Lieutenant Sam Nuxoll, a platoon leader posted in Iraq, told military website Company Command how he spent most of his time making PowerPoint presentations. 'I have to make a storyboard complete with digital pictures, diagrams and text summaries on just about anything that happens,' he added.
I worked on a project last year with a retired USMC colonel who had served closely with the current Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Casey, when Casey commanded in Iraq. His comment on Casey was
He would spend hours personally fiddling with a single PowerPoint slide.
My impression of American civilians is that they have a fantasy picture of contemporary military forces "informed" by the history they read, including ACW history. The only correction comes if they or a family member joins the services.They're not entirely at fault in this. At the dawn of VOLAR when the last tranches of WWII and Korea vets were retiring, I got sick of them telling me, "Don't worry, all this BS goes away the moment the balloon goes up." They were probably envisioning a draft, a massive influx of civilian sanity to put checks on the out-of-control "professionals." Doesn't look like that's ever going to happen.
General Lee, I hope you enjoy this PowerPoint presentation General Longstreet and I have prepared for you.
This is the fruit of the "professionalism" Grant, Sherman, Schofield and others struggled for postwar and it anticipates the criticism of "professionalism" made by the radical Republicans, by Butler, Sickles, Logan, and many others.
