via Task & Purpose.
Austin’s appointment to the top of the Department of Defense stunned those of us who had personally observed his stumbling performance as commander of U.S. Central Command.
“This is not a decision brief,” a member of the Commander’s Action Group advised me in late 2015 as I waited to update Austin on preparations for a special operations task force to take on the Islamic State group in Iraq. “So don’t embarrass him by asking for one.”
This took me by surprise because the presentation was supposed to be exactly that: a thumbs up or down on whether to proceed with a particular course of action. Instead, my carefully delivered presentation concluded in awkward silence during which Gen. Austin nodded his thanks, then sniffed and tugged at his collar but offered no guidance. Eventually one of his long-suffering staff showed me the way to the door.
“I’m sorry, Andy, but it is what it is,” he said with genuine remorse, before adding: “Hey bro, make sure you kick ass out there.” That quietly delivered exhortation was more inspiring than anything I heard from Gen. Austin during his two years in command.
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