Legion to Senate: drop the hold

Dear American Legion Family members and friends,

When I visited Pearl Harbor last December, I had the honor of speaking with survivors of the infamous attack. The lesson that most Pearl Harbor veterans expressed to me over the years is that America must always be prepared.

Unfortunately, America’s readiness to defend its citizens is unnecessarily harmed due to the actions that are occurring in the U.S. Senate. Really inaction is a better word.

Since Monday, the U.S. Marine Corps has been without a confirmed commandant. It is the first time that the Marines have not had an authorized commandant in 164 years. In fact, 16 general officers in the U.S. Marine Corps have had their promotions put on hold due to a legislative maneuver by a single U.S. senator.  The holds are not because they are unqualified but because the senator objects to totally unrelated policies that these officers had nothing to do with.

Other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will retire in the next two months, leaving vacancies in the highest military positions. The people aspiring to these billets will be in good company, as more than 260 general and flag officers so far in all our military branches have had their promotions put on hold because of this. The U.S. Air Force alone has 99 general officer promotions on hold.

This isn’t just impacting the top brass. It impacts the critical staff that generals and admirals will rely on to ensure operational readiness. Some families have sold homes as they await orders that have yet to be finalized. As any military parent with school-aged children will attest, summer is the optimum time to make a permanent change of station.

Quality of life issues are vital to the success of an all-volunteer force. The American Legion has always believed a strong U.S. military is what allows us “to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy.” It is why a strong national defense is one of our organization’s founding pillars.

I mentioned my visit to Pearl Harbor. Last month, I visited another hallowed place, Normandy, France. As I saw the final resting place of thousands of freedom’s heroes, I couldn’t help but be grateful for not just their sacrifice but their success in saving the world. Our victory in World War II might not have been assured without the steady and confident leadership of general and flag officers like Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Bradley, Nimitz, Puller, Roosevelt and countless others. They were the right leaders at the right time. Thank God that no politician deprived us of their leadership when America needed these officers most.

Vincent J. “Jim” Troiola

National Commander