#5 The Pentagon needs a program to recruit prior service combat correspondents like Yon. Not only are they a major boost to soldier and public morale, writing knowledgeable military journalism, but they also operate at many hierarchical levels, objectively seeing what is going on from Private to CSM and from Lieutenant to General.
They see what is going on from squad level to Corps level. Everyone else is busy working. So in effect, they are like an "officer's officer". A commanding General, after giving them periodic one on one interviews, should ask them "What are you seeing?", and take notes.
If they see a problem, that problem is probably so critical that it must be dealt with immediately, or risk disaster. And even if the General is aware of the "general" problem, he likely does not know of its real, street level impact. |