Off With Their Heads!
Bob Gates is the firing-est Defense Secretary ever… and people love it!
When it comes to involuntary separations of subordinates who fail to produce results, Donald Trump has nothing on Bob Gates.
Back when I was still reporting CNN, I once dubbed the crafty former spymaster, “the firing-est Defense Secretary ever.”
Donald Rumsfeld had a reputation as a tough boss, but frankly he was a pushover compared to Gates, whose ability to conceal his iron fist inside a velvet glove is nonpareil.
Scandal at Walter Reed? Goodbye Army Secretary and Surgeon General. Loose Nukes? So long Air Force Chief and Secretary. Long war going on too long? Buh-bye Afghanistan Commander, F-35 over budget? “You’re Fired!”
[Defense secretary Gates fires general in charge of Joint Strike Fighter program- Washington Post, Feb 2, 2010]
“If I’ve set one tone at the Department of Defense, it’s that when things go wrong, people will be held accountable,” Gates told reporters last week.
And it turns out that, except for the victim, almost everybody — especially Congress — LOVES it when people are fired in the name of accountability, no matter how at fault they really were.
(Has anyone noticed that Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s vaunted new Afghanistan strategy — including his call more a troop surge — is not substantially different from the strategy Gen. David McKiernan advocated, but never got the resources to fully implement?)
In 2008 Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) gushed over Gate’s willingness to sacrifice subordinates when things went wrong, “Not once but twice when I doubted whether or not you would be willing to fire a top commander based on issues within their command, you exceeded my expectations,” she complimented Gates at a Senate hearing.
If you needed any clue to Gates’ propensity to jettison subpar performers regardless of prior success you need look no further than his tenure as President of Texas A&M University, where one of his first acts was to fire the winnings football coach in Aggie history, R.C. Slocum. In 14 years Slocum had never had a losing season, but when the Aggies slipped to 6–6 in 2002, and lost to rival Texas 50 to 20, Gates wasted no time sending him packing.
And of course Gates dispatched him with what has become his trademark practice: generous praise for past accomplishments, while making clear he no longer considered him part of the solution.
“Coach Slocum is one of the most respected and admired members of the Aggie family, and he has much still to offer the university he has served so long with rare integrity and skill,” Gates said at the time.
Gates would later joke privately that during his time at the CIA he’d overthrown governments of small countries with less blowback.
Time Magazine, Feb 15, 2010
Gates — like his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld — is a wily cold warrior, who has shown he can be a tenacious infighter. But while Rumsfeld was, in his own way, an idealist, Gates remains much more the cool-handed pragmatist.
Time magazine’s current cover story calls Gates, “a guy who holds his cards close to his vest and knows just when to play them.” The picture on the cover is not particularly flattering, but from what I could see in my time covering him, I’d say the portrait drawn on the inside pages got the nuances of Gates complicated personality just about right.
Tags: F-35, Firings, Gates, Pace
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Comments (8)
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GI Joe · 174 weeks ago
Rumsfeld was a disrespectful, lowlife jerk to everyone. He was
arrogant, petty, arbitrary and had no coherent vision. And while I have
no direct proof of this, circumstantial evidence strongly suggests he
was an outright liar as well. Gates, like everyone, may have his faults,
but thank god he's no Don Rumsfeld.
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Maximum Leader Adbul · 174 weeks ago
Gates might very well be impressive with his firing abilities but look
at the incompetents that almost always exacerbate the problem: Slocum
was replaced with Franchione at A&M under Gates tutelage and that
rube was no coach. He was fired shortly after Gate's departed for the
Pentagon.
Gates cut his teeth originally as a missileer in the Air Force where the Strategic Air Command motto was, "To err is human but to forgive is not SAC policy." In all likelihood, with all of the ass burning throughout SAC at the time, it is highly likely that Gates learned to enjoy the art of smoking out subordinates. Moving forward, Gates selected McChrystal, not because of his combat prowess but rather his good company manners(I was polite and did NOT say brown noser). Moreover, Obama needed a fresh new general in Afghanistan that would be submissive to the civilian leadership. The way to guarantee this was to pick a 3 star general and promote him to his 4th star which means McChrystal can retire at that grade with just two years time in grade. If he screws up, he will not have the time in grade to retire at that grade. You can rest assured that McChrystal will play nicey nice for the remainder of his time as they will most assuredly be grooming and preparing a new replacement for some time in early 2011. McChrystal was one of the many officers that found themselves entwined in the Tillman tragedy.
It's nice to praise and worship Gates but the replacements for the incompetents that he fires are inept too which makes one wonder about Gates.
Gates cut his teeth originally as a missileer in the Air Force where the Strategic Air Command motto was, "To err is human but to forgive is not SAC policy." In all likelihood, with all of the ass burning throughout SAC at the time, it is highly likely that Gates learned to enjoy the art of smoking out subordinates. Moving forward, Gates selected McChrystal, not because of his combat prowess but rather his good company manners(I was polite and did NOT say brown noser). Moreover, Obama needed a fresh new general in Afghanistan that would be submissive to the civilian leadership. The way to guarantee this was to pick a 3 star general and promote him to his 4th star which means McChrystal can retire at that grade with just two years time in grade. If he screws up, he will not have the time in grade to retire at that grade. You can rest assured that McChrystal will play nicey nice for the remainder of his time as they will most assuredly be grooming and preparing a new replacement for some time in early 2011. McChrystal was one of the many officers that found themselves entwined in the Tillman tragedy.
It's nice to praise and worship Gates but the replacements for the incompetents that he fires are inept too which makes one wonder about Gates.
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Guest · 174 weeks ago
Time would have been better served by putting a photo that more
resembles Sec. Gates on the cover. C'mon Man it does not even look like
him. Conduct a poll and you will see the results.
It is about time someone holds the Pentagon senior leaders accountable and no doubt there are a few more that should be sent packing! Sec. Gates is doing a wonderful job and that is what our fighting men and women deserve and need from a SECDEF!
It is about time someone holds the Pentagon senior leaders accountable and no doubt there are a few more that should be sent packing! Sec. Gates is doing a wonderful job and that is what our fighting men and women deserve and need from a SECDEF!
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MCrayton · 174 weeks ago
If you don't have support from the top it sucks all the way down! I
think Secretary Gates is doing a fine job. Nothing wrong with firing
people, for that matter not always anything wrong with being fired.
Sometimes you find yourself in the den with the lions and when the lions
are winning extraction is not a bad thing.
0
Charlie · 174 weeks ago
It's great that members of our House and Senate in Congress love the
removable of incompetents. I can't wait until they get to see and feel
the result of their upcoming firings in November
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Guest · 174 weeks ago
Sec Gates is doing an admirable job and his style should be taught in
every military or management school in the country. Here is a man who
can get stuff DONE in the most unlikely conditions. Wish I could buy him
a beer!
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primetime · 174 weeks ago
Gee, I must be one of the few that has a better impression of Rummy
than Gates. I personally had no trouble with Rumsfeld once he saw that I
knew what I was doing. Gates...I never served with but have heard from
people who worked with him who have nothing good to say about him...one
thing for certain...he is a survivor, a pragmatist...how else could you
catagorize someone who served two such disparate Presidents...and don't
insult my intelligence by saying that the SECDEF is non-political! What I
see when I hear "he is a pragmatist" is people like Jim Baker, Brent
Scowcroft and Bush 41...these are people who believe in only one
thing...keeping themselves employed. Pragmatists do not have beliefs,
which makes them all the more dangerous. They will do what is necessary
to win...at least Rummy believed in something other than himself.
Having said that, I do agree with Gates on one firing...he was absolutely correct to fire Wynn and T. Michael. They were incompetants and the AF was better off with them gone...of course then the new SECAF and CSAF are emasculated as well and Gates can savage the AF as he has.
One man's opinion.
Having said that, I do agree with Gates on one firing...he was absolutely correct to fire Wynn and T. Michael. They were incompetants and the AF was better off with them gone...of course then the new SECAF and CSAF are emasculated as well and Gates can savage the AF as he has.
One man's opinion.
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Jeff · 174 weeks ago
"...admirable job and his style should be taught in every military or
management school..." you have to be kidding! You’ve been watching too
much Don Trump TV. A leader has to have the ability to make decisions
and believe their leadership will support them. This type of
mis-management generates an atmosphere of avoiding decisions and always
looking over your shoulder. It should be taught has how NOT to do it.
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