Trump’s defense choice stuns the Pentagon and raises questions about the Fox News host’s experience

[Chesterton]

OK well then that guy is wrong that "the left" automatically rejects any Trump cab nominee just because Trump.

Your post inspired me to make a thread in this forum, with a poll. You can vote if you want.

 

[RDKirk]

How dare Trump pick people who won't try to undermine him

He should choose people who are able and unafraid to challenge him, though.

 

[timothyu]

To be or not to be a hawk or a dove. 'That is the question. : Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?'

 

[civilwarbuff]

What military experience or experience outside of the military has qualified Hegseth to run the entire armed forces of the United States?

Isn't that like saying you need presidential experience to be President? Why dont' you wait and see what kind of job he does BEFORE criticizing the choice?

 

[civilwarbuff]

find officers willing to follow his every command without hesitation.

I believe that is what ALL military persons are trained to do (except illegal orders of course) so why would he want anything else?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

To be or not to be a hawk or a dove. 'That is the question. : Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?'

That's...not what that soliloquy is about.

 

[rjs330]

There are more than 1.29 million active-duty troops and 760,000 in the National Guard and reserves and close to 1,000,000 civilian employees—located all over the world—that make up the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense inventory is worth approximately $124.5 billion and has an annual budget of over $800 billion. The Department of Defense manages more than 4,790 military sites worldwide, including over 568,000 facilities and nearly 27 million acres of land. Many of these facilities are, in reality, municipalities with all of the housing, the utilities systems, maintenance and transportation requirements, policing needs, and schools and hospitals typical of a small city. The Department of Defense operates airlines, shipping lines, communication systems, supply distribution systems, and maintenance establishments in support of these facilities and their operations.

In your opinion, what qualifications should a person in charge of such a large organization have?

Do you think the SecDef actually runs that themselves? Or will he have people to assist doing that?

 

[rjs330]

After listening to the guy, I'm convinced. He's going to be great for the military. He's going to to be a disaster for the leftist ideology in the military.

People might actually start signing up again.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Yes, that's exactly who I'm referring to. Here's what his bio on his website states:

Pete served as in Infantry Officer in the Army National Guard, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. He holds two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge for his time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hegseth also held the position of CEO for Concerned Veterans for America—a veterans advocacy organization.

Hegseth has a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (although he mailed this degree back to Harvard!).

He has an average bio for his time in service, the rank he held, and the time period he served. I also noticed he was untabbed which is unusual for an infantry officer.

There are millions of veterans in the United States, with tens of thousands of them either currently or having held the rank of major. Does that qualify each and every one of them for the highest military position outside commander in chief? Hegseth's primary job for the last 10 years was a Fox News host. He has no significant experience in the government at high levels and has no experience running an organization with a significant number of people under him, much less one the size of the Department of Defense, which has over 3.4 million.

Hegseth is clearly unqualified and it's highly unlikely that he will be confirmed as Secretary of Defense.

I guess Robert McNamara was too then:
McNamara Bio:
Robert McNamara was born in San Francisco, California.[3] His father was Robert James McNamara, sales manager of a wholesale shoe company, and his mother was Clara Nell (Strange) McNamara.[6][7][8] His father's family was Irish and, in about 1850, following the Great Irish Famine, had emigrated to the U.S., first to Massachusetts and later to California.[9] He graduated from Piedmont High School in Piedmont, California in 1933, where he was president of the Rigma Lions boys club[10] and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. McNamara attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1937 with a B.A. in economics with minors in mathematics and philosophy. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity,[11] was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his sophomore year, and earned a varsity letter in crew. Before commissioning into the Army Air Force, McNamara was a Cadet in the Golden Bear Battalion at U.C. Berkeley.[12] McNamara was also a member of the UC Berkeley's Order of the Golden Bear, a fellowship of students and leading faculty members formed to promote leadership within the student body. He then attended Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA in 1939.
Immediately thereafter, McNamara worked for a year at Price Waterhouse, a San Francisco accounting firm. He returned to Harvard in August 1940 to teach accounting in the Business School and became the institution's highest-paid and youngest assistant professor at that time.[13]
wiki

Nothing here to qualify him for SoDef (by your standards) but he served under both Kennedy and Johnson.

 

[JosephZ]

Isn't that like saying you need presidential experience to be President?

No, because the president appoints people to do the jobs he's not able or qualified to do himself.

Why dont' you wait and see what kind of job he does BEFORE criticizing the choice?

He was passed over for the job of Director of Veteran's Affairs in 2018, and he hasn't done anything else since to improve his resume.

Pete Hegseth, a decorated Army veteran thought to be considered to run Veteran's Affairs, portrays himself as a defender of traditional family values despite extramarital affairs with co-workers and divorces.

March 27, 2018

An APM Reports investigation has found Hegseth engaged in two extramarital affairs with co-workers during two marriages and paid his brother — who had no professional experience — $108,000 to work for him while chief executive of a non-profit. And while running a political action committee in his native Minnesota, Hegseth spent a third of the PAC's money on Christmas parties for families and friends.

Hegseth has worked years to cultivate himself as rock-ribbed conservative, volunteering for combat, advocating for veterans and speaking publicly and writing about family values. But court filings, nonprofit tax records from Hegseth's time as an executive, and campaign finance reports show that some of the Army veteran's choices belie the image he's carefully crafted since his college days. That little-known history could raise questions as to whether the 37-year-old has the experience and temperament to run the VA, a $186 billion organization that provides health care benefits to 9 million veterans.

Hegseth's resume lacks the leadership experience of running large organizations, certainly any as large as Veterans Affairs. And in two leadership positions Hegseth made decisions that could prompt scrutiny during a confirmation hearing.

Hegseth's management of a political action committee in Minnesota also could invite questions about how he spent campaign donations.

In 2012, Hegseth formed MN PAC, an organization aimed at supporting "conservative candidates in contested races." But an analysis of the organization's spending — less than $15,000 — shows it spent less than half on behalf of candidates. A third of the PAC's funds was spent on two Christmas parties and reimbursements to Hegseth.

 

[civilwarbuff]

No, because the president appoints people to do the jobs he's not able or qualified to do himself.

What do you think ALL the dept. heads do? You think the SoDef, it they have an Air Force background, tells the admirals how to sail their ships?.....or maybe he can run a Marine Division from planning thru execution? They are the managers/thinkers/big picture people. They have experts (we hope) who work for them that work out the details and implementation. Have you ever been in management before?

 

[JosephZ]

Nothing here to qualify him for SoDef (by your standards) but he served under both Kennedy and Johnson.

You left out a lot of his background, skills, and accomplishments.

Following his involvement in a Harvard program to teach analytical approaches used in business to officers of the United States Army Air Forces, McNamara entered the USAAF as a captain in early 1943, serving most of World War II with its Office of Statistical Control. One of his major responsibilities was the analysis of U.S. bombers' efficiency and effectiveness, especially the B-29 forces commanded by Major General Curtis LeMay in India, China, and the Mariana Islands.[14] McNamara established a statistical control unit for the XX Bomber Command and devised schedules for B-29s doubling as transports for carrying fuel and cargo over the Hump. He left active duty in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and with a Legion of Merit.

In 1946, Tex Thornton, a colonel under whom McNamara had served, put together a group of former officers from the Office of Statistical Control to go into business together. Thornton had seen an article in Life magazine portraying the Ford Motor Company as being in dire need of reform. Henry Ford II, himself a World War II veteran from the Navy, hired the entire group of ten, including McNamara.

They helped the money-losing company reform its chaotic administration through modern planning, organization, and management control systems. Because of their youth, combined with asking many questions, Ford employees initially and disparagingly referred to them as the "Quiz Kids". The Quiz Kids rebranded themselves as the "Whiz Kids".

Starting as manager of planning and financial analysis, McNamara advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions. McNamara had Ford adopt computers to construct models to find the most efficient, rational means of production, which led to much rationalization.[15] McNamara's style of "scientific management" with his use of spreadsheets featuring graphs showing trends in the auto industry were regarded as extremely innovative in the 1950s and were much copied by other executives in the following decades.[15] In his 1995 memoirs, McNamara wrote: "I had spent fifteen years as a manager [at Ford] identifying problems and forcing organizations—often against their will—to think deeply and realistically about alternative courses of action and their consequences".[15] He was a force behind the Ford Falcon sedan, introduced in the fall of 1959—a small, simple and inexpensive-to-produce counter to the large, expensive vehicles prominent in the late 1950s. McNamara placed a high emphasis on safety: the Lifeguard options package introduced the seat belt (a novelty at the time), padded visor, and dished steering wheel, which helped to prevent the driver from being impaled on the steering column during a collision.[16][17]

On November 9, 1960, McNamara became the first president of the Ford Motor Company from outside the Ford family since John S. Gray in 1906

 

[civilwarbuff]

You left out a lot of his background, skills, and accomplishments.

Following his involvement in a Harvard program to teach analytical approaches used in business to officers of the United States Army Air Forces, McNamara entered the USAAF as a captain in early 1943, serving most of World War II with its Office of Statistical Control. One of his major responsibilities was the analysis of U.S. bombers' efficiency and effectiveness, especially the B-29 forces commanded by Major General Curtis LeMay in India, China, and the Mariana Islands.[14] McNamara established a statistical control unit for the XX Bomber Command and devised schedules for B-29s doubling as transports for carrying fuel and cargo over the Hump. He left active duty in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and with a Legion of Merit.

In 1946, Tex Thornton, a colonel under whom McNamara had served, put together a group of former officers from the Office of Statistical Control to go into business together. Thornton had seen an article in Life magazine portraying the Ford Motor Company as being in dire need of reform. Henry Ford II, himself a World War II veteran from the Navy, hired the entire group of ten, including McNamara.

They helped the money-losing company reform its chaotic administration through modern planning, organization, and management control systems. Because of their youth, combined with asking many questions, Ford employees initially and disparagingly referred to them as the "Quiz Kids". The Quiz Kids rebranded themselves as the "Whiz Kids".

Starting as manager of planning and financial analysis, McNamara advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions. McNamara had Ford adopt computers to construct models to find the most efficient, rational means of production, which led to much rationalization.[15] McNamara's style of "scientific management" with his use of spreadsheets featuring graphs showing trends in the auto industry were regarded as extremely innovative in the 1950s and were much copied by other executives in the following decades.[15] In his 1995 memoirs, McNamara wrote: "I had spent fifteen years as a manager [at Ford] identifying problems and forcing organizations—often against their will—to think deeply and realistically about alternative courses of action and their consequences".[15] He was a force behind the Ford Falcon sedan, introduced in the fall of 1959—a small, simple and inexpensive-to-produce counter to the large, expensive vehicles prominent in the late 1950s. McNamara placed a high emphasis on safety: the Lifeguard options package introduced the seat belt (a novelty at the time), padded visor, and dished steering wheel, which helped to prevent the driver from being impaled on the steering column during a collision.[16][17]

On November 9, 1960, McNamara became the first president of the Ford Motor Company from outside the Ford family since John S. Gray in 1906

Thank you for pointing out that outside of the AAF he had absolutely no qualifications to be Sec of Def.....but nevertheless he was considered one of the better ones even though under him we got involved in Vietnam.

 

[JosephZ]

Thank you for pointing out that outside of the AAF he had absolutely no qualifications to be Sec of Def.....but nevertheless he was considered one of the better ones even though under him we got involved in Vietnam.

McNamara had an understanding of defense strategy, had a strong background in leadership, and strong management skills.

 

[wing2000]

Are you referring to Major Hegseth - Army 2003 to present. He served in the Iraq War, Afghanistan war - received 2 Bronze Stars and 2 Army Commendation Medals - one for heroism.

Following graduation from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was also commissioned as an infantry officer in the Minnesota National Guard. In 2004 his unit was called to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where he served as an infantry platoon leader with the Minnesota Army National Guard. His unit was under the operational control of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after returning from Cuba, Hegseth volunteered to serve in Baghdad and Samarra, where he held the position of infantry platoon leader and, later in Samarra, as Civil–Military Operations Officer. During his time in Iraq, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and a second Army Commendation Medal.

He returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul.

That Major Hegseth who has served the Army the last 21 years in both active duty and National Guard.

That is the problem with the left propaganda machine - they leave out the story back ground and just complain about a trumped up story.

Sure, he served in the military.

What executive management experience does he have managing a large organization?

 

[timothyu]

That's...not what that soliloquy is about.

It's appropriate though

 

[civilwarbuff]

McNamara had an understanding of defense strategy,

From doing what?

 

[JosephZ]

From doing what?

He worked in the Office of Statistical Control during World War II. The Office of Statistical Control is responsible for collecting, processing, analyzing, and presenting statistics on all phases of Air Force strength and activity for the purpose of laying a foundation for operational planning.

 

[JosephZ]

Thank you for pointing out that outside of the AAF he had absolutely no qualifications to be Sec of Def.

McNamara was the manager of planning and financial analysis for Ford Motor Company and worked his way up through high-ranking management positions to eventually become president of the company. Ford was the 3rd largest corporation in the United States at the time and the 4th largest in the world. There's no comparison between his qualifications to be Secretary of Defense and Hegseth's.

 

[timothyu]

Ford also built for Germany in WWII. Wars are profitable so whoever runs the military is well aware of the fact of the double standard. Aggression and defence aren't the only factors.