I don't care if Hegseth rode in with Jesus H. Christ sitting next to him with the promotion list and billet assignments, the DoD is supposed to be run by military professionals with a smidge of moral courage. Professionals say, "Sir, if you think you're going to walk in here and throw Milley's picture in the trash, then you'll be doing it like you have sex...alone. We're resigning en mass." Extrapolate that cheesey-ness forward through every other integrity compromise. Shit, the Chiefs' mess on ship had more balls than the current crop staffing the Joint Chiefs. The LCpl underground had more effectiveness. The Joint Chiefs could have hung together, but now their honor is being hung out to dry separately. Pathetic.
I'm a proud supporter of Veterans For Responsible Leadership. Their adherence to and promotion of merit is a bulwark against the politicalization of the armed forces. Hegseth isn't forever, thank god for that. Integrity is and should be. Like so many institutions that the trump administration has stripped bare of any semblance of competence, purpose and service, the Department of Defense will need a house cleaning and reassertion of the standards that has made our service members the envy of the world.
Glenn, this is a genuinely damning piece of reporting, but the real problem is one level up from any single promotion. It's that political value now outranks military value in the entire selection calculus. Napoleon's line applies with almost eerie precision: stupidity isn't usually a handicap in politics. It becomes a five-alarm liability the moment it's handed command of a fleet.
Tim Parlatore is a personal lawyer with no military command experience, a newly minted Reserve commission, and a client relationship with the Secretary of Defense that predates his uniform. He vouched for Caudle, then represented Caudle in the very inquiry that stood between Caudle and the fourth star, all while telling Congress under oath, functionally, that no such conflict existed. None of that is a legal question. It's a competency question, and the competency in question isn't Caudle's submarine record; it's whether the country wants its military leadership selected by a man whose only qualification is proximity to the Secretary's ear.
That's the actual danger buried in Schatz's piece. A board of admirals evaluating a career against a professional record is a filter built, however imperfectly, to select for the judgment a wartime decision demands. A defense secretary asking "where's Caudle?" and outsourcing the vetting to his own attorney is a filter built to select for loyalty and proximity instead. Those two filters produce entirely different officer corps, and only one of them is built to survive contact with an actual crisis. When the missiles are in the air, nobody is going to ask whether the admiral in the room has a good relationship with the Secretary's lawyer. They're going to need the officer the old system, the one Schatz is describing being dismantled in real time, was actually built to produce. Patronage promotes for the peace it was arranged in. War doesn't negotiate with the arrangement.
Hegseth is a drunk, pushing into his late 40s. That means the booze is affecting major organs, such as the liver, heart, and pancreas, as well as the brain. Hegseth is also not properly qualified, experienced, for the job of defense secretary. There is no way Hegseth should have the position he does. Hegseth, and Trump, glorify violence and war.
Outstanding piece. You spilled it in words in a way that needs to be distributed far and wide for consumption across the force, especially among senior leaders and those coming behind us. This is bigger than personalities. These are institutional lessons that need to be recorded, studied, discussed, and remembered.
After 27 years as a Marine, this one hits me hard because I have been beating this drum for a while.
“Advancement would be earned. Not politics. Not patrons. Our records.”
That is the foundation. I spent my career believing that if you performed, mastered your profession, took care of your Marines, maintained your integrity, and accepted increasingly difficult responsibilities, your record would speak for you. Was the system perfect? Hell no. Human beings are involved. But merit had to remain the North Star.
The most disturbing line is this:
“When even qualified officers advance through back channels… nobody can tell the earned stars from the granted ones anymore.”
Exactly. Caudle may be completely qualified. That almost makes the lesson more important. Once the process becomes contaminated by political access, personal attorneys, patrons, or loyalty tests, even deserving officers inherit suspicion. Eventually the force begins wondering whether that star represents professional excellence or political favor.
That is poison to a professional military.
“A simple read of history teaches us that militaries that succumb to patronage do not stay professional for long.”
History has already written this lesson for us. We don’t need to conduct another damn experiment.
This is what I have called developmental debt. Every Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Commander and Captain watching senior leadership right now is learning something. If they learn that telling uncomfortable truths can end a career while telling political leadership what it wants to hear advances one, don’t act surprised when tomorrow’s generals and admirals become professional yes men.
You may not see the damage immediately.
Ships still sail. Aircraft still fly. Marines still shoot. Briefing slides remain green. Everybody salutes and says, “Aye aye, Sir.”
Then somebody starts shooting back.
Combat conducts the final inspection, and the enemy does not give a damn who your political patron was.
Another line deserves to be engraved above every senior leader’s desk:
“The institution outranks your ambition.”
Damn right.
Mission before self. Marines before career. Constitution before politician. Institution before ambition.
I have watched young Marines dream about going to war. Senior leaders have a different responsibility because somebody’s son or daughter has been entrusted to our care. Every decision affecting readiness, leadership, equipment, training, discipline, and command climate eventually reaches that young Marine.
Trust is combat power.
Destroy confidence in promotions and you damage trust. Destroy confidence in sexual assault reporting and sailors stop believing the institution will protect them. Destroy confidence in senior leadership and families start wondering whether they should even let the recruiter through the front door.
And once institutional trust is gone, you don’t rebuild it with a PowerPoint presentation and a damn slogan.
“Earned rank built the most professional fighting force the world has ever known. Patronage will destroy it.”
That needs to be distributed for consumption throughout our Armed Forces. Put it in professional military education. Discuss it in wardrooms and staff meetings. Make young officers and senior enlisted leaders wrestle with what it means.
Record it. Study it. Teach it. Remember it.
Because institutional corrosion normally happens quietly in peacetime. The bill arrives during war, and unfortunately it won’t be the politicians, lawyers, patrons, or culture warriors paying it.
It will be some 19 year old Marine, sailor, soldier or airman and the family who entrusted that young American to our care.
History has already taught us these lessons.
We damn sure don’t need to learn them again in blood and heartache.
Thank you for this article. I have to wonder, is our entire military leadership made up entirely of Coutney Massengales? Yes, I'm reading "Once an Eagle", required reading for West Point and Marine Corps cadets. Instead of being a professional putting duty, honor, and the ranks he commands above personal ambition, Massengale advances through the ranks by maintaining the right connections and aligning duty to what Washington power brokers demand. According to the updated forward by historian Carlos D'Este, it's supposed to be a career killer to be labeled a "Courtney Massengale". I hope this remains true but fear Hegseth appears to be hell-bent on changing this, driving out leaders who do not masquerade as Massengale wannabes.
Glenn, 75% of Americans polled want Hegseth fired. Though your point is well taken on uniformed military leaders standing up to poor decisions based on racism, sexism, religious bigotry and complete incompetence, these leaders are not doing enough to resist. We have lost many experienced Senior Military leaders who should have been promoted and the military is being grossly mismanaged, we need to force Congress to get Hegseth out.
Project 2025
I don't care if Hegseth rode in with Jesus H. Christ sitting next to him with the promotion list and billet assignments, the DoD is supposed to be run by military professionals with a smidge of moral courage. Professionals say, "Sir, if you think you're going to walk in here and throw Milley's picture in the trash, then you'll be doing it like you have sex...alone. We're resigning en mass." Extrapolate that cheesey-ness forward through every other integrity compromise. Shit, the Chiefs' mess on ship had more balls than the current crop staffing the Joint Chiefs. The LCpl underground had more effectiveness. The Joint Chiefs could have hung together, but now their honor is being hung out to dry separately. Pathetic.
I'm a proud supporter of Veterans For Responsible Leadership. Their adherence to and promotion of merit is a bulwark against the politicalization of the armed forces. Hegseth isn't forever, thank god for that. Integrity is and should be. Like so many institutions that the trump administration has stripped bare of any semblance of competence, purpose and service, the Department of Defense will need a house cleaning and reassertion of the standards that has made our service members the envy of the world.
We know and it scares the shit out of us.
Glenn, this is a genuinely damning piece of reporting, but the real problem is one level up from any single promotion. It's that political value now outranks military value in the entire selection calculus. Napoleon's line applies with almost eerie precision: stupidity isn't usually a handicap in politics. It becomes a five-alarm liability the moment it's handed command of a fleet.
Tim Parlatore is a personal lawyer with no military command experience, a newly minted Reserve commission, and a client relationship with the Secretary of Defense that predates his uniform. He vouched for Caudle, then represented Caudle in the very inquiry that stood between Caudle and the fourth star, all while telling Congress under oath, functionally, that no such conflict existed. None of that is a legal question. It's a competency question, and the competency in question isn't Caudle's submarine record; it's whether the country wants its military leadership selected by a man whose only qualification is proximity to the Secretary's ear.
That's the actual danger buried in Schatz's piece. A board of admirals evaluating a career against a professional record is a filter built, however imperfectly, to select for the judgment a wartime decision demands. A defense secretary asking "where's Caudle?" and outsourcing the vetting to his own attorney is a filter built to select for loyalty and proximity instead. Those two filters produce entirely different officer corps, and only one of them is built to survive contact with an actual crisis. When the missiles are in the air, nobody is going to ask whether the admiral in the room has a good relationship with the Secretary's lawyer. They're going to need the officer the old system, the one Schatz is describing being dismantled in real time, was actually built to produce. Patronage promotes for the peace it was arranged in. War doesn't negotiate with the arrangement.
Hegseth is a drunk, pushing into his late 40s. That means the booze is affecting major organs, such as the liver, heart, and pancreas, as well as the brain. Hegseth is also not properly qualified, experienced, for the job of defense secretary. There is no way Hegseth should have the position he does. Hegseth, and Trump, glorify violence and war.
Outstanding piece. You spilled it in words in a way that needs to be distributed far and wide for consumption across the force, especially among senior leaders and those coming behind us. This is bigger than personalities. These are institutional lessons that need to be recorded, studied, discussed, and remembered.
After 27 years as a Marine, this one hits me hard because I have been beating this drum for a while.
“Advancement would be earned. Not politics. Not patrons. Our records.”
That is the foundation. I spent my career believing that if you performed, mastered your profession, took care of your Marines, maintained your integrity, and accepted increasingly difficult responsibilities, your record would speak for you. Was the system perfect? Hell no. Human beings are involved. But merit had to remain the North Star.
The most disturbing line is this:
“When even qualified officers advance through back channels… nobody can tell the earned stars from the granted ones anymore.”
Exactly. Caudle may be completely qualified. That almost makes the lesson more important. Once the process becomes contaminated by political access, personal attorneys, patrons, or loyalty tests, even deserving officers inherit suspicion. Eventually the force begins wondering whether that star represents professional excellence or political favor.
That is poison to a professional military.
“A simple read of history teaches us that militaries that succumb to patronage do not stay professional for long.”
History has already written this lesson for us. We don’t need to conduct another damn experiment.
This is what I have called developmental debt. Every Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Commander and Captain watching senior leadership right now is learning something. If they learn that telling uncomfortable truths can end a career while telling political leadership what it wants to hear advances one, don’t act surprised when tomorrow’s generals and admirals become professional yes men.
You may not see the damage immediately.
Ships still sail. Aircraft still fly. Marines still shoot. Briefing slides remain green. Everybody salutes and says, “Aye aye, Sir.”
Then somebody starts shooting back.
Combat conducts the final inspection, and the enemy does not give a damn who your political patron was.
Another line deserves to be engraved above every senior leader’s desk:
“The institution outranks your ambition.”
Damn right.
Mission before self. Marines before career. Constitution before politician. Institution before ambition.
I have watched young Marines dream about going to war. Senior leaders have a different responsibility because somebody’s son or daughter has been entrusted to our care. Every decision affecting readiness, leadership, equipment, training, discipline, and command climate eventually reaches that young Marine.
Trust is combat power.
Destroy confidence in promotions and you damage trust. Destroy confidence in sexual assault reporting and sailors stop believing the institution will protect them. Destroy confidence in senior leadership and families start wondering whether they should even let the recruiter through the front door.
And once institutional trust is gone, you don’t rebuild it with a PowerPoint presentation and a damn slogan.
“Earned rank built the most professional fighting force the world has ever known. Patronage will destroy it.”
That needs to be distributed for consumption throughout our Armed Forces. Put it in professional military education. Discuss it in wardrooms and staff meetings. Make young officers and senior enlisted leaders wrestle with what it means.
Record it. Study it. Teach it. Remember it.
Because institutional corrosion normally happens quietly in peacetime. The bill arrives during war, and unfortunately it won’t be the politicians, lawyers, patrons, or culture warriors paying it.
It will be some 19 year old Marine, sailor, soldier or airman and the family who entrusted that young American to our care.
History has already taught us these lessons.
We damn sure don’t need to learn them again in blood and heartache.
Thank you for this article. I have to wonder, is our entire military leadership made up entirely of Coutney Massengales? Yes, I'm reading "Once an Eagle", required reading for West Point and Marine Corps cadets. Instead of being a professional putting duty, honor, and the ranks he commands above personal ambition, Massengale advances through the ranks by maintaining the right connections and aligning duty to what Washington power brokers demand. According to the updated forward by historian Carlos D'Este, it's supposed to be a career killer to be labeled a "Courtney Massengale". I hope this remains true but fear Hegseth appears to be hell-bent on changing this, driving out leaders who do not masquerade as Massengale wannabes.
Our senators should implement your constructive reforms immediately to protect military ethics. I am grateful for your honorable service.
😡😡
Amen.
Re Caudle see Loss of Confidence and The Caudle Weave on my Substack.
Project 2025 and the fact that too many of US have too often replaced integrity with immorality.
Glenn, 75% of Americans polled want Hegseth fired. Though your point is well taken on uniformed military leaders standing up to poor decisions based on racism, sexism, religious bigotry and complete incompetence, these leaders are not doing enough to resist. We have lost many experienced Senior Military leaders who should have been promoted and the military is being grossly mismanaged, we need to force Congress to get Hegseth out.
They have a choice. Hoping and praying they will make the right one when he turns the military on us. Trump is a pig and traitor.
It won't matter once they successfully integrate our military with the IDF.
THANK YOU FANONE