Right Man for the Job

I heard something about this on Fox News this morning and thought it must be wrong. All I caught was Iraq, mission, and GEN Luck. I was thinking to myself "GEN Luck? Can't be. He must have retired by now. He was old and crusty in '91, he's got to be ancient by now." So I was half right.

He is ancient, and he is retired. However, DOD is sending him back to see how things are going in Iraq anyway. GEN Luck is a guy that knows a crap-load about military affairs and a little something about the theatre as well. I can't think of a better choice for something like this. Admittedly, my knowledge of the upper echelons of the military is limited. However, I have met GEN Luck and he was a hell of a lot more real than some commanders I've met. I do find it somewhat worrying that for important jobs like this, the Army is turning more and more to retired guys. They called GEN Schoomaker back to be Chief of Staff, and now GEN Luck for this assignment. Where are the guys coming up that are going to replace the old 'Nam vets? I find this faintly disturbing.

I also agree completely with one of the throwaways in the article about hiring civilians to do some things. I spent my reserve time as a 71L, and the amount of paperwork the military runs on is just staggering. Why that's not handled by DOD civilians as much as it possibly can be is beyond me, and always has been. In Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein makes a similar comment that is pointedly addressed at the US military. That probably influenced my thinking on the matter.