White House communications has the ability to communicate directly with the on the ground commander without having to go through channels. McNamara did it during the Cuba Blockade to a neighbor who commanded a destroyer squadron that forced a Russkie sub to the surface. Every 5 minutes R. Strange would ask what's he doing now. Jimmer C made all the calls during the Desert one fiasco in Iran. President Reagan made the Navy retrieve the Ambassador's family dog left in the ambassador's limo when we pulled out of Lebanon in stead of cutting loose the NJ's 16 inch guns. It's to G.W.B's credit if he managed to stay away from the minute to minute operations and let the pros from Dover operate.
To be honest, I had never thought of it before,
It makes what happen even worse knowing they had real time ..
Thanks for the information