Opinion: Defense Secretary Austin Plays Politics Right Out of the Gate
By Mike Ford | Jan 27, 2021 5:00 AM ET
Retired General Lloyd Austin was confirmed as Secretary of Defense by the U.S. Senate on January 22, 2021, at 11:00 AM. An hour later, he was sworn in as the Secretary of Defense for these United States. Many of my military associates are cheering his nomination and subsequent confirmation. All isn’t as they claim, however.
Austin required a Congressional waiver, as he had not yet been retired from the military for the Congressionally-mandated seven years. I have no issue with that. Congress mandated the seven-year timeout for military members and most certainly has the authority to waive it. My issue with the newly minted Secretary of Defense is the same one I have with the current crop of military officers, not only in very senior positions, but also the mid-grades. As we know, the mid-grades are the raw material that feeds the selection process for Flag Officers.
As we also know, some of those mid-grade officers †ain’t bein’ raised right†as quipped by more than a couple Command Sergeants Major I’ve had the privilege of being associated with. I have written about one mid-grade in particular, LTC(R) Alexander Vindman, a low-level staffer on the National Security Council, who evidently thought that he, not the sitting President, set foreign military policy for these United States.
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https://redstate.com/darth641/2021/01/27/opinion-defense-secretary-austin-plays-politics-right-out-of-the-gate-n316455
