Careerism and Psychopathy in the US Military

[rangerrebew]

Careerism and Psychopathy in the US Military
GI Wilson   Our Military   23 June 2019   

A summary view of our senior officer class:  “Glibness, Superficial Charm, Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth, Deceitful, Cunning, Manipulative, Lacks Remorse, Callous, Lacks Empathy, Does Not Accept Responsibility for Own Actions, and Impulsiveness … ”  That’s the conclusion of GI Wilson (Colonel, USMC, retired) in this important essay. He describes one reason the US military can no longer win wars.

Introduction from the Editor

Until WWII, the internal workings of the US military had little effect on the overall state of the nation, except during wars. Since then, the military has dominated our foreign policy, played a major role in the economy (military Keynesianism), and become one of the nation’s most trusted institutions. So the character of our senior generals has become a major force shaping our future.

But who are these people? For one perspective, see The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It, edited by Winslow T. Wheeler and published by the Center for Defense Information and the World Security Institute. “Its short but provocative essays will help you to identify the decay moral, mental and physical in America s defenses.”

This chapter by G.I. Wilson (Colonel, USMC, retired) draws on his decades of experience in the USMC and his Masters degrees in forensic psychology and business management.

https://fabiusmaximus.com/2019/06/23/generals-careerism-and-psychopathy/

[Sanguine]

I have observed the Department of Defense (DOD) all too closely for over three decades. It has become an overgrown bureaucracy committed to standing still for, if not actively promoting, poorly conceived policy agendas and hardware programs funded and supported by Congress. Coupled to that is the task of attracting the blind loyalty of senior military and civilian actors on the Washington, D.C. stage. For the careerists in America’s national security apparatus, it is all about awarding contracts and personal advancement, not winning wars.

Careerists serve for all the wrong reasons. They weaken national defense, robbing the military of its warrior ethos and driving away the highly principled mavericks that we need to reverse the decay. This can only be remedied by rekindling the time-honored principles of military service (i.e. duty, honor, country) among both officers and civilians.

He makes some good points that have applicability beyond the military.

[Absalom]

Anyone who does not understand that the Pentagon and its inhabitants,
all of them, are a core component of the DC Establishment was born and
lives on Planet Narnia, adjacent to Saturn.