[bert]

He never made it past Colonel.

[jimt]

He never made it past Colonel.

Getting past O-6, bird colonel, virtually requires that you be a politician more than a soldier. I knew some mighty fine commanders (and soldiers) who would never make it past O-6 because they were merely highly competent, courageous and showed true leadership. It's possible for one to sneak into the exalted ranks, but there's a whole lot of butt-kissers at that level.

Not, of course, saying anything about Hackworth as I don't know the man. But I did see a lot of generals, and have a relatively low opinion of them.

[LibWhacker]

Hard to earn a star when you haven't been to either West Point or OCS. In fact, not many OCS grads ever get one. Unofficially, slots for generals seem to be reserved almost exclusively for West Point graduates. Can't remember the last time someone who earned a battlefield commission went on to become a general. I still like Hack, but as another poster said, he seems to be in it for the self-promotion and that definitely hurts his credibility (not that he doesn't have any left, by any means).

[The KG9 Kid]

"... He never made it past Colonel."

Amazing for someone who started out as an enlisted man.