Donahoe Allowed to Retire
The Army has done the right thing the wrong way.
Back in October, I pointed to my Defense One article on the case of Army Major General Pat Donahoe, who got into hot water for being a little too cute in his social media defenses of servicewomen from conservative trolls. I both defended the Inspector General’s rebuke of Donahoe and called for it to end at that:
Our leaders have a duty to stand up for the civil rights of all in their charge and to defend service and Defense Department policies. But how they say it is just as important as what they say.
As to Donahoe, I hope and expect that Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth will both use his indiscretions as a teachable moment for the service and see them for what they were: the actions of a passionate leader doing the right thing the wrong way. Any meaningful punishment would be a miscarriage of justice and send the wrong message.
It took a few months but, thankfully, saner heads prevailed.
Military.com (“No Action Taken Against Army Officer After Public Dustup with Tucker Carlson over Women Serving“):
The Army took no action against Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe and allowed him to retire Sunday, ending a controversy after the service began an investigation into the armor officer’s conduct online following posts in which he took a stance against Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s disparaging comments about female soldiers.
“I retired honorably and without any reprimand or admonishment,” Donahoe told Military.com in an interview.
Given that this has all played out publicly for months, I would have preferred that the Army issue a statement explaining the decision but, thus far, there has not been one. Which is somewhat ironic in that, like Donahoe, they’ve done the right thing in the wrong way.
I’m sorry, Prof. Joyner, could you be more specific when you have a moment?
What would such a statement have said ideally? Why is this preferable here to silence — which can have its own kind of power at times (“never complain, never explain”)?
@DK: Donahoe is leaving with a stain on his record—a public rebuke from the Army IG. I think that should be counterbalanced with a statement from the Secretary of the Army to the effect that Donahoe’s heart was in the right place in defending women servicemembers and that his career has otherwise been exemplary and thus deserving of full retirement at his present rank. As it is, he has already suffered the consequences of the incident, as he would almost certainly have earned at least a third star from that posting.
@James Joyner: Ah, gotcha. Dankeschön.