GEN Odierno's Exchange w/Congressman Hunter

[Muscle2002]

Interesting exchange (one-way mostly)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGaIZXZmAM

Edited May 1, 2013 by Muscle2002

[herkbum]

Fail

[DEVIL]

Jersey Strong.

[Vetter]

God, he sounds like a little bitch.

[pittsdriver]

I was an ALO with Gen O. During an exercise about 40 slides deep into a 100 plus slide briefing Gen O. Stood up and said "I don't care about all these useless f--king slides, just tell me who is winning the f--king war". It got pretty quiet after that and no more slides.

[guineapigfury]

I was an ALO with Gen O. During an exercise about 40 slides deep into a 100 plus slide briefing Gen O. Stood up and said "I don't care about all these useless f--king slides, just tell me who is winning the f--king war". It got pretty quiet after that and no more slides.

That is awesome. So many briefers are code 3 without powerpoint.

[Everybody Knows]

......Full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

[brickhistory]

Another example of the politization (sp?) of the military. We expect petty BS from Congress but not from the military.

Not a good thing and a great way to get your budget slashed.

[17D_guy]

Not a good thing and a great way to get your budget slashed.

More?

[brickhistory]

More?

Yep. If you think the congressman didn't leave and sic his staff on finding a way to punish Odierno (deservedly), I think you are naïve. But I see Odierno with political ambitions a la Wesley Clark. Democrat with military experience and a favorite of this Administration.

[Prozac]

Looked to me like a military leader standing up to a politician. Couldn't we use more of that right now?

[matmacwc]

Looked to me like a military leader standing up to a politician. Couldn't we use more of that right now?

Nope

[Termy]

Agree with Prozac. Go ask the Army bros what they think of General Odierno; everyone I know thinks very highly of him.

[amcflyboy]

Nope

Fail.

[matmacwc]

Dudes, I wish they could and would, but that's not how our system is set up. I see a lot of constitution thumpers around here (me included), so you cant really tell them to pound sand. The thought of the military standing up to our civilian leadership is a nogo for me.

[HeloDude]

True...but a Congressman is not part of 'leadership' per se. But yes, we are required to give them their due respect. Which is why I have never said anything negative about any public official ever.

[brickhistory]

Odierno's behavior was wrong.

Regardless of what party the d-bag is doing the questioning, it is the military's role to answer factually and unemotionally. Se the one star calling Sen Boxer "Ma'am" for the correct TTP.

Here is where I start to put my spin on it vice just the facts: I believe Odierno was p.o.'d, but because Big Green handled DCGS-A badly and have been called out repeatedly by Congress in general and Hunter in particular. Odierno doesn't like having to explain himself.

I also believe he has political aspirations in his not too distant future with a big D after his name. This footage will be in campaign ad...

edited to spell DCGS-A correctly

Edited May 2, 2013 by brickhistory

[D_Vezencuando]

Inouye addressing North ... but that's ancient history these days.

[Prozac]

Agree that the military should and will always be subservient to civilian leadership. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that our highest ranking officers should automatically bend to the will of politicians. For instance, they should be insisting on BRACing superfluous bases regardless of who's district they're in. I admit, I don't know shit about DCGS-A, and Brick, you seem to, so I'll take your word that it was handled badly. I don't think that the general's tone was de-facto inappropriate however.