Panetta demoted the former four-star commander … for taking lavish or unauthorized trips with his wife.

How sad is it when I find it reassuring(?) that at least he took those trips with his wife.

I noted all that in the early 70s and left: there simply was no incentive to do well because the slag got ahead.

What you really are seeing with these guys is pure arrogance: none of them cared about what people thought or what their duties to others were or are.

Is anyone actually protecting the country right now? Anyone?

butterflies and puppies on November 15, 2012 at 3:18 PM

Not as many as we might think.
Lots of them playing with their admin assistants / biographers / hookers, playing golf, at campaign parties, eating lobster, etc…..

Is anyone actually protecting the country right now? Anyone?

To continue, what I saw back then was the brown-nose, butt-kissers who played politics (or screwed the boss) and worked at “checking the boxes” for career progression (SOS, ACSC, advanced degrees, etc), but couldn’t get crew qualified, got promoted. Also those with family connections at higher levels got promoted (BTW, FWIW – Petraeus married the USMA Superintendent’s daughter). The people who focused on accomplishing the mission and doing their actual job well did not always get promoted. After 20 or 30 years of that kind of system, you get the kind of generals we now have.

Remember when Panetta complained about Monday morning quartebacks and claimed that the stand down order decision on sending aid originated from the DoD as a result of consulatations between Dempsey, Ham, and Panetta because they didn’t have enough intelligence on the matter and diddn’t want to send our relief forces into danger?
a capella on November 15, 2012 at 11:41 AM

I had almost forgotten about that.

I can tell ya why. As a person who spent 26 years in that Department, I can say with surety that Generals are no longer true military leaders but ass-covering politicians. And it goes all the way down the Officer Corps (not corpse). They’re more concerned about their own careers than the troops that serve under their “command”. That is why I left when I did. As a senior NCO, I could no longer watch as our enlisted people were sacrificed for some lousy officer’s ego and I could do nothing about it. Screw ‘em all.

Big John on November 15, 2012 at 1:47 PM

Bullseye!!
As an Academy grad and former officer, I can say from my experience that you’re dead on target. The Generals we have now are the result of a political promotion system that’s been working this way for decades. When I was a Lt back in the early 80s, I quit AF Squadron Officer School (by correspondence) half way through when I hit the section on the professional military officer vs the self-centered careerist. The type they claimed they wanted was not the type getting promoted. That’s when I decided it was time to get out.

Faced with a rash of scandals among the top ranks of the military — not all of them sexual in nature, either — Leon Panetta has ordered a review of personnel and practices to see why ethical standards appear to have slipped at the Department of Defense.

I can tell ya why. As a person who spent 26 years in that Department, I can say with surety that Generals are no longer true military leaders but ass-covering politicians. And it goes all the way down the Officer Corps (not corpse). They’re more concerned about their own careers than the troops that serve under their “command”. That is why I left when I did. As a senior NCO, I could no longer watch as our enlisted people were sacrificed for some lousy officer’s ego and I could do nothing about it. Screw ‘em all.

Panetta orders a zipper check while he visits Thailand. Anyone going out at night in Bangkok certainly better check zippers. And skirts while they’re at it…

Agent of the Cross on November 15, 2012 at 11:42 AM

I doubt that Pat Pong is on the official itinerary… Ditto Soi Cowboy…

However, now that we know his affair ended months ago when invesigators saw nothing particularly curious about it and the oh-so-convenient timing just before he was due to testify before congress I smell the heavy stench of politics. I am also starting to suspect a bloodless purge. We know of several very senior Army and other branch officers who have been relieved of command / retired over the last couple of years. How many mid and junior level officers have also left the ranks recently based on actual or trumped up charges of an “ethical” nature? And of these, how many will have had first, second, or third hand knowledge of what took place in the Situation Room and beyond on Sept 11, 2012?

Am I being conspiratorial? Sure. However, is it an impossibility knowing the nature of the people currently in control of the national political apparatus? I guess we’ll just have to see.

Then maybe the President’s staff, his secretaries, and the greater congress in general should lead by exmaple?

Lawrence on November 15, 2012 at 12:48 PM

You seem to forget that the lib/Dem motto is “do as I say, not as I do”….

I thought liberals were the ones to constantly tell us that “sex is just sex” and that it was wrong to impose your sexual morals on someone else. Who are you to tell me what is right or wrong to do with my body? Morality is subjective. Sex is no big deal!

Right??

You can’t have it both ways, my liberal friends.

“One thing I do demand is that those who seek to protect this country operate by the highest ethical standards.”

Then maybe the President’s staff, his secretaries, and the greater congress in general should lead by exmaple?

dentarthurdent on November 15, 2012 at 12:43 PM

It’s called “adverse information”. Anything in your lifestyle, whether screwing around, gambling problems, financial trouble, drug problems, etc, that makes you suceptible to blackmail / espionage can and should cause you to lose your security clearance because you are a security risk.

And who cares really? It’s their business. Hell I would have popped Broadwell too – given the opportunity.

HondaV65 on November 15, 2012 at 12:33 PM

It’s their business only to an extent. If you are a commanding officer banging somebody who works for you- it’s a problem. If you are banging another military member who happens to be married- its a problem. The military isn’t like the civilian world, chain-of-command is important.

Happy Nomad on November 15, 2012 at 12:38 PM

Yes – and when you have a high level security clearance, activities like this make you susceptible to blackmail – whether from a politician trying to control what you say or do, or a foreign spy – either way it’s not good for national security.

With 33 years in the Army I saw it all from Col on down.It is a constant love fest and has been for years.That sexual harassment you hear about is mostly crap.There is no need to harass when it’s everywhere for women and men.

docflash on November 15, 2012 at 12:28 PM

There was a lot going on up through the 70s and 80s, but then the military took a PC turn and tried to outlaw everything. I knew of many Colonels and Generals in the Air Force who were regularly “playing” with subordinates back then, and it was well known what kind of swap parties happened on a regular basis at flying bases. The infamous tailhook convention was not an aberration for what was happening there. The aberration was that someone who was there willingly, knowing full well in advance what happened at those conventions actually filed formal complaints about it.

And who cares really? It’s their business. Hell I would have popped Broadwell too – given the opportunity.

HondaV65 on November 15, 2012 at 12:33 PM

It’s their business only to an extent. If you are a commanding officer banging somebody who works for you- it’s a problem. If you are banging another military member who happens to be married- its a problem. The military isn’t like the civilian world, chain-of-command is important.

Just look at our Commander In Chief – he has no “zipper problems”

HondaV65 on November 15, 2012 at 12:31 PM

That’s probably less living honorably than performance issues. There is a reason why golf magazines are filled with pharma ads for certain male products.