Mix-Master

Given all the Army dudes and writers I try to study my eternally patient fiancé started assigning nick names to keep them strait.  Last night I learned something new about one of her memory-pegged-officers: General Mix-Master.

After making the most recent 2 star list in January, it was finally announced where BG(P) H.R. McMaster would serve his next duty assignment.  He spent the last year fighting corruption in the Afghan National Government with Combined Joint Interagency Task Force Shafafiyat which means "transparency".  For his next job MG McMaster is headed to Ft. Benning as the new 2 star CG at the Maneuver Center.

MG McMaster distinguished himself with an adaptive command style that allowed him to decisively fight conventional tank engagements during Desert Storm while having the agility to recognize and equip for a politico-military counter-insurgency/stability operation in Tal Afar, Iraq.  He is not the only commander to shirk stiff conventional wisdom in dealing with complex challenges.  But he is one of a few commanders to earn his Ph.D., making a particularly important contribution to our understanding of the role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Vietnam and the role of the military in asking the right questions before civilians decide to go to war.

Personally though, I'm pretty excited to be attending a course at Ft. Benning around the same time that MG McMaster assumes command.  Maybe he'll come take a knee with me some night at Ranger School and ask my my thoughts teach me about Civ-Mil relations?  Maybe not.  A boy can dream.