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Point taken.

However, while someone may be a great tactician he may also be a bad strategist and a poor leader. Van Riper was a great tactician, maybe even a good operational-level planner, and maybe even a leader of men, but as far a strategist goes, he needs to think "higher."

Yes, I have been around the rarified atmosphere of the center of the universe (DC), and the bootlickers do a great job of staying alive in the lower ranks, but when they get to the flag rank, especially multiple stars, they better not be "yes men."

They better have original thoughts and an ability to execute sound strategy. Does that mean we don't have inept generals? No, we have more than our share. It is the STAFF of the generals I worry about. You see, the STAFF writes the position papers, the STAFF researches proposals, and the STAFF provides the general with a list of options (and one option is usually the stand-out pre-selected option un-officially chosen by the staff). So, the general better be good at looking beyond PowerPoint slides and one-page point-papers.

As far as “testing” for tacticians goes, we already do that—in a way.

As you advance in rank you are evaluated to make sure you know your craft and can do it well. We also now have computer simulations that are included in every professional school. In fact, back in 1985, while a captain, I was in Squadron Officer School and we played in a computer exercise—crude, but effective.

As far as the “tactician” being identified for faster promotion—we are supposed to be doing that by evaluating the officer’s performance at professional school, exercises, how he runs his flight/company, the total picture. The problem with early promotions is that those that get promoted early are placed on an unofficial “fast track” and this leads to problems.

For example, I worked for a colonel that had barely 20-yrs total experience, and about 5-yrs of that experience was in a school somewhere and not in the field. He was able to plan a war, read and write papers well, but when it came to the un-definable quality of personal leadership, he was a stone-butt. Complete rag. He couldn't lead a bunch of Girl Scouts selling cookies.

So, we have to balance school/exercise performance with vetted experience and skill. These qualities only come from real life in real leadership positions. A career in school, with short tours of duty on a hi-viz staff job, does not make a great leader. Tacticians need experience, but they also need seasoning.