Military Times to Donald Trump: Spend more time in listening mode

Donald Trump has no boundaries in speaking his mind. But he wants to muzzle the military’s top officers.

“I don’t want our generals on television,” the Republican presidential front-runner recently told supporters. “I will prohibit them.”

Trump says that if generals — and by extension admirals and other top officers — share their military concerns in public, it could signal weakness. Further, he wants to bar any open discussion of military strategy or operations.
But Trump’s position is built on the false premise that our uniformed leaders are unduly critical of the nation’s military capabilities and openly divulging war plans and combat strategies. In truth, they discuss those matters with great discretion as their jobs require and in detail only when directed to do so by the civilian leadership to whom they answer.

The U.S. military's service chiefs and combatant commanders have a duty to provide candid assessments of resources, conditions and challenges. Moreover, in our democracy, the citizens have a right to hear from their military leaders, who oversee the well-being of their serving loved ones and serve as stewards to taxpayers who fund a Pentagon that devours more than half of federal discretionary spending — dwarfing what’s spent on education, food and agriculture and other vital programs and services.

If a military leader tells Congress in an open session that he needs more troops, or more ships or has concerns about wear and tear on people and equipment, that’s hardly a signal to the world that the best trained and resourced military in history is on the ropes. It’s a demonstration that building and maintaining that superior force depends upon open discussion, debate and compromise.
Trump’s remarks coincide with a recent Military Times survey of active-duty subscribers — mostly career soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — seeking their preference among the remaining presidential candidates. Of the 951 respondents, Trump was their favorite, besting Hillary Clinton by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

Trump, the man who could become their commander in chief, has a lot to learn about them and the U.S. military. He would do well to spend more time in listening mode.