Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, the highest-ranking and most senior commander in the nation’s armed forces, is scheduled to retire at the end of the month. What happens then is anyone’s guess.
That’s because football-coach-turned-U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville shamefully continues to erode military leadership and compromise national security by blocking the promotions of hundreds of service members — including those at the top of the command structure — from action in the Senate.
The United States is today without confirmed chiefs to lead the Navy, Army and Marine Corps. Those three critical positions are among more than 300 officer promotions languishing as a result of Tuberville’s truculence.
… Tuberville’s “holds,” as they’re called, aren’t about the nominees’ qualifications, but are in protest to the Pentagon policy of providing time and reimbursement to service members who have to travel for abortion care when they’re stationed in states that have outlawed the procedure.
You see, Tuberville thinks the military is best served by depriving its female service members from reproductive choices about their bodies. He firmly believes that a woman who joins the armed forces and is stationed in a state that severely restricts access to contraceptives and abortion services should simply accept it.
Ask the military or law enforcement why they don’t negotiate with terrorists and they’ll tell you that capitulation only invites further action. Give an inch and they’ll take a mile.
The same goes for Tuberville. If he is rewarded for single-handedly blocking experienced and talented service members from ascending to leadership positions, then others will follow in his reckless, ill-considered path.
This never should have been allowed to fester, but there remains only one option: Tuberville should put the nation’s security first by lowering his cynical, irresponsible roadblock to military promotions and allow them to proceed in the bipartisan manner they had before he set foot in the Senate.
— The Virginian Pilot
