The Army These Days

[Pete]

Yes, it was the report of a DA-level Special Studies Group, not what Dempsey has in mind. During my DoD consulting days I found the Army reg on SSGs -- they'e formed ad hoc to look at specific situations or problems that happen to be troubling the highest levels of DA.

The solutions for lesser problems are often supported by briefings, studies and documents for the top leadership but they often -- not always -- support decisions that have already been made. One of Shy Meyer's preferences was for officers with alternate specialties in Operations Reseach. An O5 combat arms guy told me the inside joke within the ORSA community was the question asked at the outset of each study -- "Which answer do you want to hear?"

As for other Washington DC gossip -- in the 1980s an ex-Marine and former Special Forces officer told me Max Thurmond was gay. He said he saw him French-kissing in a Georgetown bar with an African-American gentleman, then the Chief of Personnel for Army Materiel Command. It helps to explain where Clinton was coming from at the time. Shortly thereafter Thurmond died suddenly. Perhaps that story is true but it might be from a guy with an agenda.