Why are so many of our generals failing?

Explanations for the shortage of good generals abound. Some young officers blame the Pentagon’s insistence on sticking with its peacetime promotion policies. Military personnel rules prevent the top brass from reaching down into the ranks and plucking out high-performers who have proved themselves especially adept at counterinsurgency or have amassed significant knowledge about Afghanistan and Iraq. “In all previous wars, promotions were accelerated for officers who were effective,” a senior Army official said.

Instead of speeding promotions, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld slowed them down so that officers wouldn’t cycle through complex jobs so quickly. As a result, there are many three-star generals with limited counterinsurgency experience and a large pool of colonels and one-stars who have done multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. The lower-ranking officers are years away from even being considered for senior slots in the wars.

Other experts maintain the military must cast a wider net in its search for creative commanders who can balance the military and political demands of their job. One day after McChrystal was dismissed, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described how hard it is to find just the right general to lead U.S. troops in battle. “One of the most difficult things we do is pick people,” Mullen said. “We spend an extraordinary amount of time on it.” He offered the same observation a year earlier in explaining the move to sack McChrystal’s predecessor, Gen. David D. McKiernan.