Army used loophole to hire retired Generals

[kansaswhig]

I don't know what to think of this. Why do we have Generals if they need retired Generals to advise them?

Loophole let Army hire retired generals

By Ken Dilanian, Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Dec 17, 2009 7:22:00 EST

The Army used a loophole in federal ethics law to award lucrative contracts to two recently retired generals, departing from its standard practice for hiring senior advisers, according to public records and interviews.

During the past two years, the Army wanted to bring back two former generals, John Vines and Dan McNeill, to advise commanders as part of its “senior mentor” program. But the service’s program is run by a defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, and federal ethics law prohibits newly retired senior employees from representing a company before their former agency for one year.

That “cooling off” period is designed to prohibit “acts by former government employees which may reasonably give the appearance of making unfair use of prior government employment,” according to ethics regulations.

The Army found a way around the rule. Instead of hiring them as defense company subcontractors, as it does for roughly two dozen other Army mentors, the service contracted directly with McNeill and Vines. McNeill received his contract after the Army wrote specific bid solicitations that applied to him and perhaps a few other retired generals. Vines received contracts without competition, records show.

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[samsmart]

You know, this military-industrial-political complex we've got going on in this country is becoming a bit disconcerting at times.

 

[75Greeno]

we need good generals if this is the way to get them then so be it











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[kansaswhig]

we need good generals if this is the way to get them then so be it

Well, yes and no. General officers are approved by Congress and the selection process and grooming for the position is quite extensive. If they select the wrong folks for the positions, then so be it. The process must be allowed to go on without intervention to give the General the best opportunity for command.

One of the problems I have with retired officers participating and influencing in real world operations is that they could influence (sometimes negatively) those operations because they may not be "current" on the latest tactics, enemy strength, diplomatic picture, etc. Their "advice" could be outdated or formulated through opinion or non-current/relevant experience.

Also factor in that retired Generals will routinely sit on the Board for multiple defense contractors at once. If they are advising a war commander, they could sway him to request acquisitions from the defense contractor(s) that they represent and stand to profit from (Google "Barry McCaffery").

The end-all-be-all answer to military operations is "do whatever". I am all about checking our leadership and something doesn't smell right about this.

 

[Oozlefinch]

I don't know what to think of this. Why do we have Generals if they need retired Generals to advise them?

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Did you know that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur had retired from the US Army in 1937? He was recalled into active service in July 1941 by President Roosevelt.

And on 23 December 1783 General George Washington resigned as Commander of the Continental Army. He then went on to lead the Constitutional Congress, then became President. But President John Adams recalled him to duty on 4 July 1798. He died on 14 December 1799, after catching pneumonia during an inspection tour.

Recalling Generals is a long tradition in our country. In fact, here is a short list of 4 star Generals that have been recalled:

General MacArthur
General Craig (former Chief of Staff, War Personnel Board)
General Krueger (Commander Sixth US Army)
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (retired 1948. recalled 1950, retired 1952 to run for President)
General Taylor (retired 1959, recalled 1961)
General Lemnitzer (retired after Bay of Pigs, recalled to command NATO)
General Palmer (retired in 1959, recalled in 1960)
General Besson (retired in 1970, called back by President Nixon to help plan end to Vietnam war)
General Goodpastor (retired in 1974, recalled in 1981 to advise President Reagan in nuclear disarmament treaties)
General Schoomaker (retired in 2000, recalled in 2003 and still serving)

And these are just the 4 star Generals in the Army that have been recalled. Marine General Shepherd retired in 1959, only to be recalled in 1960. There have been 4 full Admirals recalled, Admiral Yarnell being recalled twice (retired 1939, recalled 1941, retired 1943, recalled 1943, retired 1945). And Air Force General Johnson retired in 1961, only to be recalled to serve President Kennedy as a National Security Advisor.

So as you can see, recalling Generals is nothing new, nor is it very unique. They have a vast amount of experience, and if recalling them helps save lives, I am all for it.

 

[kansaswhig]

Did you know that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur had retired from the US Army in 1937? He was recalled into active service in July 1941 by President Roosevelt.

And on 23 December 1783 General George Washington resigned as Commander of the Continental Army. He then went on to lead the Constitutional Congress, then became President. But President John Adams recalled him to duty on 4 July 1798. He died on 14 December 1799, after catching pneumonia during an inspection tour.

Recalling Generals is a long tradition in our country. In fact, here is a short list of 4 star Generals that have been recalled:

General MacArthur
General Craig (former Chief of Staff, War Personnel Board)
General Krueger (Commander Sixth US Army)
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (retired 1948. recalled 1950, retired 1952 to run for President)
General Taylor (retired 1959, recalled 1961)
General Lemnitzer (retired after Bay of Pigs, recalled to command NATO)
General Palmer (retired in 1959, recalled in 1960)
General Besson (retired in 1970, called back by President Nixon to help plan end to Vietnam war)
General Goodpastor (retired in 1974, recalled in 1981 to advise President Reagan in nuclear disarmament treaties)
General Schoomaker (retired in 2000, recalled in 2003 and still serving)

And these are just the 4 star Generals in the Army that have been recalled. Marine General Shepherd retired in 1959, only to be recalled in 1960. There have been 4 full Admirals recalled, Admiral Yarnell being recalled twice (retired 1939, recalled 1941, retired 1943, recalled 1943, retired 1945). And Air Force General Johnson retired in 1961, only to be recalled to serve President Kennedy as a National Security Advisor.

So as you can see, recalling Generals is nothing new, nor is it very unique. They have a vast amount of experience, and if recalling them helps save lives, I am all for it.

So as you can see, this has nothing to do with the story. The Generals you cited were recalled to SERVE, which means drawing a paycheck that says "US GOVT" on it. The Generals that I am talking about are employed by private contractors and are out of uniform.

Save lives? I'd say that Generals more often than not cost lives. Particularly the ones in this instance. Vines was Corps Commander in Iraq during the darkest days in 05. He failed his mission. Sanchez? Debacle. I don't know why we would want their advice, let alone pay for it.