Tag: Generals

What If They Say NO?

A regular visitor and reader of IST John at https://johnrieber.com/ (visit often for some wonderful stuff)….in a recent comment he asked what would happen if the generals that were chastised by Hogsbreath and Donny refused an order…..

I found this article that may answer his question.

…

Increasingly, then, the question is: What will the military leaders do? Let Trump turn full blown Kim Jong Un? Or say, “No sir!”

About saying “NO!”… It isn’t just legal — it is compulsory under the current conditions, and this will only become more apparent. According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ, Article 92, service members have the duty to obey only lawful orders and to refuse unlawful ones. An order is unlawful if it violates the Constitution, US laws, military regulations, or international law. Obeying illegal orders can result in criminal liability.

At Quantico, by remaining silent, by not applauding, by not smiling at Trump’s “jokes,” the generals and admirals gave some of us at least a sliver of hope that they understand the weighty responsibility upon their shoulders.

Perhaps they will not, after all, go quietly into the night.

What Would Happen if the Generals Refused to Follow Orders?

This may not be a definitive answer to the question but it could give us an idea an d ask questions of our generals, our military commanders.

If we go by the Uniform Code of Military Justice there are several things that could be levied against one who breaks the code….

Punishments under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) range from less severe administrative penalties to severe criminal punishments, including reprimands, forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank, extra duties, restriction, confinement, and punitive discharges like a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. The specific punishment depends on the severity of the offense, and for the most serious crimes, penalties can include life imprisonment or the death penalty. 

Common punishments
  • Reprimand:A formal verbal or written disapproval of conduct.
    Reduction in rank:Demotion to a lower pay grade.

    Forfeiture of pay:A portion of the service member’s pay is withheld.

    Extra duties:Being assigned additional duties outside of the normal work schedule.

    Restriction:Being confined to a specific geographic area, such as a base.

    Confinement:Physical imprisonment, with options for hard labor without confinement.

    Fines:Monetary fines can be imposed.

    Punitive discharges:These are severe penalties that result in separation from the military and can have significant consequences:

    Bad-conduct discharge:Imposed for more serious offenses.
    Dishonorable discharge:The most severe type of discharge, used for the most serious offenses.
    Dismissal:The equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for an officer.

Death penalty:Can be imposed for the most extreme offenses, such as treason or espionage.Severity and process

Non-judicial punishment:

Minor offenses are typically handled by a commanding officer through a process known as Article 15 or non-judicial punishment, which avoids a criminal conviction.

Courts-martial:

More serious offenses are tried in a court-martial, which is a military trial.

Sentencing and review:
A court-martial conviction can lead to severe punishments. If the sentence includes a punitive discharge, dismissal, or confinement of more than one year, it is subject to review by an intermediate court.
More specific….what about disobeying direct orders….

Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) covers the Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation. Service members accused of failure to obey orders, regulations or performing their duties in a negligent or intentionally poor manner may be charged under this article.

This is one of the most commonly charged offenses in military justice. It can apply to a wide range of misconduct, including dereliction of duty, failure to follow safety protocols, and refusing to carry out a lawful order.

Violating a lawful order in the military is serious. The government may launch an investigation into:

  • Refusal to carry out orders
  • Negligent performance of duty
  • Drunk or incapacitated on duty
  • Failure to follow standing safety procedures
  • Dereliction of duty that causes injury or death

Even a single mistake can lead to nonjudicial punishment (Article 15), a GOMOR (General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand), administrative separation, or even court-martial.

I know it is a lot of information but this is the jest of what someone who disobeys a direct order can look forward to getting.

Now the question is will any of the generals show that sort of fortitude after in vesting much of their adult life to the military?

I hope this helps understand what is expected if one does not follow a direct order.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Clown Show At It’s Best

Yesterday was the biggest day for news…..shutdown looms but the big story was the meeting of top commanders with Hogsbreath and Donny.

Most of knew it would be a rally and not some major meetings of the minds…..and it did not disappoint.

Up first to address the military leaders was the idiot in charge of the War Department….

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed a rare assembly of the top US generals and admirals on Tuesday, though his speech didn’t reveal any major surprises. Hegseth reiterated points he has previously made: He wants a less “woke” (a word that idiots use because it is easy to remember than one of those 50 cent words that educated people employ) fighting force and a warrior mentality. Highlights from his speech in Quantico, Virginia, via NBC, the AP, the New York Times, and the Washington Post:

  • Ethos: “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” he said. Specifically, “no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions.”
  • Watchdog: He said the Pentagon’s internal watchdog has been politicized and will be overhauled to discourage anonymous and “frivolous” complaints. It’s the “no more walking on eggshells” policy, he said of the inspector general’s office. “Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formations since 1948. The same goes for sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal.”
  • Non-toxic: He also promised to push back harder against complaints of “toxic” leadership within the military. “We’re undertaking a full review of the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”
  • Fitness: “Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon. … Whether you’re an Airborne Ranger or a chairborne ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards.” He said all members of the military, at every rank, will now have to pass a fitness test twice a year.
  • Women: He said a new combat field test would require troops to meet the highest male standard, with no separate standard for women. “I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in combat units with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men,” he said. “This job is life and death. Standards must be met.”
  • Facial hair: “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” Hegseth said. “We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans.”

What a douche!

Next up was our Clueless Leader, who by the way served NO time in the military but fancies himself an expert….

As usual he rattled on and on…..

President Trump followed up defense chief Pete Hegseth’s speech to the nation’s top generals with one of his own, though he didn’t lay out any new military initiatives. The president spoke for about 70 minutes and hit a wide range of topics. Some highlights via CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today:

  • Training grounds: Trump said he suggested to Hegseth that “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” referring to places where Trump has authorized National Guard troops. “We’re going into Chicago very soon,” he added.
  • Retaliation: Trump told the generals that if military vehicles were struck by bricks or other objects during protests, “you get out of that car, and you can do whatever the hell you want.”
  • Silence: Trump was struck by his silent reception at the start of his speech—the generals weren’t sending a message, just sticking to military protocol. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” Trump said. “Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, you’re not allowed to do that,” he joked. “If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and loose, OK?”
  • Name change: Trump said he expected more pushback from Democrats over the decision to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War. He suggested he’d worn out his critics.
  • Submarines: At one point, Trump recalled how he deployed two nuclear submarines near Russia after comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “It was really a stupid person … mentioned the word nuclear,” he said. “I call it the n-word. There are 2 n-words, and you can’t use either of them.”

An inspirational speaker this moron is not….this was babbling….I am sure that the generals were duly impressed with the stupidity.

Both of these people are loose cannons and will do more harm and make us less safe…..the more they plot and plan the worse the situation will become.

The only way to describe the speeches is a ‘clown show’.

Did you watch any of the acts?

I know I am critical….but others were not impressed either….

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to rally America’s military brass at Quantico Tuesday seems to have fizzled, with many officials left questioning why hundreds of generals were summoned in person—just hours ahead of the government shutdown. “Could have been an email,” shrugged one of the multiple defense officials who spoke to Politico anonymously after enduring what many described as a partisan spectacle rather than a strategic briefing. Per the Hill, Hegseth referred to it as “liberation day” for “America’s warriors,” who, he said, “kill people and break things for a living.”

Some sources say the 90-minute event felt similar to a campaign rally, including a speech from President Trump, who encouraged attendees to “just have a good time.” As for Hegseth’s call for stricter fitness standards, some worried the move that could limit women in combat. Critics, both in and out of uniform, saw the meeting as a distraction that risked shifting the military’s focus away from foreign adversaries and toward policing American streets, with Trump floating the idea of new quick reaction forces for potential domestic unrest and Hegseth suggesting the rules of engagement, meant to protect civilians, are “stupid.”

Some officials joked about calculating the cost of the event using ChatGPT (one called the event a “total waste of money” that veered dangerously close to a “loyalty test”), while others simply tuned out: “At this point, I am averting my eyes,” said one source. Security experts raised eyebrows at the wisdom of assembling so many senior leaders in one place, suggesting the risks outweighed the benefits. “It’s an inexcusable strategic risk to concentrate so many leaders … to convey an inane message of little merit,” a former senior official said. It’s not clear how much the meeting cost, but many of the leaders had to fly in from across the globe, Reuters reports.

A colossal waste of time and energy…..but what do you expect from masters of wasting time and energy?

Side note:  Hogsbreath is determined to bring religion to the Pentagon….

The new Pentagon worship service was among the first indications that Hegseth planned to inject religion into his profile as secretary. The gathering has taken place in the middle of the workday and is billed as Hegseth’s personal project: A sign that appears to have been posted in the Pentagon earlier in September described the event as “SecWar’s Prayer Service,” inscribing the words over a painting of St. Stephen being stoned to death.

Under his leadership, the Department of Defense — which, like Hegseth, has rebranded as the Department of War, a secondary name — has also shared at least three faith-themed videos. Like the Lord’s Prayer clip, two of the videos featured a montage of images of the U.S. military. But instead of a voiceover, the clips slowly overlaid the footage with two Bible verses from the Bible’s 18th Psalm and the Book of Joshua. One of the videos was captioned: “We Are One Nation Under God.”

This asshole is a menace to this nation and its people…..

I need a drink.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Big Day For Big Brass Summit

Today is the day when Hogsbreath and Donny meet with the top military commanders and lay out whatever plan the War Department has in store for the world.

A lot of speculation on just what this rare meeting of the brass has brewing for our military.

Just one more speculation to add to the long list….

Top military leaders—including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—have registered serious concerns with the Trump administration’s planned change in defense strategy ahead of the meeting involving hundreds of generals and admirals, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and President Trump scheduled for Tuesday in Virginia. Current and former officials described the criticism to the Washington Post of the changes that would make the Pentagon’s priority possible threats at home, reduce the focus on China, and diminish US activities in Europe and Africa.

A Pentagon spokesman would not say whether internal objections have been raised but said Hegseth has ordered up a strategy “that is laser focused on advancing President Trump’s commonsense America First, Peace Through Strength agenda,” adding, “This process is still ongoing.” The objections reflect frustration with a new strategy that officers consider “myopic and potentially irrelevant, given the president’s highly personal and sometimes contradictory approach to foreign policy,” per the Post. After drafts of the plan were circulated, Gen. Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman who disagrees with deemphasizing the potential threat from China, gave Hegseth what one insider called “very frank feedback.”

If this is true that there will be less importance of China then why is this a story?

The Pentagon has asked defense contractors to double or quadruple production rates, fearing that low U.S. stockpiles would be insufficient for a potential future conflict with China.

People familiar with the matter say the Pentagon has asked the defense contractors to massively scale production, focusing on a dozen critical weapons, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, which led to a bump in U.S. defense stocks. However, experts cited in the report warn that the U.S. government will need to raise more funds and sign more contracts to meet their expectations, which some believe are unrealistic.

https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/185400/pentagon-double-missile-product-china

And the lies and confusion continues…..

We will not know about this meeting until someone steps up and lets the public know what we are in for with this band of thugs.

Any deep thoughts before the results are presented?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The “Big Brass” Summit

Tomorrow will be the hastily called meeting of all the top generals in our military…..and there has been all kinds of speculation at what the Hell is this all about…..here are some thoughts on that….

In the absence of an explanation for ordering hundreds of generals and admirals to Virginia to hear from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, possible agenda items are being floated. The mystery only deepened in the Oval Office on Thursday when reporters asked about the meeting. “I think it’s great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with our now-secretary of war,” President Trump answered—though it wasn’t their idea. “It’s not particularly unusual that generals who report to the secretary of War and then to the president of the United States are coming to speak with the secretary of War,” Vice President JD Vance said, per the Hill. He added, “It’s actually not unusual at all”—though no one can name a similar meeting.

  • Warriors: The nation’s military leaders are in for a talking-to about the “warrior ethos,” per the Washington Post. One person familiar with planning discussions said, “It’s meant to be an eyeball-to-eyeball kind of conversation. He wants to see the generals.” Pentagon officials questioning the whole idea pointed out that many of the officers on their way served in combat. “They don’t need a talk from Secretary Hegseth on the warrior ethos,” one Defense official said.
  • Consequences: Officials told Politico that the event will be something like a pep rally, though maybe one with an edge. Hegseth wants to deliver messages about conduct and expectations, they said, and stress that they need to move in the same direction or face career consequences.
  • Dread: Anxiety is high among the generals and admirals over the meeting, per the New York Times, with some of them suspecting firings are ahead. It’s hard for many to imagine that so many commanders are being pulled from all over the world, including places with ongoing conflicts, just to hear a speech billed as lasting less than an hour. Trump said the generals want to see new equipment. “They’re going to be talking about the newest weapons, etc.,” he said, per Politico. There’s no word about what new weapons there might be.
  • A historical point: Hegseth did respond to one post. Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges wrote that in 1935, Germany’s generals were “called to a surprise assembly in Berlin” and “required to swear a personal oath to the Führer.” Trump was quoted during his first term as saying, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” Hegseth answered Hodges’ post with “Cool story, General.”

If this is solely an attempt to get the generals loyalty tested then this is sick and a bit pathetic.  They have already taken an oath….to the Constitution and the country….do they need to show more?

It will be good to see just how much integrity and guts these people have….

As usual Donny has to turn this meeting into a clusterf**k….

Word has gone out from the White House that President Trump plans to attend the hastily called meeting of hundreds of the nation’s top generals and admirals on Tuesday, a gathering ordered last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said he’ll address the brass. Trump’s decision has scrambled the security arrangements. “We have confirmation from the White House that POTUS is now attending the speech on Tuesday,” says a planning document sent Saturday, reports the Washington Post, which has seen it. A notice distributed at the Pentagon said Trump’s presence at the Virginia base will “significantly change the security posture” of the event.

For one, the president’s attendance at Quantico means the Secret Service is now responsible for security, with little notice. Two Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee criticized the meeting on Saturday as an expensive political stunt—estimates put the tab in the millions—that raises security risks, per the New York Times. “For an administration obsessed with rooting out waste, this abrupt, time and resource-intensive meeting of our military’s top commanders is absurd,” said a statement by Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono.

There’s been little explanation from the Trump administration about why the generals and admirals have been summoned from all over the world, and there was none provided for why Trump decided even later to take the stage from Hegseth. Such a meeting usually would be planned months in advance, per USA Today. Current and past military officials have expressed concerns about the purpose of the meeting, including that it could be overtly political, which Trump’s attendance suggests. In a speech at Fort Bragg in June, Trump called protesters “animals,” repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and endorsed conspiracy theories.

If this was a secret meeting (closed doors) will Donny be making one of his rambling babbling speeches?

Do nay of you have a thought on this meeting?

Breaking News:  Donny and BiBi will make a pronouncement on the fate of Gaza as Bibi visits.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“My Bad…….”

Closing Thought–12Jun20

We all have seen the images of the Head of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff….walking with the president after the suppression of protests so Trump could have a Bible moment in front of a church.

Now the General has said that he should not have been part of the photo op…….

The fallout from President Trump’s now-famous walk from the White House to St. John’s Church continues: On Thursday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff apologized for joining the president on that June 1 walk in military fatigues, reports CNN. “I should not have been there,” said Army Gen. Mark Milley in commencement remarks at the National Defense University. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”

  • Defense chief: Esper, who also joined the walk, wrote a letter to Congress with Milley reiterating they did not realize the walk would be used for a photo op, reports the Washington Post. “We participated in the walk with the aim of observing damage in Lafayette Square and at (St. John’s) Church, and meeting with and thanking the National Guard members who were on duty,” they wrote.
  • More on the letter: Esper and Milley also sought to clarify the military’s role in the response to the protests, saying that National Guard troops in DC were there only in a supporting role and “were not ever in the District for purposes of civilian law enforcement.” Previously, Esper publicly disagreed with Trump on invoking the Insurrection Act—using the military in more of a domestic policing role—to quell protests.

I think the general has one the right thing by apologizing for his participation in the presidential theater…..

But I ask after a long distinguished career in the military and he did not think that would be an issue of him in combat fatigues while the population was in protests……what message did he think it would send?

He has done (I reiterate for those that cannot find the time to read my post) in my opinion the right think and he should have resigned over the issue to make it with an exclamation point.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Are The Generals Failing Our Troops?

I will not lie to my readers….I am an anti-war proponent and have been so since the 1970’s….I see our military personnel being pushed to their limits by the multiple deployments and the multiple wars been fought and to what aim?

In the past generals have gone to the president and told him what needed to be done and what wars we needed to fight….those days are gone with the promise of cushy jobs awaiting the generals upon retirement….

We need generals with a backbone that cares more about the troops than his retirement……

September 2006. Iraq was falling apart. Nearly 100 American troops were being killed a month. The war seemed hopeless, unwinnable (because it ultimately was). So the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Peter Pace, convened a “council of colonels’ – purportedly some of the brightest minds in the military – to recommend new policies. Only three, reportedly, had any combat experience in Iraq, but still, these guys were sharp. The group debated endlessly and eventually reached an impasse. They had three separate proposals and the group generally divided along service lines. Some Air Force and Navy guys wanted a phased withdrawal – the “Go Home” option – but their ideas were promptly dismissed. Other (mostly army and marine officers) wanted to “engage in prolonged conflict – the “Go Long” option. Finally, the most prominent army officers – including America’s current National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster – wanted to “Go Big” and heavily reinforce the troops in Iraq with a “surge.” You can guess which side won out.

George W. Bush liked the can-do optimism of the “surge” team and doubled down. Violence briefly dropped, a couple thousand more American troops died, and the military promptly declared victory. We’re still dealing with the fallout.

https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2018/03/05/generals-failing-soldiers-america/

We need generals that will do what is needed to keep the country from fighting unnecessary wars ….wars of profit……

Yes we now have entered into a time of perpetual wars…….the costs of these wars have made the country less safe and a falling apart infrastructure……

I’m in my mid-thirties, which means that, after the 9/11 attacks, when this country went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq in what President George W. Bush called the “Global War on Terror,” I was still in college. I remember taking part in a couple of campus antiwar demonstrations and, while working as a waitress in 2003, being upset by customers who ordered “freedom fries,” not “French fries,” to protest France’s opposition to our war in Iraq. (As it happens, my mother is French, so it felt like a double insult.) For years, like many Americans, that was about all the thought I put into the war on terror. But one career choice led to another and today I’m co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

https://www.juancole.com/2018/02/hidden-americas-perpetual.html

Our generals should remember the old slogan from the 70’s…..”War  is good business….Invest your children”……

Worst Military Leaders in History

I feel I have been amiss in my duty for not including more history in my daily posts……I will try to change that oversight on my part.

If you remember any history from your school days you will remember a few of the “famous” commanders in time of war…..men like “Monty” Montgomery, Rommel, Eisenhower, MacArthur etc…..

But there is another list that people should be aware of….a list of the worse generals in history.

You may surprised at the men that make this list…..

In war, there are winners and losers. Sometimes an army is defeated because they simply faced a larger and more powerful foe. Other times they lose because of some bizarre set of circumstances no one could have foreseen, or because they were simply outwitted by a cunning adversary. Sometimes an army is even dealt a defeat because of bad weather (as happened to the Mongol fleet of Kublai Khan in 1281 AD, which was destroyed by a typhoon as it tried to cross the narrow strait between Korea and Japan.) However, there are also those battles that were lost due to the sheer incompetency of a leader, which is the source for this list.

Of course, even a good military leader can have a bad day. As such, this list is not about leaders who simply lost a battle, but those who either snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory or were classic incompetents that somehow managed to be given command of entire armies. A few are on this list because they are perceived as being far more capable than history demonstrates them to have been; in other words, besides the worst leaders, this list also contains the most overrated leaders who, while competent to a degree, do not rightly deserve the level of credit given to them by history. Finally, this is not a list of Generals only, but of men—some of whom may not even have been in uniform—that made the decisions that ultimately led their armies to utter catastrophe. And so, without further ado, here is my list for the top ten most incompetent, overrated, or just plain unlucky military leaders in history.

Source: Top 10 Worst Military Leaders in History – Toptenz.net

Tell me you did not see some of those on the list coming at you.

This is your history lesson for the day…..you now know more than you did earlier…

Class Dismissed!

Obama And Friends To Go To Iraq

When Senator Barack Obama travels to Iraq later this summer to get a first-hand look at conditions there, he said he would be accompanied by two colleagues who have “bipartisan wisdom when it comes to foreign policy.”

Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, will join Mr. Obama on his first trip to Iraq as a presidential candidate. All three senators share similar views – critical ones – of the administration’s Iraq policy.

The visit to Iraq, and his findings from briefings with military commanders, represents an important moment in Mr. Obama’s general-election candidacy. While he has said that he still supports the idea of removing American combat troops within 16 months, at a pace of one to two brigades a month, the conditions in the country also hold significant sway over his plan.

He said he was going to Iraq not to promote withdrawal but to gather facts.

For Obama this is a good idea after being poked and prodded by McCain and his pack mouthpieces.