Enter General Jones

By Lt Col P

Interesting news today: General James L. Jones, former Commandant of the Marine Corps and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has been named Middle East Special Envoy. He is currently Chairman of the Atlantic Council.

I think this is a good choice. Gen Jones was once described to me as "smooth as ice" by one of his former ops officers, and it was meant to be a compliment. Compliment or no, it is accurate.

He definitely has the credentials, among them his experience as CO 24th MEU (SOC) during Operation Provide Comfort in Kurdistan in 1991. (Odd coincidence-- another unit commander in that op was (then) LTC John Abizaid. 24 MEU, especially the battalion landing team, was also chock full of VMI grads.) He was a breath of fresh air when he came in as Commandant, having a clear vision of what he wanted the Marine Corps to do. Let us hope he does the same for this very difficult task.

November 28, 2007 05:21 PM Our Beloved Corps