What happens to McChrystal now?

[atgcpaul]

Military life and culture are something foreign to me. What does it mean for
General McChrystal that he is no longer in charge in Afghanistan and that he
resigned? Does that mean he's retired from the military and will no longer
serve? Or will he be reassigned to another posting? If he's retiring, does he
get an honorable discharge or not?

Just the facts, please. Not trying to be political.

Thanks,
Paul

[sweensdv]

I haven't seen the news report yet on this but if he resigned his commission then he retired from the military and is a civilian again. He will receive an honorable discharge and is entitled to all the benefits due him.

[jussi]

Action figure?

[Alex Franke]

action figure?

rofl!!

[TB Roye]

He probably resigned is post as commander and will retire soon. There are not to many openings for a 4 start General in the Army or any other Service. Once you reach that rank you become Secretary of the Army or on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He will retire and join a Board of Directors of some company or become an analyst on TV. His staff might have some problems and the ones who mouth off are going to be forced to resign or at least be reassigned. In the military you protect our right to freedom of speech, but you don't have it. It is that simple at least that's what was told to me back in 1964. Some of the other Vets will explaine it better than me. I was told on the first day. Write your mommy and tell her you are fine and doing well. Do not write you Congressmen or Senator or any other Politician.

Tom

[cabinetman]

I would guess that his best case scenario is retirement with benefits. His statements undermine the trust as a "team player". IOW, you just don't badmouth the boss.
.

[Tom Slick]

He'll retire and, just in case you are feeling bad for him, make over $120k a year in retirement benefits.

[cwsmith]

It's not exactly the way he wanted to end a brilliant career I'm sure. At this point, he could well be given another assignment out of respect for his past service... but for all intents and purposes, his career is over; and in face of that, he may opt to retire, and do so quietly.

One simply does NOT be insubordinate while in uniform, and especially when one is a General officer... and in a manner that challenges or even questions the civilian authority of the President or the civilian war staff. What is not know for sure is whether McCrystal, himself, participated directly in this; but under his command, his staff's negligence certainly reflects directly on him.

While we may not hear, I expect that Gen. Petraius with be sharply repremanding and changing out any of McCrystal's staff that was part of this story. I think a lot of careers are going to be side-tracked by this affair.

CWS

[JR]

He resigned from his post, but not from the military.

As others have said, he is likely to retire from the military some time soon. He surely can not expect his career in the army to advance any more - meaning he can't expect to Army Chief, CentCom Commander, or other prestigious positions.

OTOH, his skills are still highly regard, notwithstanding the apparent lack of judgement. He could choose to continue to serve as TRADOC (training commander) or in policy positions. It's really a question of his desire to continue to serve even though no further line commander posts are likely to materialize.

JR

[Toolhound]

As soon as he retires, Fox News will probably hire him to be their military commentator with a great paycheck. I'm sure he'll do just fine.

[gsmittle]

[QUOTE=cwsmith;465427]I
One simply does NOT be insubordinate while in uniform, and especially when one is a General officer... and in a manner that challenges or even questions the civilian authority of the President or the civilian war staff. What is not know for sure is whether McCrystal, himself, participated directly in this; but under his command, his staff's negligence certainly reflects directly on him.
/QUOTE]

I was about to say pretty much the same thing, but not as well. I would add that if he had concerns, he should probably have aired them to the Commander-in-Chief before doing so publicly. Surely a General Officer understands going through channels.

That being said, I should also add that although I am the child of a 20-year veteran, I have never served in the military (unless you want to count teaching in a public high school).

I also wonder how much he was misquoted or misconstrued by Rolling Stone.

g.

[Black wallnut]

A political reply and a reply to a political reply is enough for me to delete the political replies and lock thread!