I was asked recently for advice on how to deal with a persistent conflict between two people, both working in the political arena. The advice I gave was to avoid the emotional and personal side of it and measure all actions against a set standard. In this case the set standard was a series of statements in a political platform document, and the U.S. Constitution. This allows for impartial discussion measured against principles and standards only.
The U.S. Army requires adherence to a set of principles and standards called the Army Values, known by the acronym LDRSHIP. It stands for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. This performance standard applies to all serving in the Army, without regard to rank. I crafted hundreds of performance evaluations over my years of service and measuring Soldiers of all ranks against this common standard was critical. The oath of office demands service to the people through the principle of defending the constitution alone. Similarly, the point of defining the Army’s core values was to ensure those serve know they are to adhere to certain principles of conduct regardless of the cost.
Unfortunately, the Army’s senior “leaders” do not measure up to their own grade sheet, and their subordinates can see it.
Loyalty - bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other Soldiers.
Rather than display this kind of loyalty, the Army’s current “leadership” pursues patriots who serve and displays loyalty only to the pursuit of a woke agenda, illegal vax mandates, and self-preservation for the sake of career and paycheck. Worst case is they are willingly pursuing these measures to help destroy our Army’s readiness from the inside.
Duty - fulfill your obligations.
Their obligations are defined by their oath to the U.S. Constitution and to the people who have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness under that contract. Today’s senior “leaders” are again failing to do their duty by destroying the Army’s readiness to fight and win.
Respect - Treat people as they should be treated.
Each day I work with those still in uniform as their chain of command pursues them with a relentlessness normally reserved for enemies of the United States. There is no respect for those serving who do not blindly or willingly accept the administration’s destructive agenda.
Selfless Service - Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.
There seems to be a trend in that each of the Army values are ignored and replace by other priorities. These “leaders” are supposed to exemplify these values in daily life and leadership but ignore them instead. By attacking patriots from inside the ranks, these “leaders” display no concern for the welfare of this Constitutional Republic, the Army, or the subordinates and the families who become the casualties of a domestic battlefield.
Honor - Live up to all the Army values.
By now it’s clear to all of us who’ve served, and many still serving that such “leaders” lack honor. Veterans and retirees like me and many others fight each day to expose those who wear the rank but can’t and won’t lead.
Integrity - Do what’s right, legally and morally.
In watching the Congressional testimony of senior ranking officers after America’s surrender in Afghanistan, it’s clear they chose to serve the gods of self and administration preservation. The easier lie was accepted over the harder truth and Americans know it. Those serving now, and those who might consider serving saw it too. Many serving still uphold the Army Values like Atlas holds up the world, under significant weight, as those highest-ranking officers press down on them in hopes they’ll break and submit.
Personal Courage - Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral).
Having spent years in combat there’s no way to truly describe the physical courage it takes to go on combat missions not knowing if you’ll survive. I’ve escaped death on many occasions and have buried too many friends unable to escape that fate. Some of today’s senior ranking officers displayed physical courage in combat but worked their way to positions where moral courage is required. Moral courage is the harder of the two to display. Someone might wonder if I’m unjustly criticizing others for that which I may never have had the opportunity to display. I sacrificed a career to a single decision made while training an Aviation Task Force at the army’s National Training Center in January 2018. I would do it again as I am convinced it saved lives.
As a retired senior army officer, I’m contacted daily by those still serving who are keeping as low a profile as possible in hopes that the American people will provide the civilian oversight needed to fix this problem. Many have already paid the price for standing up for what is right, and I fear that’s what these senior officers want, to cull the ranks of patriots.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Darin Gaub is an Army veteran, Blackhawk helicopter pilot and former Air Assault Battalion Commander, international military strategist, and Co-founder/Executive Director of Restore Liberty. Col. Gaub spent 28 years in military service, with 7 years in command, and three years training military forces for combat, including “hybrid warfare” environments. He helped to build contingency plans for the unique characteristics of a conflict in Eastern Europe based on lessons from Russian operations in Georgia and Syria. He completed four deployments to Afghanistan, as well as South Korea, Eastern Europe, and North Africa.
