The Few, the Proud, the White: The Marine Corps Balks at Promoting Generals of Color – The New York Times
A respected, combat-tested Black colonel has been passed over three times for promotion to brigadier general. What does his fate say about the Corps?
It says many things about the Corps. Most of which the pansy assed civilians that sop up this kind of nonsense will never understand.
Chesty Puller was awarded the Navy Cross 5 times…never became Commandant. Like Puller… Henderson just doesn’t know when to STFU.
Henderson was not promoted because he does not fit the politically correct model demanded by the left. The caustic left, like the author of this article, and their ilk are the reason Henderson didn’t climb the General ranks.
I hope they make him a 4 Star now… the joy I will get when he stands before the hoards of politically left and calls them useless pantywaists.
What this shows about the Corps is that you will not be promoted simply because of your race and rantings of racist civilians who seem to be little more than the Klan with a Tan.
Not even the likes of little who know nothing of the Corps, can get someone promoted just because of their race. Shame on her for allowing the Politically Left to turn her into the Racist she is today.
Writing Click Bait should not be the goal of any creditable Journalist.
All things being equal, Col. Anthony Henderson has the military background that the Marine Corps says it prizes in a general: multiple combat tours, leadership experience and the respect of those he commanded and most who commanded him.
Yet three times he has been passed over for brigadier general, a prominent one-star rank that would put Colonel Henderson on the path to the top tier of Marine Corps leadership. Last year, the Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, even added a handwritten recommendation to Colonel Henderson’s candidacy: “Eminently qualified Marine we need now as BG,” he wrote.
But never in its history has the Marine Corps had anyone other than a white man in its most senior leadership posts. Colonel Henderson is Black.
“Tony Henderson has done everything you could do in the Marines except get a hand salute from Jesus Christ himself,” said Milton D. Whitfield Sr., a former Marine gunnery sergeant who served for 21 years.
Proud and fierce in their identity, the Marines have a singular race problem that critics say is rooted in decades of resistance to change. As the nation reels this summer from protests challenging centuries-long perceptions of race, the Marines — who have long cultivated a reputation as the United States’ strongest fighting force — remain an institution where a handful of white men rule over 185,000 white, African-American, Hispanic and Asian men and women.
“It took an act of Congress last year to get them to integrate by gender at the platoon level,” said Representative Anthony G. Brown, Democrat of Maryland and a former Army helicopter pilot. “And now they continue to hold onto that 1950s vision of who Marines are.”
Ahh… They still haven’t done that. The Corps “allows” limited training, mostly classroom training to gender-integrated classes. Race Pimps like Brown are not qualified to render decisions about promotions in the Corps.
Current and former Marine Corps officials point to Colonel Henderson’s personality as an explanation for why he has been passed over, including what they call his tendency to speak his mind — traits that have not disqualified white Marine colonels.
Since the Marines first admitted African-American troops in 1942, the last military service to do so, only 25 have obtained the rank of general in any form. Not one has made it to the top four-star rank, an honor the Marines have bestowed on 72 white men. Six African-Americans reached lieutenant general, or three stars. The rest have received one or two stars, the majority in areas like logistics, aviation and transport, areas from which the Marine Corps does not choose its senior leadership.
So sad… how sorry I feel for people that see Racism where none exists. Their whole lives seem to be steeped in hate.
I have had the honor of meeting SgtMaj Green on several occasions. He was the highest-ranking enlisted Marine in the Corps. He does not have a Combat Action Ribbon or a single award for Valor. Greene was promoted to Sgt Maj of the Marine Corps because he has exceptional communication skills for an enlisted man. He simply knows when to STFU.
Promoting someone because of their Race… is Racist. I would think that kind of thing would be a bit more self-evident.
You can read the rest of the Race-Baiting nonsense at the link below.
Category: Liberals suck, Marine Corps, None
I guess the left won’t be happy until there’s a quota system in place for promotions.
Hmmm,It’s strange but it appears they never interviewed the Colonel himself. I would hazard a guess that the man himself likely told Helene Cooper to go fuck herself.
Or he might offer to do it himself, no telling. He is a Marine.
But naturally, never go to the SOURCE to find out if HE feels slighted in the promotion process. A ten second sound bite “I know I never made it past Colonel because I never knew when to shut the fuck up…”
Crisis over.
I had some limited dealings with a rather prominent NYT’s reporter during one of my deployments to Iraq. To say there is a lack of concern for their “product” (what this specific NTY reporter referred to news articles as) having any sort of ethical or responsible reporting is an understatement.
The fact they don’t get the Corps doesn’t like others dipping their toes into what is viewed as the Corps swim lane (the SECNAV recommending someone to a prominent leadership position formally) demonstrates either the lack of knowledge on the topic or a clear agenda.
And I’m betting they are pretty familiar with the USMC culture.
I thought being a Marine was a Race in itself. Damn…Who knew?
Saw part of this in the comments the other day. Couldn’t read the Noo Yack Slimez piece then either. If there was a Black Marine that was qualified or wanted 4 star rank, I’m sure that it would have happened during the JEFs’ term(s).
I know/knew of a number of fine qualified Ossifers and Senior NCOs that retired rather than take a promotion. When asked, most said they didn’t want the “political headaches” that came with it.
Repost from yesterday.
Ms. Cooper is an idiot.
And I imagine she knows jack shit about the USMC to include how it is quite a bit smaller.
Another NYT idiot with a license to print. Curious as if this idiot actually had a long sit down talk with the COL. The irony is that she has lived a tough experience. A though one early on. But she had a bad experience with another military. And yet her cousin was a Navy Officer of rank (LCDR) I believe, but that makes her no expert in military affairs.
I ran across another armchair military reporter a while back bitching about this very same thing (promotion).
I gave she/hers/hers (the reporter) the analogy of the platoon “designated marksman”.
I did not designate that position on color. Just accuracy and consistency.
She/her/hers never understood it. Never will. She kept arguing equal opportunity. I explained regardless of who was in there, those that were not qualified could folks of all races killed. She still did not get it. I tried to explain to her this was not like working in a business or a non-profit. She could still not get it.
She/her/hers has never been in that environment.
I’m surprised the term “systemic racism” didn’t appear in the article.
Fuckers.
“Writing Click Bait should not be the goal of any creditable Journalist.”
Enters the great TAH journalist known as BeSig. Someone should pass him the memo.
Sucks, but join the club of high speed low drag 0-6’s crying in their coffee. A very tiny few of career officers will make it to general/flag rank.
I read somewhere that at least as far as Navy went, it was more likely an Ensign would eventually become a Captain than a Captain would become an Admiral.
I can’t imagine those odds are any better in the Corps.
One look at Helene Cooper makes me wonder if someone needs a special license in order to go through life being that big of an idiot!
Edited and reprinted from yesterday: So what I am confused about is…she says there are no Black Marine Generals, but in her own article she says there are six black BGs and one black MG. She also states there have been 25 who have made it with none making it to four star, since there have been blacks in the Marine Corps (1942). Is she saying to promote COL Henderson to four star? General Officer is all about the politics, and who likes you. In the Army I was told there are two clicks and you side with one or the other. Depending on which you side with is whether you get the job you want at the time you want…or retire. David Grange was on the receiving side of this. He Commanded the Ranger Regiment as the seventh Colonel and moved up the ranks like his father. He pinned on early his second star and took Command of the 1st INF DIV (Big Red One). Completely shook them up and got them back to a fighting force. He was ready to pin on his third star (like his father) and wanted a Corps…but his peers told him he had to go work staff at the pentagon for a while (apparently it wasn’t their turn to Command a certain Corps). He wined and decided to retire instead of take the staff job (I recall an XVIII ABN Corps Commander saying he hated staff…to my face as his Intel advisor). His peers did not think much of his decision and because he pinned on early to Command Big Red One he not only didn’t make LTG he retired as a BG. I think the article says a lot, but not correctly. The Generals in the Marine Corps (who decide who they want to work with) have said he needs to be more political and less demanding (sand off the rough edges). He has to learn to compromise and still get what he wants. Apparently he is standing his ground, and like David Grange he will retire without ever getting to fulfill… Read more »
I have every expectation that there will be a noticeably higher number of minority O-6s selected for BG by all the services this year.
Something that the media does all the time these days really shows how clueless they are about the military. For one thing, she talks about ‘receiving’ stars, not earning them. For another, she seems unaware that virtually everyone that has been active duty for 10 or more years has multiple combat tours these days.
The fact that Henderson has multiple combat tours and the respect of the Marines he led doesn’t really matter- so did the several other Cols he was competing against for very, very few BG positions- and while Henderson commanded a MEU, he did not command it in combat- while some of his peers probably did.
The best advice I ever got as a new major was that as a field grade officer you now have a reputation that precedes you. You are no longer a nameless, faceless captain- for every 10 captains in a line unit there are only two majors. So, every other field grade in the Army either knows you or knows someone who knows of you. It is even more so at the GO level.
The Marine is a small service. The USMC O7 board members probably know each and every one of the candidates for promotion personally if not by one degree of separation. That can be very good or very bad.
Good point and spot on SteelyI. What were the 07 designates told on the FIRST day of “Charm School for Generals”? “If the plane carrying all 30 of you had of gone down killing everyone aboard, we could have reached into the pool of qualified 06s and found 30 more just as qualified as you are?” Kinda took the wind out of their kites. And then they were told that there is no “secret handshake.” 😆 😛