thedrifter
05-05-03, 05:15 PM
May 05, 2003
Postwar future bright for Franks
By Nancy Benac
Associated Press
Two wars in a row, the second-guessers were out early: The military’s plan for Afghanistan was not innovative enough. The Americans did not put enough ground troops in Iraq.
It did not take long for commanding Gen. Tommy Franks to quiet the talk with military victory.
Like Norman Schwarzkopf before him, Franks emerges from leading a successful war in the Persian Gulf with the four stars on his uniform shining more brightly than before. The future offers possibilities that could range from a big-dollars book deal in retirement to a top Pentagon job.
The slow-talking Texan will come to the end of his three-year term as head of the military’s 25-nation Central Command in July, a tour of duty in which his reputation has grown from that of solid troop leader to innovative military strategist. Franks, who attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, has just returned to the command’s Tampa, Fla., headquarters after running the war from Qatar.
“The conventional view of Tommy Franks two years ago was that he was a fairly standard-issue version of the traditional army culture, a doer not a thinker,” said military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. “That view wasn’t completely wrong. But under the pressure of military circumstance, he’s shown himself to be an exceptionally resourceful person.”
Retired Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, who worked under Franks until June, says the discipline and innovation demonstrated by Franks in the Iraq war have always been there. “It’s just the way he does business,” says Quigley.
Franks, 57, is credited with showing flexibility at critical junctures in the Iraqi campaign. Some prime examples: the opening airstrikes at a suspected hideout of Saddam Hussein, the speedy push toward the capital despite Iraqi attacks on U.S. supply lines and then the quick drive into downtown Baghdad once troops reached the city’s outskirts.
Still, there were plenty of critics early on.
A seeming battalion of ex-generals camped out in television studios nationwide to pick apart the military’s every move.
Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey questioned the Pentagon’s decision to build up troops with a gradual “rolling start.” Retired Gen. Wesley Clark questioned whether the United States should have sent in more personnel. Other officers still serving in the military offered their criticisms under cloak of anonymity.
“From General Franks’ perspective, it was a period of silly commentary from people who knew nothing at all about the war plan,” Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson said.
McCaffrey, for his part, is quick to say he never directly criticized Franks but rather the way U.S. forces were allocated to the general. He praises Franks’ leadership as being “about as creative as you can imagine.”
Other military observers, while offering kind words for Franks’ leadership, say another factor in the quick U.S. victories was the weakness of America’s opponents — the Taliban and Saddam’s forces.
The Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon says it is an open question whether the Iraqi campaign was brilliant or merely a case of might prevailing over “a mediocre army from a midsize developing country.”
Still, he says, Franks’ “intellectual stock” has risen after successful execution of two sound war plans.
In any event, what is a general to do for an encore after going two-for-two on the battlefront in less than two years?
Franks is regarded as a good candidate for the top Army job of chief of staff, which opens in June, although associates doubt he would want the position. Franks said last week the job title sounded “very interesting” but that it was “not on my scope.”
After more than 30 years in uniform, he could choose instead to retire from the military while riding high — the route taken by Schwarzkopf in 1991 after the first Gulf War.
Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recalls telling Schwarzkopf as the war ended that it was the perfect time to leave, rather than take on the Army chief’s job, which was sure to be filled with Washington infighting.
Schwarzkopf agreed, wrote a best-selling autobiography from retirement and more than a decade later still is popular on the public-speaking circuit. He also is involved in a number of conservation and charitable causes.
Some other examples:
• Dwight Eisenhower came home from World War II as a national hero, became Army chief of staff, wrote a best-selling book and eventually ended up as president.
• More recently, former NATO Commander Clark retired after leading the 1999 Kosovo campaign, wrote a book and now is seen by some as a possible presidential prospect.
Franks, for his part, said in a speech less than a year ago that he already has worn the uniform for a long time.
“My wife reminds me frequently how long I’ve worn it,” he continued. “She reminds me that I told her on the day we were married I was going to get out of the United States military. I remind her that some day I am going to.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger
Postwar future bright for Franks
By Nancy Benac
Associated Press
Two wars in a row, the second-guessers were out early: The military’s plan for Afghanistan was not innovative enough. The Americans did not put enough ground troops in Iraq.
It did not take long for commanding Gen. Tommy Franks to quiet the talk with military victory.
Like Norman Schwarzkopf before him, Franks emerges from leading a successful war in the Persian Gulf with the four stars on his uniform shining more brightly than before. The future offers possibilities that could range from a big-dollars book deal in retirement to a top Pentagon job.
The slow-talking Texan will come to the end of his three-year term as head of the military’s 25-nation Central Command in July, a tour of duty in which his reputation has grown from that of solid troop leader to innovative military strategist. Franks, who attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, has just returned to the command’s Tampa, Fla., headquarters after running the war from Qatar.
“The conventional view of Tommy Franks two years ago was that he was a fairly standard-issue version of the traditional army culture, a doer not a thinker,” said military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. “That view wasn’t completely wrong. But under the pressure of military circumstance, he’s shown himself to be an exceptionally resourceful person.”
Retired Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, who worked under Franks until June, says the discipline and innovation demonstrated by Franks in the Iraq war have always been there. “It’s just the way he does business,” says Quigley.
Franks, 57, is credited with showing flexibility at critical junctures in the Iraqi campaign. Some prime examples: the opening airstrikes at a suspected hideout of Saddam Hussein, the speedy push toward the capital despite Iraqi attacks on U.S. supply lines and then the quick drive into downtown Baghdad once troops reached the city’s outskirts.
Still, there were plenty of critics early on.
A seeming battalion of ex-generals camped out in television studios nationwide to pick apart the military’s every move.
Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey questioned the Pentagon’s decision to build up troops with a gradual “rolling start.” Retired Gen. Wesley Clark questioned whether the United States should have sent in more personnel. Other officers still serving in the military offered their criticisms under cloak of anonymity.
“From General Franks’ perspective, it was a period of silly commentary from people who knew nothing at all about the war plan,” Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson said.
McCaffrey, for his part, is quick to say he never directly criticized Franks but rather the way U.S. forces were allocated to the general. He praises Franks’ leadership as being “about as creative as you can imagine.”
Other military observers, while offering kind words for Franks’ leadership, say another factor in the quick U.S. victories was the weakness of America’s opponents — the Taliban and Saddam’s forces.
The Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon says it is an open question whether the Iraqi campaign was brilliant or merely a case of might prevailing over “a mediocre army from a midsize developing country.”
Still, he says, Franks’ “intellectual stock” has risen after successful execution of two sound war plans.
In any event, what is a general to do for an encore after going two-for-two on the battlefront in less than two years?
Franks is regarded as a good candidate for the top Army job of chief of staff, which opens in June, although associates doubt he would want the position. Franks said last week the job title sounded “very interesting” but that it was “not on my scope.”
After more than 30 years in uniform, he could choose instead to retire from the military while riding high — the route taken by Schwarzkopf in 1991 after the first Gulf War.
Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recalls telling Schwarzkopf as the war ended that it was the perfect time to leave, rather than take on the Army chief’s job, which was sure to be filled with Washington infighting.
Schwarzkopf agreed, wrote a best-selling autobiography from retirement and more than a decade later still is popular on the public-speaking circuit. He also is involved in a number of conservation and charitable causes.
Some other examples:
• Dwight Eisenhower came home from World War II as a national hero, became Army chief of staff, wrote a best-selling book and eventually ended up as president.
• More recently, former NATO Commander Clark retired after leading the 1999 Kosovo campaign, wrote a book and now is seen by some as a possible presidential prospect.
Franks, for his part, said in a speech less than a year ago that he already has worn the uniform for a long time.
“My wife reminds me frequently how long I’ve worn it,” he continued. “She reminds me that I told her on the day we were married I was going to get out of the United States military. I remind her that some day I am going to.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger