Oh, the FOs are almost all great guys -- I never ran into a bad one; just think it's overkill for the job. We may move away from that, may not -- but in the interim, I understand the new Combined Arms or Maneuver Captains course at Benning post 2012 will also include Fires guys; that's good.

I don't think we should shape policy goals - but I do think we have a responsibility to inform about consequences and effects - particularly if a belief exists that a military COA to achieve a political end is feasible based on faulty assumptions for whatever reasons; or if the military analysis on what the consequences of doing something (or not doing something) are incongruent with the civilian side. Being prepared to do our job may require keeping those who appropriate and allocate resources in the loop about how things play out on the ground, or are likely to play out on the ground based on our best judgment - which is what GEN (R) Shinseki was asked by Congress to give ref. his estimates on the size of the force required to secure and stabilize post invasion Iraq. It is a curved and grey line at times I think.
Best, Rob
Emphatically agree. We have an obligation to inform as accurately as possible and take it to the mat. That means that it is incumbent upon both the administration of the day AND Congress to listen and assess. It also means we have to be absolutely honest and not play games with either of those two --a, ummm, minor shortfall on our part on occasion -- to keep credibility.

I think we need to do a better job of educating the American public about the Armed Forces, what we do, who we are and why we do some of the things we do. The loss of a lot of 'veterans' in our society has had an adverse impact (as has been discussed here and elsewhere).

Back on track, while I know Congress in particular causes some of those games and we're sort of forced to play, I personally believe that we're smart enough to outflank and out think Congress and we should do that rather than get annoyed at them and tend to blow them off (which we tend to do too often to the incompetents in media as well. Yeah, I know... ). I also know that doing that is extremely tricky and it would be easy to slip into something akin to politicking.

Not only a curved and gray line, I think it's a snake that can pop up and bite if it's stepped on...

Guess that's why the gen-gens get the big bucks. Hmm. Given the sometimes awesome scope of responsibility versus the comparatively low pay, maybe I should say "very slightly bigger bucks."