Columnist and former soldier
David H. Hackworth is the author of The Price
of Honor, and contributes weekly commentary
to DefenseWatch. For more information, visit Colonel
Hackworth's homepage or the DefenseWatch
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April 17, 2002
"Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Bar Nothing"
was the logo the legendary Col. Paddy Flint created for his crack 39th Infantry
Regiment in World War II. Sadly, today's Army has almost run out of senior
combat leaders like Flint, who was killed leading his men. Without such
pros at the top, the good folks at the bottom end up in a world of pain,
like our infantry troops did recently in Afghanistan, where their field
commander didn't have a clue about guerrilla warfare or mountain combat.
As a fighting force, our Army's in bad shape. It has more chiefs than Indians,
and it's organized and equipped for another World War II instead of the
conflicts already blinking on this century's warning systems.
While the Army's small-unit combat leaders are second-to-none -- the young
officers and the steel backbone of any Army, the sergeants, are dedicated
and motivated -- most senior brass are better suited to guiding companies
such as Microsoft than commanding an Army barreling across Iraq. They've
been trained for management, not for preparing troops for battle or leading
them when the compost hits the circular blade.
Help is on the way. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently gave his
four-stars a good shake when he picked Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James
Jones to run NATO, traditionally an Army slot, and Gen. John Keane to take
over the Army. In particular, Keane's appointment will help revitalize the
infantry -- the "queen of battle" -- for the fights ahead.
I'm told Ironman Rumsfeld aims to radically change our military to make
it ready for terrorism and other future wars that won't be fought -- at
least winnably -- with the tactics, gear and formations of the past. Under
Rummy, there'll be no more Gettysburg, Normandy or Hamburger Hill "high
diddle diddle, straight up the middle" maneuvers. The game will be mainly
played by small, agile units with awesome firepower, much like our Special
Forces in Afghanistan.
Keane will replace Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki when his term
runs out next year. Unless -- since it's highly unusual to name a replacement
14 months in advance -- - Rumsfeld presents lame-duck Shinseki with a solid-gold
surfboard and sends him home to Hawaii to test it ASAP.
According to most Army officers I know lieutenant colonel and below, the
call on Keane was made in the nick of time. They see Keane as an innovative
leader whose long troop experience runs from a rifle platoon in Vietnam
to the command of a company, battalion, brigade, division and corps in mainly
parachute units, where boldness and fresh thinking are the rule.
Whereas Shinseki -- the father of the hated black beret and the equally
disliked "Army of One" slogan -- belongs to the Cold War-loving Armor Mafia.
Not only is the multibillion-dollar fleet of technically and tactically
disastrous light armor vehicles the present Army chief's baby, he's also
been pushing the already-redundant 90-ton Crusader, a billion-dollar Cold
War cannon that's about as necessary and functional as his infamous black
beret.
Two other members of the Armor Mafia the troops say should join the Tanker's
Early Retirement Club are beleaguered Secretary of the Army Thomas White,
a former Enron vice president, and Training and Doctrine Command commander
Gen. John Abrams.
Now the Armor Mafia geniuses want to change how the Army trains its combat-branch
captains with a plan consisting of a computer-driven four weeks at home,
four weeks at a training base and two weeks as an observer at a maneuver
center. This high-tech, corporate-modeled, semi-virtual course will replace
the present six-month, hands-on drill that already barely does the job.
Back when I was a captain, the course ran a year -- and most of my peers
had at least one war under their belts and twice the time with troops that
captains have today!
There's even more mischief on the Armor Mafia's agenda -- moving the shorter
training stint from Fort Benning, Ga., to Fort Knox, Ky., the home of Armor,
even though the Infantry School has twice the training area and puts the
emphasis where it should be: on soldiers, not machines.
While I'm betting infantryman Keane won't buy this dot-com type of training
change, Fort Benning should make Rummy an honorary grunt, and every American
parent with a boy who wears crossed rifles should send up a silent prayer
of thanks.
