The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military Hardcover – February 18, 2020
by Tim Bakken
A courageous and damning look at the destruction wrought by the arrogance, incompetence, and duplicity prevalent in the U.S. military-from the inside perspective of a West Point professor of law.
I read a summary of the book in a magazine article - a vehement trashing of USMA and the Army. Some good points, but most of the problems that he asserts are the fault of USMA and the Army are actually the result of civilian government decisions; The Army does not decide where and when it fights and does not approve its own budget.
He is also pretty fast and loose with evidence. Two examples:
by Tim Bakken
A courageous and damning look at the destruction wrought by the arrogance, incompetence, and duplicity prevalent in the U.S. military-from the inside perspective of a West Point professor of law.
I read a summary of the book in a magazine article - a vehement trashing of USMA and the Army. Some good points, but most of the problems that he asserts are the fault of USMA and the Army are actually the result of civilian government decisions; The Army does not decide where and when it fights and does not approve its own budget.
He is also pretty fast and loose with evidence. Two examples:
- USMA admissions lies about the acceptance rate to boost rankings. He claims the actual acceptance rate is 56% because only full qualified and nominated applications should be counted - a deception easily identified by anyone who has read this forum.
- In 2017 four vital courses were dropped from the core requirement: Math, English, Philosophy, and Military History. Huh?? Try telling cadets that they only imagined taking those courses.