They did a lot of this in World War II.
WWII was a real total war. We don’t fight those anymore.
The United States has done this during all wars, but in World War II this was most often done for accomplished industrialists, scientists, engineers, and lawyers to mention a few. A few politically connected individuals were commissioned, but usually at lower ranks. Henry Cabot Lodge and Lyndon Johnson come to mind. During the Civil War, politicians were frequently commissioned as Colonels and Generals with field commands, especially if they were able to raise new regiments. Most of these were worthless in combat except to the enemy.
Of course, today's Administration never does anything without a political motive and often the political aim is the only purpose. The civilians in DoD and the Obama appointees in the White House despise the military and want to change their culture, their effectiveness, and their threat to their power. How better to do this than by inserting political operatives in key positions. This is exactly what they did with the judiciary and the educational system so you have to wonder why they have waited so long to do this.
For instance, the French immigrant Georges Doriot. A professor at the Harvard Business School since 1926, he became a citizen in 1940 and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Quartermaster Corps, at the request of a former student who was Quartermaster General. By the end of the war, Doriot was a brigadier general. After the war, he returned to Harvard and achieved considerable fame as a venture capitalist.
Before that too. WWI.And before that.
Frederick Funston.
Don’t we already have subcontractors doing a lot of assignments requiring specialized skills?