Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: mr@homxa.att.com (M Rindsberg)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: CINC Schwarzkopf
Message-ID: <1991Mar7.014122.2064@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 7 Mar 91 01:41:22 GMT
References: <1991Feb21.031014.12249@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar4.212236.9408@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (william.b.thacker)
Organization: AT&T
Lines: 39
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: mr@homxa.att.com (M Rindsberg)
In article <1991Mar4.212236.9408@cbnews.att.com> emery@aries.mitre.org (David Emery) writes:

# According to the radio (NPR) last night, there are several congressmen
# proposing special rewards for Schwartzkopf and Powell.  One idea is a
# congressional gold medal.  D'Amato (R-NY) has even called for Powell
# and Schwartzkopf to be promoted to 5-star rank!

I am all for it.

# Well, I think Stormin' Norman and Colin deserve a lot of recognition
# for the job that they (both) did out there, but not 5 stars!  Neither
# has commanded an Army Group (as the other Army 5-stars did) and they
# certainly have not exercised combat command over a long period (2-3
# years) as the previous 5-stars have.

What exactly is an Army Group ?  I think the logistics of
commanding a force of 500K is comparable to commanding 1-2M.

Also, a CINC who can finish the job in 1 1/2 months is better than
a CINC who finishes in 2-3 years generally.  (I know that 2-3 years
in WWII was against a much better army, but nevertheless, those
things shouldn't be measured in terms of time, but rather in terms
of effectiveness)

# I for one hope that they don't cheapen 5-star rank by awarding it to
# Powell and Schwartzkopf for this one campaign, no matter how well they
# did it.

I would give to them.  Hopefully, we won't have any more 2-3 year
conflicts required for your valuation of 5 star status.

Besides, giving them an additional star is the only way to give
them a raise :-)

mark
mr@cbnewsh.att.com