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• Sunday, August 13, 2006 11:05 PM

  Butter sculptures and prime rib??

  Part of the article (referring to "Little America") reminds me of what an old friend told me. I met "Tom" (forgive the pseudonym, he's still in public life so far as I know) twelve years ago as he was finishing his Ph.D at the Maxwell School at Syracuse. He was older, had served in Vietnam as a captain in a logistics battalion, and eventually resigned his commission in disgust and went to work for the CIA as a field officer after that.

  When he described the culture of the military at that time, he said to think of it not as a traditional army you read about in history class, but rather as a very bloated, 1950's American corporation, with the generals as vice presidents. In Vietnam, he said, priority was given to making sure things like Kansas City beef and Scotch got through to the generals, even if that meant medical supplies or even ammo for the forward units had to go on the next truck. The brass rewarded those logistic personnel who kept luxury items coming by promoting them and, most importantly, keeping them in the rear instead of the field. Questioning these priorities would simply get you transferred out. Like in the article, mission-critical supplies were often slow to arrive, delayed or simply forgotten--unless a general's career was tied in with the unit being deprived.

  Apparently, the US military is still attached to that culture.

  —cdunlea Read cdunlea's other letters
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