Warrior Board
Exposing their ignorance of the inner workings of the Department of Defense even more, the Trump administration is proposing something called a “Warrior Board” that will review the conduct and performance of current Generals (4-Star) and Lieutenant Generals (3-Star) in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, along with the equivalent Admiral ranks in the Navy.
This Warrior Board will be made up of retired senior military leaders and they will have the mandate from the President and the Secretary of Defense to examine the current list of senior Flag Officers and determine who should stay and who should go. Sounds brilliant to those who don’t know how things ACTUALLY work within the DoD.
Again, their intent is great, but in reality, it’s pretty damn dumb. Here’s why:
When you get to the 4 and 3-Star level in any of the services, the population gets really small, really fast. Everyone knows everyone. And everyone who is retired knows those still in uniform. There is actually a VERY good chance the officers who are still serving were put there by those that are retired.
In the plainest of language: Generals make Generals.
4-Stars make other 4-Stars as well as 3- and 2-Stars. 3-Stars make 2- and 1- Stars. 2-Stars make 1-Stars and Colonels who will become 1-Stars someday. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS.
These men and women served together FOR YEARS. Many have known each other since they were young officers and even potentially back to their respective service academies. Their families know each other. Their kids grew up together. These relationships run DEEP, and they don’t stop at retirement.
And even if they don’t directly know each other, they are about one degree of separation apart. What does that mean? It means that a board member examining an officer under review likely has a personal or professional relationship with that officer’s mentor or former boss (likely also retired). Do you really think there won’t be phone calls between retired officers?
“Hey, I heard through the rumor mill you are on the board examining, so-and-so.”
“You know I can’t say anything.”
“You don’t have to. But, he’s my guy. I’m not asking for anything, I’m just saying he is my guy.”
“Yep. Got it.”
And how are you going to STOP that? These guys are retired! You can’t threaten their pension. And even if you did, they would raise the biggest stink you’ve ever seen! Oh, by the way, they are probably making more money on the board of some defense company than their pension anyway.
Are you going to ORDER them to participate in these boards? Really? No, you’re not. You may ask for volunteers, which you’ll likely get a few. Then, those volunteers will make recommendations on who stays and who goes. And those recommendations will end careers. And those on the board have the potential to be ostracized from their own retired Flag Officer community as a result. How many more times will people volunteer after that?
I’ll give you a hint….It’s never.
What about using cross service boards? Have the Army look at Marines? And the Air Force look at the Navy? Beyond the fact many of those officers STILL KNOW EACH OTHER, you’re also breeding some very intense interservice rivalry. I’m not talking “Go Army! Beat Navy!” level rivalry. I’m talking about making phone calls to have budgets impacted kind of rivalries.
What about a Joint Service Board? One made up of officers from every service? Same result. The retired Marine on the board is going to speak up for the Marine being evaluated and everyone will generally follow THAT recommendation, and we are back where we started from.
Oh, and here comes the best part. Many of the retired 4 and 3-Stars STILL work in roles to educate and train the current crop of 3- and 2-Stars! Relationships are being continued or even new ones being built every single day!! Through General Officer Professional Military Education (GOPME), through large training and simulation exercises, and through focused mentorship programs, these retired Generals stay connected to the current population.
What does that mean? It means the retired population acting as mentors and instructors and evaluators are immediately OUT of the pool of candidates to sit on the Warrior Board. There is an immediate conflict of interest there, plus if they work for a private contract company there may be a contractual conflict as well.
What about a board made up of former civilian DoD leaders? Same relationships and now you’ve introduced politics into the mix. Those former SECDEF, DEPSECDEF and Under Secretaries are all tied to former administrations and their policies. If you’re trying to root out the DEI and “wokeism”, are you going to bring in ANYONE who served under the Biden or Obama administrations? Not a chance.
So, in the end, the Warrior Board is likely a fool’s errand. It is also going to be a big failure for the brand new SECDEF. First task from President Trump and it will crash and burn. Not really setting Pete Hegseth up for success off the bat.
Very much like the nomination of Hegseth for SECDEF, the Warrior Board concept has great intentions behind it. It really does. Trying to crack the egg on holding those senior leaders accountable is an ever-evolving issue, but it is something Department of Defense needs to put A TON of effort into BEFORE it hits the media. This is not something you just blurt out at a press conference without a REAL plan.
In execution, I think the first recommendation from the first Warrior Board will be….get rid of the Warrior Board.