The Defense Secretary's Curious New Year's Hospital Stay

The part that boggles my mind is the initial surgery was planned and wasn’t disclosed or covered. I mean at any age risk is invoked. But more so as we age.

Sixth in line to the Presidency and this was handled horribly. If there is no administrative consequence, won’t bode well for morale.

Penalties and boards for thee but not for me.

Scary stuff during tumultuous times.
 
In AZ today, the "pundits" were saying their sources said it was bariatric surgery that developed complications.

I hope that's not the case; that's really rough.
 
flieger83 said:
In AZ today, the "pundits" were saying their sources said it was bariatric surgery that developed complications.

I hope that's not the case; that's really rough.
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I feel for the man health wise. For sure. I would for anyone.

Not a fan of how it was managed professionally.
 
flieger83 said:
In AZ today, the "pundits" were saying their sources said it was bariatric surgery that developed complications.

I hope that's not the case; that's really rough.
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I would have guessed something more simple but mercy, bariatric surgery is barbaric vs the options available to a man of his stature. No pun.
 
I didn't want to start a new thread and figured this is related. The CMC had open heart surgery yesterday and is expected to return to duty. I sure hope so. My son deployed under his command about a decade ago and made a huge impression as a 1stLt. Years later when he was ordered to the 1st Marine Division after almost six straight years operational with no B billet, he and his monitor couldn't figure out why. He had orders to a unit at Quantico but the monitor called and said he's going to Pendleton instead. Why is that, my DS asked. "I don't know, dude. It came from above."

So he gets to his battalion at 1st MARDIV and at battalion formation one morning up walks then Major General Eric Smith. Son, then a captain, in the back of the formation was wondering what's up. The general just hovered off to the side until the formation was over and the battalion commander and the general who had just taken over as the CG of the division chatted for a few minutes. BN commander called DS over and he and the CG embraced into a bro hug and BS'd for several minutes. The general didn't outright say so but DS then knew why he was once again at an operational command. The BN commander called him to his office and wondered what that was all about. It turned out all good for all involved.

My apologies for the thread hijack but one more thing. DS introduced me to General Smith a few years ago at the gym at Quantico. He's the most impressive, hardest, nicest man you'd want to meet. I wish him the best.

apnews.com

Marine commandant has open heart surgery, Corps says he will return to full duty

The Marine Corps says Gen. Eric Smith, the commandant, has had open heart surgery and is expected to return to full duty as the service's leader.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
Devil Doc said:
My apologies for the thread hijack but one more thing. DS introduced me to General Smith a few years ago at the gym at Quantico. He's the most impressive, hardest, nicest man you'd want to meet. I wish him the best.
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Thank you for the lesson in how to hijack a thread! But, I don't view it as a hijack at all. Instead, it is a lesson in how things should be done and are done by strong leaders. Nothing about this gives one a great deal of confidence in Sec Def Austin or his staff.

Thanks for coming back Doc! And, best wishes to your son!
 
Heatherg21 said:
Sixth in line to the Presidency and this was handled horribly. If there is no administrative consequence, won’t bode well for morale.

Penalties and boards for thee but not for me.
Click to expand...

What would you suggest the consequences be?
Also, do we have ALL of the facts or just reacting to what is being “reported” in the news?
 
usnabgo08 said:
What would you suggest the consequences be?
Also, do we have ALL of the facts or just reacting to what is being “reported” in the news?
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The same punishment my son would receive if he did this.

I am waiting for all the facts - but it does seem that what the news has reported so far is factual?
 
usnabgo08 said:
What would you suggest the consequences be?
Also, do we have ALL of the facts or just reacting to what is being “reported” in the news?
Click to expand...
I think we have enough facts to certainly ask questions and to demand government transparency and accountability. As far as consequences…it depends on the facts but a mere sweeping under the rug is unacceptable.
 
dddad said:
Thank you for the lesson in how to hijack a thread! But, I don't view it as a hijack at all. Instead, it is a lesson in how things should be done and are done by strong leaders. Nothing about this gives one a great deal of confidence in Sec Def Austin or his staff.

Thanks for coming back Doc! And, best wishes to your son!
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Thank you, sir.
 
tkinion said:
I think we have enough facts to certainly ask questions and to demand government transparency and accountability. As far as consequences…it depends on the facts but a mere sweeping under the rug is unacceptable.
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Our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was swept under the rug. TMK, not one person was fired or disciplined for that, and the only response that I saw from D.C. was basically "oops". If no heads rolled for that barf-up, I am not expecting any different here.
 
Devil Doc said:
I didn't want to start a new thread and figured this is related. The CMC had open heart surgery yesterday and is expected to return to duty. I sure hope so. My son deployed under his command about a decade ago and made a huge impression as a 1stLt. Years later when he was ordered to the 1st Marine Division after almost six straight years operational with no B billet, he and his monitor couldn't figure out why. He had orders to a unit at Quantico but the monitor called and said he's going to Pendleton instead. Why is that, my DS asked. "I don't know, dude. It came from above."

So he gets to his battalion at 1st MARDIV and at battalion formation one morning up walks then Major General Eric Smith. Son, then a captain, in the back of the formation was wondering what's up. The general just hovered off to the side until the formation was over and the battalion commander and the general who had just taken over as the CG of the division chatted for a few minutes. BN commander called DS over and he and the CG embraced into a bro hug and BS'd for several minutes. The general didn't outright say so but DS then knew why he was once again at an operational command. The BN commander called him to his office and wondered what that was all about. It turned out all good for all involved.

My apologies for the thread hijack but one more thing. DS introduced me to General Smith a few years ago at the gym at Quantico. He's the most impressive, hardest, nicest man you'd want to meet. I wish him the best.
Click to expand...
Fantastic story! Wishing him a safe recovery as well.
 
USMC Crayons said:
Other than potentially some poor subordinate getting canned, nothing is going to happen so don't see the need in talking about it.
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You do talk about it. Especially when national security is a concern. This type of thing is totally uncalled for and he needs to be held accountable. plain and simple!!
If this happened under the Trump Adm. all he'll would be busting loose. The dems and the national media would be having a field day!!
 
Luke Gs Dad said:
You do talk about it. Especially when national security is a concern. This type of thing is totally uncalled for and he needs to be held accountable. plain and simple!!
If this happened under the Trump Adm. all he'll would be busting loose. The dems and the national media would be having a field day!!
Click to expand...
My indifference is not because I believe it to be a non-issue, it's because the likelihood of something happening is remote so I choose to not commit brain power to it. IMO, at a minimum he should be fired and if it were my call, I would clean house at DOD. The Marine Corps is currently giving a master class on how to address how situations like this are handled, maybe the peeps in the funny shaped building on the Potomac can take a lesson or two.
 
So if I read this all correctly, he had an elective surgery, and it sounds like leadership knew this and everything was handled appropriately. Then he had complications and headed to the hospital. I haven’t seen any details on the level of acuity, but guessing it’s fairly high if he landed in the ICU. We have no idea what state he was in when he headed to the hospital. But he has handlers (aides, etc), that definitely should have been following some protocols to escalate to the chain of command. According to several articles I read, he transferred authority to his Deputy on 1/2, but she was not aware he was in the hospital. The whole thing sounds like a total miss in comms, transfer of authority and leadership. It’s hard to know where fault lies, especially knowing what kind of state the SecDef was in when he went to the hospital. He could have been in a state that comms was not possible. But that is why they have SOPs, they train to them and are surrounded by teams at all times. Sounds like some folks need some remedial training and some who might need new jobs.
 
cb7893 said:
I bet you never heard it like this:


As long as we are hijacking threads, the melody is very familiar to those of us of certain generation.
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That's awesome. Amazing actually. Thanks for sharing.
 
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