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Because the SecDef is always beloved by all generals and Admirals

My two minute take on Secretary Rumsfeld comes from a bit of advice I was given when I started my career. My first manager told me " You can be beloved by one and all or you can be effective - pick one".

His point was this, if you want to make change, no one is going to like you. No matter how much the clamor for change, they hate it when it happens. If you want to make change in the world, get used to being disliked and hated.

Secretary Rumsfeld is changing the US military from the ground up from a post cold war leviathan into a rapid response force.

Change, political change, change the effects the power centers of Washington, particularly when it effects peoples civil service careers is damn hard work.

Generals and Admirals, while fine people and who are very "nice" are often the people who are most resistant to change. This is why we have a Civilian in charge of the Military. For those of you unfamiliar with Military culture, there is, shall we say a great deal of animosity between those in the Military and those in the Civilian world. Generals and Admirals often find themselves at odds with the civilians in charge of the military, but thats how we do things here in the good old US of A.

What I like most about Rumsfeld is that he is not running for President or selling a book. Its my beleif that he is the most important Secretary of Defense in the history of the job.

I reject this idea that the Secretary of Defense is always universally loved by one and all. Its a tough job and its often thankless difficult work making the Military do the bidding of the civilian world, but it must be done.

Shall we take a moment and look at the careers of other SecDefs?

James Forrestal - First Secretary of Defense .

snip...

"He was a tremendous supporter of naval battle groups centered on aircraft carriers. The newly created Department of the Air Force opposed his plans to build new ones, claiming that operations could be accomplished from ground bases. The conflict between Forrestal and the Air Force was probably the foremost cause of his mental breakdown and ultimate suicide. One year after his suicide his ideas were vindicated by the Korean War, which showed an essential role for aircraft carriers in future wars. The Navy's first supercarrier, USS Forrestal was named in his honor."

So, James Forrestal oversaw the creation of the Air Force, only to have the Air Force turn on him at the very first opportunity. The result is the man comitted suicide.

Ok, how about his replacement.

Louis Johnson - Second Secretary of Defense.

snip...
"Johnson's economy drive, which began on April 23 1949, when he announced cancellation of the 65,000-ton flushdeck aircraft carrier USS United States. The United States Navy had been planning this ship for several years and construction had already begun. Johnson, supported by a majority of the JCS and by President Truman, stressed the need to cut costs. At least by implication, Johnson had scuttled the Navy's hope to participate in strategic air operations through use of the carrier. Abruptly resigning, Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan expressed concern about the future of the United States Marine Corps and naval aviation and about Johnson's unprecedented and arbitrary action so drastically affecting the Navy's operational plans without consulting it.

snip...

"The cancellation of the supercarrier precipitated a bitter controversy between the Navy and the United States Air Force, the so-called "Revolt of the Admirals." The Navy reacted to Johnson's action by questioning, in congressional hearings and other public arenas, the effectiveness of the Air Force's latest strategic bomber, the Convair B-36. The Air Force countered with data supporting the B-36 and minimized the importance of a naval role in future major wars."


Second Sec Def - A House investigation, a "Revolt of the Admirals". It makes Rumsfelds situation look positively rosey, doesnt it?

Shall we say that SecDef McNamara had an easy time of it? Or How about Caspar Weinberger?

My point is this. The Sec Def is a tough gig for anyone, even in peacetime. Secretary Rumsfeld has overseen the successful overthrow of the taliban, and the Hussien Regime and has mobilized and streamlined a military force during wartime without destroying the US economy in the process. Morale amoungst the troops is high and efficiency is at its best in years. If people in Washington dont like him, well that just endears him to me all that much more.

We are winning this war, and we are winning largely becuase of the direction and leadership provided by Secretary Rumsfeld.

Posted @ April 17, 2006 09:51 AM | Current Events

Comments

A very practical and well thought advice...and a very impressive survey of US defence secretaries...
abhay

Posted by: abhay at April 18, 2006 06:07 AM

thanks...excellant post..

I thought Forrestal had lost a son in service too (during the war?) and that loss contributed to his sucicide also.

Posted by: Bill Baar at April 19, 2006 10:59 AM

Very accurate analysis from an appropriate long-term perspective. I have always been suspicious that Rumsfeld has been right on every point. The war has been uncomfortable, especially for the Iraqis, but we have learned a lot from it and we will prevail. Rumsfeld has also helped us understand the frightening nature of our true enemy in the Middle East and the dangerous aspects of isolationism at home.

Posted by: jj mollo at April 24, 2006 03:19 PM