tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post2383944307781810582..comments2024-03-11T13:16:19.098-04:00Comments on Ad Orientem: Petraeus scandal puts four-star general lifestyle under scrutinyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-5480897459907066182012-11-19T19:48:00.690-05:002012-11-19T19:48:00.690-05:00Has anyone made the argument that Richard Gabriel&...Has anyone made the argument that Richard Gabriel's 30 year old analysis of military incompetence is no longer accurate? If so I'd like to read it. Every member of my extended family who has served is decidedly of the opinion that competence is not correlative to advancement, but grant it, all of them save my mother (a nurse) were in the enlisted ranks.<br /><br />And as for aristocracy, my former boss grew up in NY where his father taught at West Point (when he wasn't off a warring in WWII). That boss' grandfather also taught at West Point for many years. That boss' brother just retired a few years ago from teaching at West Point. All three of those family members retired as generals. The boss in question married a girl who grew up on Martha's Vineyard. When talking about his childhood at West Point, and his family experiences there, he never left me with anything other than the impression that the place was dominated by not just blue bloods, but blue bloods from old WASP elite American families. Perhaps all the inbreeding led to the extraordinary level of incompetence seen in American military history. Ochlophobist https://www.blogger.com/profile/13751003558600087713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-35220075237326616432012-11-18T19:57:39.340-05:002012-11-18T19:57:39.340-05:00On the lack of a functioning meritocracy at the ge...On the lack of a functioning meritocracy at the general officer level-- http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/general-failure/309148/Samn!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14142811721903345946noreply@blogger.com