In May 2017, an interviewer asked then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis what keeps him up at night. “Nothing,” responded the retired general. “I keep other people awake at night.”
Today, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increasing Chinese belligerence toward U.S. ally Taiwan, and the ongoing fallout from the loss of Afghanistan to the Taliban, some lawmakers and military experts question whether the Pentagon is projecting the kind of warfighting focus and ferocity that intimidate adversaries and deter aggression.
This eroding confidence in the U.S. military largely stems from a belief that the Pentagon’s senior leadership, both civilian and uniformed, is too focused on priorities other than deterring and preparing for war.
One such priority is climate change, which the Pentagon under the Biden administration has declared a “national security issue” and a top priority integral to the military’s planning at all levels — tactical, operational, and strategic. The military’s emphasis on climate change follows the example of the White House. This week, as Russia waged what U.S. defense officials believe to be the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II, President Biden’s special envoy for climate issues, John Kerry, warned that Moscow’s offensive will produce “massive emissions” and distract the world from “what we need to do for the climate.”
“We have allowed a culture of accepting mediocrity and mendacity to fill the void where a culture of winning used to exist,” wrote retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as an adviser to former President Trump. “Within our military, many seem to have fallen prey to the idea that holding someone accountable is the same thing as attacking them personally. “
In such an environment, he continued, “too many have forgotten that they lead the military to fight and win our nation’s wars.”
This perception of the military may be one reason why public trust in the military has sharply declined. Hanson noted that a recent survey conducted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute found that only 45% of Americans have a “great deal” of trust in the military, a steep drop from 70% three years ago.
Amid such distrust, fueled in part by the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and a lack of recent, sustained military successes, some voices have advocated purging the Pentagon’s leadership.
“You only have to turn to recent history and General George C. Marshall’s ‘plucking boards,’ which forced hundreds of colonels and generals into retirement based on performance to understand the necessity of accountability,” wrote Kellogg. “Arguably, this purge ensured our victory in World War II. Just as then, a full-scale removal of many of our senior uniformed leaders is exactly what is needed for us to win our next war.”
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “we have elected leaders who lack the fortitude and vision to make those hard calls when it comes to the defense establishment.”