Locator: 48596DOD.
DOD to reduce number of general officers; number of stars. Talked about for years;
finally getting done. A Biden administration would have taken too much
political heat cutting the number of general officers, but the Trump
administration / GOP can take the heat.
According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.
AI gets
this completely wrong suggesting that firing the Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff, was a cut of one four-star general, but it does shed light
from where the cuts might come. [Actually, again, AI is laughable.]
I don't see how any of the combatant commands could be merged; the missions / geographic areas look great as is. A better solution below.
All forty-four four-star generals: wiki. When I go through the list, it looks like DOD will have a tough time coming up with a 20%reduction (20% of 44 = 8.8 = 10) because of Congressional "statutes."
Most interesting, "vice" positions are "safe" as four-stars due to statute. Could they make all joint combatant commanders and their vice commanders 3-star unless a shooting war is officially called and then promote them to four stars. When not fighting, their work is duplicative of other general officers at the Pentagon. See also major generals at wiki.
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The Book Page
The Chief: The Life Of William Randolph Hearst, David Nasaw, c. 2000.
I've read the book once; some notes, not many. Now going back and reading select chapters. Will start with the chapters when he transitioned in to film, 1919, at the same time Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith formed United Artists.
As I read this, it makes me think of the activity in AI and tech going on in the 2020s. It makes me think of Warren Buffett doing spectacularly well but for the most part remained in the past with his legacy holdings. Warren Buffett was brilliant at what he did but I don't think of either him or Charlie Munger being particularly "agents of change," or great strategic thinkers. In fact, by the time he got involved with something, after the 1980s, it was with well-established companies. At least that's my myth, and we all have myths regarding Buffett and Munger.
