Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Blunt Talk From America’s Longest-Serving General

Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly. Wikipedia

Molly O'Toole, Defense One: Here’s What America’s Longest-Serving General Most Fears

Gen. John Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, goes “over the side for the last time” with 45 years of perspective on U.S. war-fighting and its future

“This will sound strange to you,” said Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, the U.S. military’s longest-serving general. “My greatest fear was that I would be offered another job.”

The four-star head of U.S. Southern Command will hand over his final command on Thursday and retire at the end of the month. In an exclusive interview, Kelly reflected with his characteristic off-the-cuff candor on nearly half a century in the military, spanning from the Vietnam War to three tours in Iraq to overseeing the Defense Department detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“I won’t be any more or any less honest than I’ve been in all of my career,” he said in Boston brogue. “I’ve been doing it a long, long time.”

WNU Editor: 45 years in the military .... wow .... he has certainly seen (and experienced) a lot.

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