Posted on 11/17/2007 8:42:51 AM PST by Tennessean4Bush
Petraeus Helping Pick New Generals
Army Says Innovation Will Be Rewarded
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 17, 2007; Page A01
The Army has summoned the top U.S. commander in Iraq back to Washington to preside over a board that will pick some of the next generation of Army leaders, an unusual decision that officials say represents a vote of confidence in Gen. David H. Petraeus's conduct of the war, as well as the Army counterinsurgency doctrine he helped rewrite.
The Army has long been criticized for rewarding conventional military thinking and experience in traditional combat operations, and current and former defense officials have pointed to Petraeus's involvement in the promotion board process this month as a sign of the Army's commitment to encouraging innovation and rewarding skills beyond the battlefield.
Some junior and midlevel officers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been particularly outspoken in their criticisms, saying the Army's current leadership lacks a hands-on understanding of today's conflicts and has not listened to feedback from younger personnel.
"It's unprecedented for the commander of an active theater to be brought back to head something like a brigadier generals board," said retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, former head of the Army War College. A senior defense official said Petraeus is "far too high-profile for this to be a subtle thing."
The board, composed of 15 Army generals, will examine a pool of more than 1,000 colonels to select about 40 brigadier generals, expected to lead the service over the next decade or longer. Although each board member has an equal vote on the candidates, Petraeus will be able to guide the discussion.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Sounds like some folks have been reading LTC Yingling’s essay.
Is Petraeus going to follow the footsteps of Eisenhower?
He'd probably get my vote. ;-)
Even when General Petraeus is going to “win” Iraq, I do not see him as having political ambitions. He’ll rather retire to a quiet life on a farm or something.
I have read just the opposite.
He WOULD get my vote. Peter Pace also.
I wonder what the effect would be if at the republican convention the nominee pulls a surprise and chooses Petraeus as his running mate? Hmmm. Can you pull a guy out of active duty, I wonder?
I think Bush has found his Grant.
Link please?
True!
Don’t have one. I read it sometime over the last 5 months or so on FR. It was an Iraqi who said Petraeus admitted to him that he wanted to run someday for President.
An Army task force is looking into incorporating such reviews, known as "360-degree evaluations," into the "officer efficiency reports" that are now completed only by superiors,
I believe Petraeus's footprints are on this and hopefully it will be implemented, it will take some of the politics out of the system and reward those that can get the job done.
I have the dishonor of having my retirement papers signed by Clinton, a stain that I will never be able to blot out. At the same time, don't believe for a minute that the neocons were any better at this. Wolfowitz and Feith and even Cheney were just as bad at ensuring the promotion of conformist yes-men (just a different sort of conformity), and it took the disasters of the first 3 years of Iraq to get these ideologues out of power and force putting in someone like Petraeus in the first place.
It is Winston Churchill who once said "You can count on the Americans to do the right thing - after they have exhausted every other possibility." Well, we exhausted every other possibility in Iraq.
Do you think he will be a viable candidate in 2012 or 2016? It’s been a long time since we’ve had a General as our President.
I think he might be more viable in 2008 as a VP. He will, by that time, be credited with winning the unwinnable war and be riding a wave of popularity among pubs, regan dems, and independents.
oops, I meant Reagan dems.
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