First of all, you refer to the 11th Infantry Regiment, which makes me suspect that you are an internet warrior and nothing else. Bacevich commanded the 11th Armored Cavary Regiment, as you subsequent comments note. They are completely different organizations. I will write it off as ignorance on your part, nothing intentional.
Skip Bacevich is a friend of mine. I don’t wish him any ill will, but the facts are that he took the blame for the incident in his motor pool, and paid the price after the investigation was completed. His career was finished: Tot as they would say at the Cheese Schnitzel factory in the Fulda Gap. The unfortunate fact in many of these events is that the powers that be require heads to roll, and he was Blackhorse 6. I don’t think that it was fair, I’m sure that he doesn’t think it was fair. But, that’s what happened.
BTW, don’t believe everthing that you read, including this. Facts can be very elusive, especially in official reports.
Skip Bacevich was a great soldier, and he is a distinguished intellectual in the academic world. I don’t agree at all with his take on current world affairs, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t respect him.
Now, unless you can do better than another Google search, I recommend that you move to a subject on which you are better informed.
Thanks for the quick response. Yes, the 11th Infantry Regiment was a typo. This was my OCS unit at Benning, so I guess that's how the slip happened. Andrew Bacevich Jr. was in this OCS unit with me, and he was a good friend of mine. I've followed and agree with much of what Dr. Bacevich has to say about our nation's political disposition. You might conclude my friendship with Andrew Jr. has encouraged a pro-Bacevich Sr. bias, but this simply isn't the case. If I thought Dr. Bacevich was pulling our legs, I wouldn't support him.
I questioned your information because this is the only time in 14 months of following Dr. Bacevich’s interactions with countless media mediums that I have heard any sort of relief of command explanation for his military exodus. I don't doubt a relief of command could have happened(and quite possibly did happen) given the severity of the motor pool accident(even barring deaths). I questioned your response because it seemed to directly contradict the Army's adamant report that there were no fatalities. “Amazingly, there were no fatalities” seems a little too brazen of a lie...even for the DOD. Do you have a theory behind this 180 degree denial?
If your explanation is factual, the Army lost a revolutionary general officer to a freak incident that could have occurred on anyone's watch. Knowing the kind of man Dr. Bacevich is, I have no doubt he would claim accountability for any incident within his realm of leadership. Though his entrance into academia may have been spawned by a tragic event, I believe Dr. Bacevich has provided much more as a scholar than he ever could have provided within the rigid confines of military obedience.
If your account of Dr. Bacevich’s Army career apex is accurate, I still don't believe his political leanings and arguments would be dramatically influenced by that tragic event. I'm sure higher’s recourse was a hard pill to swallow—not because Dr. Bacevich didn't accept responsibility, but because he understood the unlikely probability of his predicament—Dr. Bacevich is an intelligent and deeply thoughtful man. To suggest that he's held a constant grudge and moreover; that the crux of his political viewpoint resulted from bitterness attributed to the stunting of his military career is simply an insult to the man. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe anyone is infallible or insusceptible to emotional impulse, but the content of Dr. Bacevich’s character combined with his voracious and unsparing insistence to find an objective truth does not jive with the notion that he carries a grudge that determines his adamant political views.
After meeting Dr. Bacevich, after reading his books and articles, after listening to and watching his many interviews and testimonials, I insistently believe his disgust(or pessimism) with our political and military institutions is a direct result of meticulous observation, rather than a vain attempt to obtain revenge because “The Man” stunted his military career.
After Andrew Jr.’s death, Dr. Bacevich did not change one iota of the disgust he articulated in The New American Militarism, nor did he change the bent of his earlier writings and periodicals. His voice was ONLY amplified after Andrew Jr.’s death. Dr. Bacevich ALWAYS refuses to speak about Andrew Jr.’s death because he doesn't want to give the impression that Andrew's death serves as a proliferative impetus for the promotion of his political and military opinions.
Again, do you have any idea why the Army would have a reason to lie about the motor pool incident? I'm very interested.