Major Robert Thorton at Fort Leavenworth provides his two cents on the recent media articles about retired general officers and flag officers providing mentoring advice to active duty officers.
As an active duty Army major, I have a different perspective on the use of senior mentors. I have seen how Americans' (and my) tax dollars are spent to ensure the hard won experience from our past informs our current and future military efforts with the best ideas on the complex issues that confront us as a nation.
I have participated in many such exercises and experiments that help us think through potential operations. They range from humanitarian efforts and developing the capabilities of partners and allies to conventional combat and post-conflict reconstruction. I can assure you the military works hard to develop its capabilities for these missions. A valuable part of this effort is the senior mentors program, which invites and pays retired senior military officers, ambassadors and other professionals for the observations, insights and lessons gained over their service.
The senior mentors are selected based on their performance and expertise. They have spent their lives accruing vital knowledge and experience. That includes numerous deployments, serving in diverse capacities and in multiple wars of varying character, and working through the adaptation and rebuilding of units and services in between. They have also had unique experiences that few currently on active duty attain. They have the added benefit of post-service reflection — something hard to come by in today's tempo.
Read the rest at the link. I agree with the young major, but I understand how others perceive this as a conflict of interests and a bad example for military leaders. Let's agree to disagree here.
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