Washington, DC
So why is John Nagl leaving the U.S. Army? Here is the quintessential scholar-warrior retiring from service at the age of 41, just when we need him most. Lt. Colonel Nagl is not to blame, of course, as he heads to the Center for a New American Security. Nonetheless, his sudden departure continues to raise questions about the Army's ability and willingness to retain its best and the brightest? Scholars with combat experience are too valuable for a nation at war to lose.
Nagl holds a doctorate from Oxford and has been a key player in General David Petraeus' Iraq counterinsurgency planning and execution. Still, one always wonders how well scholars exist within the cultural parameters of military or even corporate life. I find the military to be more welcoming to scholars than the corporate community, but not much more. I find the scholarly community to be more open to military men and women, but not much more than they are to the corporate community. I find the corporate community barely open to either one of them.
We just seem to be wasting so much time with our personal uneasiness over people from different tribes. There was a time when we seemed more comfortable as a society with citizens who were entrepreneurs, warriors and scholars. For the good of the nation, isn’t it time to get over it. Now more than ever, isn’t it time we elevate to leadership positions people who can walk these different paths?
So why is John Nagl leaving the U.S. Army? Here is the quintessential scholar-warrior retiring from service at the age of 41, just when we need him most. Lt. Colonel Nagl is not to blame, of course, as he heads to the Center for a New American Security. Nonetheless, his sudden departure continues to raise questions about the Army's ability and willingness to retain its best and the brightest? Scholars with combat experience are too valuable for a nation at war to lose.
Nagl holds a doctorate from Oxford and has been a key player in General David Petraeus' Iraq counterinsurgency planning and execution. Still, one always wonders how well scholars exist within the cultural parameters of military or even corporate life. I find the military to be more welcoming to scholars than the corporate community, but not much more. I find the scholarly community to be more open to military men and women, but not much more than they are to the corporate community. I find the corporate community barely open to either one of them.
We just seem to be wasting so much time with our personal uneasiness over people from different tribes. There was a time when we seemed more comfortable as a society with citizens who were entrepreneurs, warriors and scholars. For the good of the nation, isn’t it time to get over it. Now more than ever, isn’t it time we elevate to leadership positions people who can walk these different paths?