I retired as an 0-6. You might be surprised how many boneheaded and poorly thought out career decisions these guys make.
He HAD to know the firestorm his comments would cause and that he’d be forced to resign / be fired. But he made them anyway.
He certainly should have known. But as I said, if that was his intent - to get fired or forced to resign - there are many more effective ways to do it. Having an honesty attack with a Rolling Stone reporter in the room , isn't one of them and giving leave to your subordinates to make similar comments about the CIC is even worse.
Gen. Patton and MacArthur won the heart of the people.