1. Whomever set Welsh up for that nonsense should be cashiered. It’s up to Welsh to recognize bad ideas, but that grinning Major in the photo should be handing out basketballs at the base gym. God bless the dog, but this is inherently unserious.
2. I hear everything you’re saying about Minihan. BUT. He was way out over his skis with those comments. He was literally talking about his pay grade and making noises with strategic consequences at the highest levels. Unless you’re empowered to do that (POTUS, SECDEF, SECSTATE, VP (sometimes), COCOM commanders (WHEN specifically directed, that is to say, NOT like Fox Fallon). He needed to do 90% of what he did. That last 10% was not good.
1. Agree 100%. At the time it happened, I felt it was part of Welsh's refusal to celebrate CAS or anything touching CAS because of the F-35/A-10 tussle. But I may have discounted Hanlon's razor too much. Probably just foolishness. But what a perfect contrast.
2. I hear ya. And that was my initial view as well. But I just can't be sure ... that it wasn't coordinated. And the fact he has stayed in his role and enlarged his influence since ... never once removing any sparkle from his rhetoric ... tells me he has approval. Or at least has been given a pen to play in so long as he honors the boundaries.
But I might be wrong. I can't know. My mental inventory was about taking responsibility for why I reacted the way I did ... and much as I'd like to rest it on the functional grounds as you have, it was more visceral, driven by previous generals being stupid.
He may have been out of bounds. If so, I'm glad he was allowed to survive ... because that command deserves a strong leader.
There is more to this story and I am still digging. I think we will feel even better about his role in recognizing excellence before we're done.
If he made those statements with the full knowledge of the USAF COS, the combatant commander and the SECDEF, I’m all in. If he was alone and unafraid rattling cages in Beijing from the position of a component commander, not so much. And we will never know.
An excellent contrast in leadership styles and well written, TC.
Good on you for owning your error; I worked directly for Col Minihan back in the day, and I too rolled my eyes a little at the memo. I came to your same conclusion that it was me out of step, and I should have trusted his instincts to get AMC back to a (Pacific) warfighting mindset.
Thanks Al. I never had the privilege of working for Minihan, which is part of why my eye stayed jaundiced instead of initially seeing through to the essence of what he was saying. It was seeing him in action promoting a friend of mine that made me realize I had this guy all wrong.
Thanks for reading and subscribing. Next time I am off the mark you'll be here to set me straight!
Not surprisingly I have words.
1. Whomever set Welsh up for that nonsense should be cashiered. It’s up to Welsh to recognize bad ideas, but that grinning Major in the photo should be handing out basketballs at the base gym. God bless the dog, but this is inherently unserious.
2. I hear everything you’re saying about Minihan. BUT. He was way out over his skis with those comments. He was literally talking about his pay grade and making noises with strategic consequences at the highest levels. Unless you’re empowered to do that (POTUS, SECDEF, SECSTATE, VP (sometimes), COCOM commanders (WHEN specifically directed, that is to say, NOT like Fox Fallon). He needed to do 90% of what he did. That last 10% was not good.
You? Words? Naw man!
1. Agree 100%. At the time it happened, I felt it was part of Welsh's refusal to celebrate CAS or anything touching CAS because of the F-35/A-10 tussle. But I may have discounted Hanlon's razor too much. Probably just foolishness. But what a perfect contrast.
2. I hear ya. And that was my initial view as well. But I just can't be sure ... that it wasn't coordinated. And the fact he has stayed in his role and enlarged his influence since ... never once removing any sparkle from his rhetoric ... tells me he has approval. Or at least has been given a pen to play in so long as he honors the boundaries.
But I might be wrong. I can't know. My mental inventory was about taking responsibility for why I reacted the way I did ... and much as I'd like to rest it on the functional grounds as you have, it was more visceral, driven by previous generals being stupid.
He may have been out of bounds. If so, I'm glad he was allowed to survive ... because that command deserves a strong leader.
There is more to this story and I am still digging. I think we will feel even better about his role in recognizing excellence before we're done.
PS I wrote once on this idea of guys getting out over their skis and generating strategic effects with boneheaded tactical actions. https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-strategic-knucklehead
If he made those statements with the full knowledge of the USAF COS, the combatant commander and the SECDEF, I’m all in. If he was alone and unafraid rattling cages in Beijing from the position of a component commander, not so much. And we will never know.
With you there.
An excellent contrast in leadership styles and well written, TC.
Good on you for owning your error; I worked directly for Col Minihan back in the day, and I too rolled my eyes a little at the memo. I came to your same conclusion that it was me out of step, and I should have trusted his instincts to get AMC back to a (Pacific) warfighting mindset.
Subscribing now...
Thanks Al. I never had the privilege of working for Minihan, which is part of why my eye stayed jaundiced instead of initially seeing through to the essence of what he was saying. It was seeing him in action promoting a friend of mine that made me realize I had this guy all wrong.
Thanks for reading and subscribing. Next time I am off the mark you'll be here to set me straight!