McMaster

**Roguish Lawyer** · 02-21-2017, 18:26

Armor guy, what a great idea. Clearly our focus needs to be on the Fulda Gap.

Not that I have a clue, but I see REMF all over his resume: http://www.hoover.org/profiles/h-r-mcmaster

**Joker** · 02-21-2017, 18:47

I have had several interactions with him in person and more via VTC or phone calls. All of them very good. The biggest drawback he has (for a GO/FO) is he tells the truth.

And in many cases that I have seen with the tact of a NCO or seasoned WO. He was passed over two times for BG...

While he followed Flynn around on some key assignments, he is a better choice than Flynn (who I also know).

cbtengr · 02-21-2017, 18:51

I do not know anything more about this guy than what I read on his bio just now. Included in his awards is a Silver Star, what about being awarded a Silver Star could possibly be considered REMF? Just wondering.

**Roguish Lawyer** · 02-21-2017, 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbtengr

Included in his awards is a Silver Star, what about being awarded a Silver Star could possibly be considered REMF? Just wondering.

LOL, point taken!

And I refer you back to my original remark about my cluelessness.

scooter · 02-21-2017, 19:02

I very briefly worked with him in 2005 in Tal Afar when he was the 3rd ACR Commander and we came up with the Commandos to help with urban renewal. He seemed pretty switched on and valued SOF's input / contribution. Struck me as creative and candid.

I'm pretty sure he'll do as well as he can, given the constraints of the job. The machine doesn't always do what its told.

CDRODA396 · 02-21-2017, 20:27

In my opinion, Patraeus did very little in Mosul and got the glory, while McMaster may have been a tanker, he "got it," and in Tal Afar actually applied a well thought out COIN strategy. He posted his units throughout the city in permanent outposts rather than big FOB's, he established "personal" relationships, and had his subordinate leaders do the same, with the key leaders of all he players , he focused on winning the population, not killing the enemy, although they did some of that too. At the end of their rotation the Mayor or someone wrote Bush and Congress asking if they could stay until the job was completely done.

Not to mention he wrote Dereliction of Duty, while on active duty...

For a tread-head, I like him.

scooter · 02-21-2017, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDRODA396

he focused on winning the population, not killing the enemy, although they did some of that too.

Yeah..... in the middle, there was lots and lots of killing, although it had to be done to get the city back under control.

The downside of his unit being there was that, because they went everywhere in tracked vehicles, all of the IEDs were made to kill tracked vehicles.

Nothing makes you wish for a good foot movement like seeing a Bradley blown in half.

EDIT: Were you there with Overdeer's company?

CDRODA396 · 02-22-2017, 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by scooter

EDIT: Were you there with Overdeer's company?

No, I've just read several articles (there is a good one in the New Yorker) about him, his approach, and the different approaches being tried in the absence of a true campaign plan at that time, after the ACR left Tal Afar.

LarryW · 02-22-2017, 05:54

Don't know the man but I damn sure wish him every success. Hope he's a good cat shepherd, and can provide the leadership and focus that group needs. Leadership is key and sorely needed.

Badger52 · 02-22-2017, 06:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joker

The biggest drawback he has (for a GO/FO) is he tells the truth.

And in many cases that I have seen with the tact of a NCO or seasoned WO. He was passed over two times for BG...

Well, awlrighty then.

Old Dog New Trick · 02-22-2017, 10:04

As long as he knows and understands that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR and the Black Panthers are not "community organizers" sympathetic to the blight and poorest, unemployed and uneducated of their people...he'll already be doing better than the parrot Susan Rice (or James Clapper) without a hint of knowledge or common sense.

**The Reaper** · 02-22-2017, 12:16

I like him and think him a good outsider's choice.

Not afraid to speak truth to power, and that is a rare commodity these days.

TR

ElevenBravo87 · 02-22-2017, 15:28

He got that silver star at 73 Easting. I was at Armor Officer Basic at Knox (still weird tanks at Benning to me) in the summer of '91. That engagement being just a few month's old was pretty much all the tactical talk at the time. The instructors hit us with phase line discipline, limits of advance, and that stuff as sort of a warning, but then they emphasized that while Mcmaster did blow through the limit of advance - 70 Easting, he communicated and closed with the enemy in an aggressive and effective manner. Caught most of them totally unprepared.

In retrospect, its now taught as a text book armor engagement.

History channel has a pretty cool Greatest Tank battles on it . Mcmaster appears and comments heavily in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ziEMlarjiU

Badger52 · 02-22-2017, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElevenBravo87

History channel has a pretty cool Greatest Tank battles on it . Mcmaster appears and comments heavily in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ziEMlarjiU

Thanks very much for that link.