Originally Posted By: gjw
Yep, from an E-8 to a 0-4. Wish I had the retirement pay!

Stay well!

Greg


Greg, congratulations on the oak leaves! smile

Meanwhile, poor old Joe just plain doesn't seem to get it. "Intelligence", in the political/military sense, means knowing as much as possible about potential (or actual) enemies. The best parts about that: Maybe we can rely on our own men and women in uniform to speak the local language so we don't have to use locals to interpret for us. Or to explain the culture to us. When I was assigned to CIA's Africa Division, Archie Roosevelt (Teddy's grandson) was the division chief. First thing he told all of us young guys sitting in his office: "If you don't speak French, get a slot in the language school immediately!" Joe would undoubtedly miss it, but most of pre-independence Africa had been either British or French colonies. So if we added French to our English (I was fortunate because I already spoke it), we were in pretty good shape as far as being able to talk to the people we needed to talk to.

All of which can keep us from making serious blunders by not understanding the locals wherever we have boots on the ground. Which, in turn, can mean fewer Americans coming home in body bags. Shorter wars. Maybe avoiding war.

All of which makes really good sense to people who've actually served. Knowing and understanding Muslims doesn't equal "loving" them, but it sure as hell equals saving lives if we're boots on the ground in Muslim countries, fighting the bad guys.

But that's a concept way beyond Joe's ability to understand or appreciate it. Which makes me very thankful he was never in any position where American lives might have been at risk. Some people serve this country best by not serving it. Joe's at the top of the list.