Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

An unrecognized career path? Retire at 0-5 or 0-6, and then go on to have an impact

I was having lunch with a smart Navy captain recently and we began talking about all the people who have served 20 or more years, left as Army or Marine lieutenant colonels and Navy captains and then gone on, in "retirement," to have a much greater impact on the shape or uses of the U.S. ...

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Wikimedia
Wikimedia

I was having lunch with a smart Navy captain recently and we began talking about all the people who have served 20 or more years, left as Army or Marine lieutenant colonels and Navy captains and then gone on, in "retirement," to have a much greater impact on the shape or uses of the U.S. military than they did while in uniform. In the course of 30 seconds, these names were mentioned:

I was having lunch with a smart Navy captain recently and we began talking about all the people who have served 20 or more years, left as Army or Marine lieutenant colonels and Navy captains and then gone on, in "retirement," to have a much greater impact on the shape or uses of the U.S. military than they did while in uniform. In the course of 30 seconds, these names were mentioned:

Lt. Col. Andrew Krepinevich

Capt. Jan van Tol

Lt. Col. John Nagl

Col. Tom Ehrhard

Col. Bob Work (my other new boss, by the way)

Col. John Collins (three full careers, the third perhaps the most influential)

These are just the ones that came immediately to mind. I am sure there are many more. (Your nominations welcome.) Their commonality is three-fold, I think: First, they were independent thinkers. Second, they had the best interests of their services in mind, even at the expense of further promotion. (That is, they did their duty.) Third, as the Navy captain said, "they knew when to get off the merry-go-round." After all, everyone who lives gets told to leave the military eventually. Why not go when you still have ideas and the energy to develop them?  

So, as a friend points out, the lesson seems to be that if you want to be a CEO, leave the military as a lieutenant or captain. But if you want to affect the shape and strategy of the U.S. military, leave as a smart, hard-working, well-read, well-educated 0-6. 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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