As the world has been forced to come to grips with the failing mental capacity and the cognizance of the current Commander-in Chief (CINC) of the US Armed Forces (the President for those who didn’t do well in Civics), the silence of a very important and potentially influential group of former public servants is becoming troubling. Why aren’t the thousands of retired senior officers standing up and speaking about the dangers that a bumbling president is putting us all in?   Their silence is deafening.   I do not understand.

As some know, I am a retired commissioned officer.    I took an oath in 1985 and entered service as a second lieutenant, retiring 21 years later at the rank of lieutenant colonel.  I deployed to 4 wartime engagements and was promoted on time to all ranks.  I retired in the year of my colonel’s board and would probably have made it had I stuck around.  No way would I have been a general—I had a good record but not one good enough to make flag rank.    I loved every moment of my time in uniform.  Had some hard days, but never had a bad day.   I served with, worked for and led some of the finest men and women on the planet.   I took my oath and performed my duties very seriously.

I paid attention to things as an officer.  I paid very careful attention to the duties and to the responsibilities bestowed on me and on my colleagues, peers, subordinates and superiors.  Our business was deadly—literally.  I worked for a time in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) where our job was to be ready to respond to a strategic attack on the United States.    For those unfamiliar—I’m speaking of the most horrifying possibility known to man—a nuclear attack.  From 1947 – 1992, SAC stood at the ready, and we petrified the USSR and later the Red Chinese.   They never thought of attacking us because we were always ready.   We were like a pen full of highly trained German Shepherds; it would end badly for someone to come in our fence.   I hope to God the men and women who do those jobs today are as ready as we were.

A component of us being ready is that we were always led well.   In the terrible event of an attack on our homeland, it was the President or Secretary of Defense who could authorize us to defend ourselves.  No one else.   Though the political nuances of whoever happened to be the CINC changed every 4-8 years, all of the men who served in that capacity were ready and cognizant.   In a matter of moments, in nearly the blink of an eye, a President would be informed of the need to take action or not take action.    Some group of analysts and leaders somewhere would come and tell the president what was happening and THEN, the President would have to make a decision.

Most people who served in the military understand the gravity of the sequences of events that would take us to that point.  All need to be doing their jobs—all the time—every day.    It’s not a risk mitigation world, it’s a zero defects world.  We couldn’t be wrong, and the president had to get it right.    An analyst or a commander in the chain would have the luxury of being back-stopped by others—many others.  But not the President.    Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush had good minds. Though some picked on Reagan, his mental acuity was never in serious question, but we were not challenged by our enemies.   After SAC, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump were at the helm and though they all had enormous egos and political things going on, there’s no question that they were ready to make the hardest decisions.   I suspect our enemies knew this, too.

But what do they know now?  What do they think now?   Having studied foreign adversaries for over 35 years in the intelligence business, I can tell you what I THINK they’re thinking.   It concerns me.

As country singer Aaron Lewis says, “Am I the only one?”   I guess that’s being dramatic, but if there has been a parade of retired senior people standing up and voicing concern over a President who sometimes doesn’t know the year we’re in or whether the President of France is Francois Mitterand (who has been dead for many years) or someone else, I most certainly have missed it.    If there has been a letter from 51 retired generals and admiral declaring their concern over the fitness of 46, I’m guessing it has been suppressed by the media.    If a bunch of retired 4 stars has requested an audience with the President to voice their concerns over this or ANYTHING, I haven’t seen it.

The flipside to all of this is that our military has traditionally been politically neutral.  And that’s a good thing.   Politics should NOT be present on an active installation, other than Voting Officers making sure our troops know how to get absentee ballots.    People wearing the uniform of our country do NOT EVER need to be involved in politics.  We all understood it years ago.   Lots of us voted, but we were public servants, not tools of the politicians.

But when we retire, we regain our ability to be engaged.  Some never get engaged, and that’s ok.     But men and women who achieve flag rank are mostly brilliant and insightful people.   They’re usually MENSA smart and very intuitive.  I guess maybe they got used to being obscure and on the sidelines.

But our country is in danger right now.   In my estimation, we have someone with limited intellectual capacity or sharpness in the most powerful position on the planet.   And all the flags are silent.   Why?   Are they hoping something will get better.   Admiral Ronny Jackson is in Congress, so is Brigadier General Don Bacon, and they are doing their jobs.   But what about the men and women whose voice could be loud or impactful?   Is there a code that says retired flags can’t speak up?

And yes, I know Trump was brash and to some obnoxious. He’s repulsive to some.    But this has nothing to do with him.  This has to do with the here and now and the fitness of who will be remain at the helm for our country—for at least six months and maybe longer.    And though Trump offended many, I don’t recall him embarrassing us on a battlefield.

If the flags hate Trump so much, get on board with someone else.   But why are they sitting this out?    They MUST KNOW THE DANGER we are in.

I hope they wake up. It would be ok if they spoke up.  One way or another.

 

Very respectfully,

Charles A. Owen, LtCol (ret), USAF

State Representative District 30

Louisiana House of Representatives