Two months after he became Defense Secretary, Robert Gates fired his first general: the guy in charge of Walter Reed and its moldy, cockroach-infested facilities for housing the wounded. Then Gates fired the secretary of the Army and forced out the Army's surgeon general. It signaled a massive shift from the Donald Rumsfeld era, when few senior officers were fired for incompetence. The Pentagon largely welcomed the change. "I can't tell you how cathartic, how refreshing that was," Ryan Henry, a top aide to both secretaries, told me.
Since then, a whole slew of top officers and senior civilians have been shown the door. Air Force Chief of Staff General Mike "Buzz" Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were booted, after nuclear weapons mishaps and disagreements over spending priorities. Central Command chief Admiral William "Fox" Fallon resigned after an overly-chatty, borderline-insubordinate magazine article. (Ahem.) Gates axed Joint Strike Fighter program manager Major General David Heinz after the stealth jet's costs went sky high. Vice Admiral John "Boomer" Stufflebeem was fired for providing misleading testimony to Defense Department investigators. Last year, the Defense Secretary relieved the top battlefield commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, over the war's slow progress. (Ahem again.)
Given all that, it's a little hard to see how Gates keeps General Stanley McChrystal around, after his Rolling Stone indiscretion. Maybe the risk to the war effort will be seen as too great. (Be sure to read this Abu Muqawama post outlining the pros and cons.) Maybe Gates will elevate McChrystal's low-key deputy, Lieutenant General David Rodriguez. Maybe he'll bring in counterinsurgency guru General James Mattis, who oh-so-mysteriously found himself last week without a job. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow, when McChrystal arrives in Washington.
Photo: DoD
See Also:
- Gates Sacks Stealth Jet Chief, Blasts 'Troubling Record' of ...
- Air Force Chief, Secretary Resign (Updated Yet Again)
- Inside Bob Gates' Overhaul of the Pentagon (Updated)
- McChrystal Apologies for Incendiary Article
- Military Critic on McChrystal: ‘Everybody in Uniform is Replaceable’
- McChrystal Backer: ‘Travesty’ if Obama Sacks General
