Posted on 11/01/2023 6:04:42 AM PDT by Red Badger
The United States top officer and commandant, General Eric Smith, was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack on Sunday evening while out jogging.
Two defense officials confirmed the incident to USNI News.
General Smith was seen on Sunday greeting runners at the finish line of the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, VA before the reported heart attack.
Noah Gray, chief of communications for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said:
“Witnesses said that they saw an adult male running, then walk down the street and stumble, falling face-first on the sidewalk.”
“At that time, they called 911 and started chest compressions. Our crews arrived and provided CPR and transported the patient to a nearby hospital,” Gray said.
The US Marines Corps said Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, a three-star general, is performing the duties of the commandant.
Yahoo News reported:
Heckl is the deputy commandant for combat development and integration. There is no Senate-confirmed assistant commandant in place.
Smith was confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 21 and was sworn into office the following day. On Friday, Smith told reporters he was working two jobs as Marine commandant and assistant commandant of the service, as his Number 2 officer, Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, had not been confirmed.
Hundreds of general and flag officer nominations are stalled in the Senate over Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on unanimous consent as he protests Pentagon policy that reimburses service members for out-of-state travel for reproductive healthcare, including abortions.
Smith commented on the situation Friday at a Military Reporters and Editors event.
“I am still doing both of those jobs and using my staff as best I can to fill in where the assistant commandant would normally be full-time, because I simply can’t be in two places at once.”
The Daily Mail reported: Smith, a career infantry officer, has commanded at every level, serving multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, including time in Fallujah and Ramadi during heavy combat in 2004 and 2005 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He later was the senior military adviser to Defense Secretary Ash Carter and in 2019, took over as the deputy commandant for combat development.
In that post, Smith worked with his predecessor, General David Berger, on a broad campaign to transform the Marine Corps to better be able to fight amphibious wars in the Pacific after years of battling terrorist groups in the Middle East.
The plan was lauded by many in the Pentagon and Congress as a critical way for the Marines to prepare for a potential conflict with China.
Smith and Berger argued that the changes would improve the Marine Corps’ ability to fight in contested areas, particularly within striking range of an enemy.
That element is critical in the Indo-Pacific, where thousands of U.S. and allied forces are easily within missile — or even rocket — range of both China and North Korea.
But some of the moves, including the transfer of Marine tanks to the Army, triggered sharp criticism from a group of retired Marine generals.
During a speech at a naval conference in February, Smith defended the decision as critical to modern warfare against highly capable enemies.
You don’t have to be a fat slob to have a heart attack.................
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Just fully vaxed .............................
My cardiologist frowns on jogging as well. He insists tennis is the best overall exercise for people. It reinforces balance and eye to hand motor skills, keeps up a cardio-heart rate, provides a partner for safety.
Makes sense to me, running is for a few skinny people that for some reason enjoy it.
Indeed - walking is WAY underrated, and for someone such as the general reaching the “I’m too old for this sh*t”/crunchy knee age, likely a far better alternative.
But it really damages the ego, and takes more time than busy starman would want to expend on it.
They just kept themselves hidden for all of his physicals and training for 30+ years.
Covid was a military project, as was Moderna.
I have yet to see a jogger with a smile on their face!
That said, I like exercise and I WALK at least five miles a day, but will never run again unless something is chasing me!
“I didn’t think marines had hearts.....who knew?”
It IS the fun-damentally new military of Obama where men can have periods and women can have penises. So, yeah, I guess Marines having hearts wouldn’t be too long a stretch.
Just an obediently vaxxed one
Note the media trying to blame this on Tuberville
Badger is pretty cool. And intelligent.
For a Marine.
Let me teach you a survival skill. He is a Marine. I just would stop trying to apply any other descriptors or adjectives as that leads to “litigation” and you don’t want to do that. He is a Marine.
“General Smith was seen on Sunday greeting runners at the finish line of the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, VA before the reported heart attack.
“Witnesses said that they saw an adult male running, then walk down the street and stumble, falling face-first on the sidewalk.”
Trying to make it like the original marathon! Semper Fi…
Lol god how the regular marines will pay the price for this incident.
Yes, but WHOSE MILITARY?....................
Clogged arteries won’t show up in a standard physical nor would they be definitely be noticed in PT.
He’s 58. Many men would chalk up decreased performance to age.
Most Marines I know wouldn’t complain.
Gotta get your blood work done constantly and scans as appropriate.
At least he didn’t die of Cold-19.
I’m pretty sure had had absolutely no idea he was about to have the Big One.
I had one in 2020. I thought it was just a bad case of ‘heartburn’.
Then it got so bad I thought my chest was on fire and woke my wife up at 3am to go to the ER.
They immediately put me in their cardia unit..............
The Beltway’s military, which has no real loyalty to a nation. The Beltway oligarchy sees its role as global and god-like over the masses.
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