Army feels stung as Marine gets command post (SACEUR) in Europe

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 4-27-02 | Harry Levins

[FairWitness]

"Organizational issues tend not to have a great deal of interest broadly out in the public." Even so, Rumsfeld said, "They can make an enormous amount of difference internally."

Amen. One such "organizational issue" has sandbagged the Army.

The next SACEUR - the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe - will be Marine Gen. James Jones, a Kansas City native. He'll replace Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, who got the job in 1999.

[leadpenny]

This (Kernan) should generate interesting discussions on Monday.

What's up with all that? Is it because he 'talked out of school' at a House Committee hearing earlier this month? Or is there more than meets the eye?

Add to this the fact that Rummy has named the next Army CofS more than a year ahead of Shinseki's departure and there may be a gigantic purge going on. Of course, the SECDEF had announce he was coming out with the 'long knives' prior to 9-11. Maybe he's just getting back to business.

[Euro-American Scum]

I got out of the Army in 1969 but I witnessed how drugs were taking over then. A relative of mine was in the Army during the Carter years when drugs were everywhere and it took Ronald Reagan to get the Army back on track so I know the Army can shape up.

I was in during those years too. And I concur with your observations. I think we were witnessing the disillusionment over the administration's Vietnam policy, at least to some degree.

Troopers who were in-country from 65-68 at least had some degree of faith that the civilian leadership was making an effort to win the war. Not so post-68. And that disillusionment had to take some form. And the lingering bitterness from that betrayal carried over well into the 70s and beyond. Of course, Jimmy Carter did nothing to alleviate it.

All the same, I think you're right about Bush. He flip-flops too much between the uncompromising conservative ideologue and just another touchy-feely pseduo-lib to have the cojones to straighten out the Army.

Just not part of his agenda.