Vindman Retiring From Army, Lawyer Blames Trump

Of course. Everything is Trump's fault, isn't it? I am not a Vindman fan. While in uniform stay OUT of politics

LTC Vindman should indeed retire and go away. If he truly saw/heard something he thought was wrong, we have systems for reporting impropriety in the Army. There are proper channels for that sort of thing. Instead, Vindman circumvented the entire chain of command and went running to the press and the DNC. This is a violation of the chain of command, and is inexcusable.

Vindman also wore his dress uniform to a partisan political hearing. He was NOT representing the U.S. Army, and thus violated uniform regulations that bar servicemembers from wearing the uniform to political events. He thought he was "all that" in his uniform. What most people don't know, is that a LTC in the Pentagon/D.C. is like a 2LT anywhere else. My dad was assigned to the Pentagon for a bit, and as a LTC, he said that his main job was making coffee for the Generals.

Officers like Vindman should NOT be promoted, and should indeed be removed one way or another, as they set the wrong example for junior Officers coming up the ranks in the future. When you allow violations of The Standard, you just set a new (lower) standard.

There are a couple things wrong with your set-up to the question. Lt Cols are not "nominated" to full Colonel, and Vindman never HAD a promotion to Colonel, so it was never "turned down." There is no guarantee, and no expectation, of promotion to Colonel. It is a competitive, performance-and-potential-based promotion process.