CHUCK HEGEL CONFIRMED AS SECDEF

Hagel will have his hands full. There's a kind of military mafia: (I just know the Army) West Point graduates who look after each other. They are "ring knockers" and help each get promoted and get choice assignments. They talk about looking after the troops but don't overall do "s..t." Their mantra is mostly, "Nothing is too good for the troops and that is what the troops get, nothing." Hagel has been an enlisted guy, he gets it.

Like Downton Abbey? There's an example: the Aristocracy (Officers) are upstairs, the Servants (enlisted) are downstairs.

Biggest challenge I think for Hagel will be the military itself. We do what we always do after wars. We downsize the military. Shrink it to where it is questionable about its effectiveness. Not to mention the fact that we get rid of some of our best men and women. In to many cases, we absolutely treat them awful. We have used them up and throw them out. The Army is already way to small. The All Voluntary Force is a bust in my estimation. Those in now are good, quality soldiers but we have deployed them over and over. They are spent. Deployed over and over. Unlike Vietnam, if we needed more "cannon fodder, we drafted more. Now, we merely sent them to war over and over.

This is an aside but so fits into the present equation. We let Melvin Laird and economist icon Milt Freeman sell us a bill of goods when we ended the draft. We could have easily turned the draft into a community service, requiring our young people to serve. After 9-11, we discovered this vast amount of patriotism across the board, the children of the "have" and the "have nots" lined up to serve and we squandered the opportunity. And, now, of course, it is too late. We don't have the political will to bring back a Community Service, giving Amerrica's youth choices. Many would have chosen the military.

Hagel is a good choice for SecDef. Those who don't think so, "F..K you very much."