The Joint Chiefs, including their Senior Enlisted failed in their leadership obligation to take care of those troops serving under them tasked with the Biden Administration's Inauguration.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West comments pretty much sums it up.
https://twitter.com/newsmax/status/1352881251913371651
J.
Wasn't he dishonorably discharged?
Posted by: Steve | 25 January 2021 at 03:07 PM
steve
Not that I know of. He wouldn't be "retired" if that were true. In any event, officers are "dismissed" not dishonorable discharged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_West_(politician)
According to this he was allowed to retire as a Lt. Col.
Posted by: turcopolier | 25 January 2021 at 03:23 PM
There was an issue with West supposedly threatening an Iraqi
POW with a gun. IMHO, it was obvious the Army just wanted to be rid of him. I agree with Col.Lang, Allen West was is a retired LTC.
Posted by: elaine | 25 January 2021 at 06:27 PM
elaine
There is no question about West. He is a retired LTC however much I may think he is a jerk who should have been given a General Court Martial.
Posted by: turcopolier | 25 January 2021 at 08:38 PM
Yes, there was a failure to take care of the NG troops in DC, but it wasn't a failure of the JCS, Trump or Biden. Nor was it the fault of Congress. If any one person is to blame, it is the DC National Guard commander. I believe he was in charge. I don't expect any of those other individuals to personally ensure those troops had cots or three A rations a day. I was shocked that those basic amenities were not provided. Surely contingency plans must exist to cover this situation. It should have been a simple thing to coordinate and accomplish. That shit wouldn't have happened in the Hollow Army days.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 25 January 2021 at 10:09 PM
Seems to me that the way Congress looked after the NG and others that they wanted to be around to protect their perfumed selves was a disgrace and a major strategic mistake.
A grade one 'piss off the military' move, further shamed by Trump's excellent PR offer to open his hotel to the military.
Talk about arrogant fools!
Posted by: JohninMK | 26 January 2021 at 06:31 AM
TTG
How about just sheer incompetence on the part of the DC National Guard commander and staff? How about the notion that most National Guard seniors are just political hacks, skilled in state or DC politics and nothing else? How about the possibility that a "Quartering Plan" was far beyond their wildest imaginings?
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 January 2021 at 10:45 AM
I could be wrong...but...
It's my understanding, based on what I've seen in the media, that the NG soldiers were taking rest time during the duty day in the garage. I've seen no mention of where the soldiers are being quartered. My assumption is that they are being quartered elsewhere. I base that assumption on the specific reporting referring to rest during the duty day, and the minimal gear that the soldiers in the garage appear to have with them. They seem to have day packs, and nothing else.
My initial conclusion is that this is much ado about nothing. Taking a break for a few hours in a covered parking garage beats taking a break in an open field, or not getting a break at all. There's only one electrical outlet? First, I doubt that's true, and second, if it is true, too bad. If the worst thing soldiers have to complain about is lack of access to electricity to charge their smartphones, they have it pretty good.
All the talking heads are working overtime to invoke outrage through their typical "click bait" pronunciations. I suspect there isn't much fire under all this smoke they are yelling about.
JMG
Posted by: JM Gavin | 26 January 2021 at 11:52 AM
JM Gavin
That may be but I stand by my comment on the general incompetence of NG top leadership.
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 January 2021 at 12:17 PM
It appears a failure to communicate between the Capitol Police and the officer in charge of the men in that building.
If there had been a compelling reason for those men to leave the building Duckworth wouldn't have been able to almost immediately get them right back in. Best guess is it never occurred to the cops to ask the OIC if he had someplace with heat and heads for them to go right now or if he needed another day to find a place...and it never occurred to the OIC to ask. SNAFU fixed in a couple hours...but as we all know in DC an outrage is a terrible thing to waste.
LTC West's blaming of this kind of screw up on JCS and POTUS smells of virtue signaling. He knows better.
Posted by: Mark K Logan | 26 January 2021 at 12:40 PM
COL Lang,
I've never been impressed with Guard leadership at the state level. They are proficient enough to occupy any golf course or 5-star hotel suite to standard, and not much else.
Mark Logan,
In ordinary times I would have agreed with you. In this particular case, the JCS and Army secretary have all been very vocal about the Guard's presence in D.C., talking about the reason for the deployment, the threats the Guard is countering, etc. They have been very clear that they were actively involved in the deployment process. They wanted to be seen as "owning" the success that supposedly resulted from the Guard's presence. In my view, they can own the whole thing, good and bad.
JMG
Posted by: JM Gavin | 26 January 2021 at 01:53 PM
pl,
Isn't that what I said?
"If any one person is to blame, it is the DC National Guard commander."
JM Gavin,
I agree. I read that the troops were quartered in hotels for the most part, even if they were hot bunked or doubled up in the rooms. All those troops lying about the Capitol floor may have been on break, although I still think they should have had cots. And I hope they weren't relying on World Central Kitchen for meals. If it was more like "hot soup on the DZ" or roach coaches on the range, that's fine.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 26 January 2021 at 02:01 PM
TTG
I have the right to expand on your comment.
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 January 2021 at 04:01 PM
I say pull the NG out of DC. Congress protects itself with 15,000 Guards, 5,000 through mid-March and fencing topped with razor wire. Congress wouldn't lift a finger to protect the businesses of citizens in Portland, Seattle and all the other cities burned, looted and destroyed. As some of the congress-critters said, "That's what social protest looks like," giving the BLM and antifa insurgents encouragement to run rampant in our streets. They think Pelosi's lectern, which never left the Capitol Building, is worth more than the corner market a family poured their life savings into that a mob burned down because nobody was there to protect it. Then again Dems don't believe in private property.
Posted by: optimax | 26 January 2021 at 11:01 PM