"Holmes was not trained in psychological operations per se. According to U.S. military officials he never graduated from psy ops training at Fort Bragg, though he was in "information operations" which can include a psychological component."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...ators/#content
He was not a PSYOP officer. If he claimed he was (when he talked to Rolling Stone) and its not the reporter misunderstanding, then LTC Holmes is a liar, and deserves to be punished for that (Conduct Unbecoming). This whole deal just makes my Army and my officer corps look bad, and that is a bad thing. One bad apple, and all that.
Gulliver's commentary (linked above by Entropy) is cogent. I disagree on the point that GOs should not influence politicians, however. At the 3* and 4* level, GOs are either strategic leaders (operating in the strategic domain- for example, the CJCS, CSA, CSAF, CNO, and their primary staffs) or operational leaders, who have to link strategic decisions and objectives with military/tactical ways and means. This is the level LTG Caldwell is operating at. An example of this is GEN Luck telling President Carter that war with North Korea would cost a billion dollars and a million lives, informing the political/strategic decision of how to respond to NK nuclear activities in the 90s (see pg 43 of this book http://books.google.com/books?id=xww...0korea&f=false). This is the same thing LTG Caldwell is "accused" of doing.
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