The Reality-Based Community

General Sir John Moore, British Army, commander of British forces in Spain November 1808 - January 1809

General Robert E. Lee, US Army and Army of the Confederacy, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. June 1862 - April 1865

Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, German Reichswehr, deputy to Hindenburg and commander Western Front, July 1916 - September 1918

Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, German Wehrmacht, commander Army Group Don, later Army Group South, November 1942 - March 1944

Général Maurice Challe, French Air Force, Commander-in-chief in Algeria, December 1958 - April 1960 (see here section 3.1. pp41ff.)

General Creighton Abrams, US Army, Commander Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, July 1968 - June 1972

There is a small demi-pantheon of career soldiers who salvaged their professional reputations in spite of local (Moore) or ultimate defeat. Their moral standing (Manstein) and political activities (Ludendorff, Challe) are another matter.

General David Petraeus, US Army, commander Multi-National Force, Iraq, January 2007 - present.

may still join them. Or he can be a team player instead and just be remembered as a loser.

Posted at 12:33 PM | TrackBack (0) | |
Thread: History , Thread: Military meritocracy , Thread: The War in Iraq