Honor these 4-star generals and institutions that unite nation
On July 31, after a 39-year Air Force career, Gen. Paul J. Selva stepped down as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s No. 2 military officer. At the end of September, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will step down from his position and retire as well. It is worth pausing a moment to reflect on their service – and that of so many others in uniform – because the strength of institutions like the nation’s armed forces is one of the most important things holding us together as a nation when so much else is tearing us apart.
These military leaders have made enormous, but generally behind the scenes, contributions to the nation’s defense. Selva has specialized in technology and future warfare. Since the Obama administration’s “third offset” strategy, and now under the Trump administration, he has been instrumental in reorienting the military towards great-power competition with China and Russia. Dunford has been a remarkable steadying hand at the Pentagon, helping two presidents and several secretaries of defense in crisis management on problems ranging from North Korea to Crimea to Syria and beyond.
The nation has about 40 four-star military officers at any time. The Pentagon promotes, and retires, roughly a dozen four-star officers every year in the American armed forces. But over the last decade, many of the most notable collectively helped shape the nation’s response to a key challenge of the day.
Retiring in 2010-11: Notably, Gens. David Petraeu and Stanley Mcchrystal, and Adm. Mike Mullen.
These distinguished Americans were the big names behind the surges in Iraq and Afghanistan. Petraeus emphasized protection of the indigenous population, reform of Iraqi security forces, and development of intelligence networks as overall commander in Iraq from 2007-08. Mcchrystal took special forces to a whole new level of intensity and effectiveness, increasing the frequency of raids in the overall war on terror by a factor of ten from previous norms. Both commanded U.S. and NATO forces during the “semi-surge” in Afghanistan as well. Mullen provided guidance and policy advocacy in Washington throughout, as chairman of the joint chiefs.
Retiring around 2015: Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Marty Dempsey, Vice Chairman Adm. Sandy Winnefeld, Army Gen. Ray Odierno, and Adm. Jonathan Greenert. A number of this group of leaders had had important roles in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But in their final military jobs, the “Class of 2015” was most notable for helping the Department of Defense survive the worst of the budgetary shenanigans of the 2010s that followed passage of the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Retiring in 2018/19: Then there is Gen. Dunford and Gen. Selva. And a few other notables who have just left the armed forces. Gen. Lori Robinson, the highest-ranking woman in U.S. military history, who retired in 2018 after refocusing on the North Korean threat during the dangerous days of 2017. Gen. Vincent Brooks, who also retired last year, after commanding U.S. and South Korean forces on the Korean peninsula itself through the “fire and fury” days of 2017. Gen. Tony Thomas and Gen. Joseph Votel, who at Special Operations Command and Central Command continued the fight against al Qaeda and ISIS with fewer resources and smaller military footprints than before, and who both retired this year. Adm. Harry Harris at Indo-pacific Command and General Curtis Scaparotti at European Command, who applied the Trump administration’s 2018 National Defense Strategy to theaters near China and Russia, and who retired in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Michael O’hanlon is a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and a member of USA TODAY’S Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @Michaeleohanlon