afghanistan’s ending: nothing. Silence from the generals.

REVOLVING DOOR WITH THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

In 2023, the Quincy Institute reported:

“26 of 32 four–star officers who retired after June 2018 — over 80 percent — went to work for the arms industry as board members, advisors, executives, consultants, lobbyists, or members of financial institutions that invest in the defense sector.

The biggest category of post–retirement employment for four–stars, by far, was as board members or advisors for small and medium–sized arms contractors, with 15 choosing that option. This compares to five who became board members, advisors or executives for one of the top 10 arms contractors.

Five retired four–stars became arms industry consultants, five became lobbyists for weapons companies, and four joined financial firms that make significant investments in the defense sector.”¹⁴

The pathway to riches taken by retired Generals Austin, McChrystal, Petraeus, and so many

others is clear: cooperate and graduate. Cooperation means silence concerning all of the above failures of leadership. Cooperation means promotion. Higher rank means a more lucrative retirement job in the military industrial complex. Remember that this is what President Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell address from the White House in 1961.

COUNTER BY GENERALS:

General officers, obsessed with looks and ‘readiness’ slides, will likely counter discussions that they are anything other than perfect with dog and pony shows of:

Pretty uniforms
Pretty weapon systems
Pretty PowerPoint presentation
Asymmetric pinpoint strikes against vastly technologically inferior enemies

The generals’ silence ends the moment their jobs are directly threatened. This is not courage. This is selfishness, a trait antithetical to being a leader at any level in our military.

TODAY’s HARSH REALITY

100 years from now, historians will hopefully look at the present US military and wonder why with the massive budgets and extreme technological edge the US military enjoyed over its enemies, it could not win any major wars of consequence. As a comparison, IDF with a fraction of the budget is showing spectacular effectiveness against regional powers in the 2023-2024 Gaza war. The answer is simple – it is a leadership problem. Generals have to be smart to get to their position. They have to be aware of what is going on. However, while very intelligent, very few if any have spoken out. Instead, silence from the generals.

It wasn’t always this way. One visible recent example was GEN (Retired) Fogleman who retired early in 2005 in what many saw was a protest of inappropriate punishments meted out to USAF command personnel in the wake of the Khobar Towers bombing. He sacrificed the end of his career for what he thought was right. A lion among meerkats. Rare indeed in today’s strange and unfortunate times. In his farewell address, he said:

“On another level, military service is the only life I have ever known. My stock in trade after 34 years of service is my military judgment and advice. After serving as Chief of Staff for almost three years, my values and sense of loyalty to our soldiers, sailors, marines, and especially our airmen led me to the conclusion that I may be out of step with the times and some of the thinking of the establishment.

This puts me in an awkward position. If I were to continue to serve as Chief of Staff of the Air Force and speak out, I could be seen as a divisive force and not a team player. I do not want the Air Force to suffer for my judgment and convictions. In my view, this would happen if I continue as your Chief. For these reasons I have decided to retire and devote more time to personal interests and my family, … but the Air Force will always be in my thoughts.” ¹⁵

This brings us back to the original quote by the US three-star general who felt compelled to

say something to defend the jobs of generals everywhere:

Once more: “It could be very hard to do our job.”

No, the truth is that it is easy to be a general – when they are driven by ethics and personal courage. It is just hard when our generals are weak. We need lions, not spineless jellyfish in charge of our armed forces.

DEI has indeed been harmful to our military. Our current generals either embraced it or failed to resist it or somewhere in between.

But, DEI is not the military’s biggest issue. It is just the flavor of the month if you will for the past several decades.

The same generals who oversaw the implantation of DEI without pushback also forced out experienced warriors for failing to get the COVID vaccine and also either lied or turned a blind eye to the untruths of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that were laid bare in the epic collapse of Afghanistan in August 2021.

Further, the issue of weakness amongst US generals goes back decades, spanning both Republican and Democrat presidents. No one political view can be blamed. The only constant is the generals lacking courage to do the right thing.

No, the problem is weakness. With weak generals, any number of harmful ideas can be thrust on the military and America’s servicemembers and money will continue to be needlessly wasted in future losing wars. The corruption of money seems to be a common thread uniting many of our military’s woes and inability to win wars.

Next, we will hear the generals grovel that they were “just following orders.” These are words in history spoken by ‘honorable’ military officers indeed. It is long past time to clean house. Early retirement is a well-deserved fate for many in the general officer corps.

Let the general officers once again show their weakness as they whine and grovel to justify their existence in uniform.

However, it must be done carefully. It cannot be done with any overtones of a card check of loyalty to any person. It cannot be done by analyzing a general’s action or lack thereof on any single issue.

It must come from analyzing the totality of the general officer’s courage and loyalty to the US Constitution, to the American people, and to the military during their entire career.

Duty is easy when it is popular and/or lucrative.

John Hughes: Emergency Physician. United States Military Academy Class of 1996. #1 graduate. 3rd Generation West Pointer. 4 combat tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. STARRS member.

First published on Armed Forces Press

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