The New York Times reports:
For then-Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tricky part was that both of the accomplished officers were women.
Mr. Esper and General Milley worried that if they even raised their names — Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost of the Air Force and Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson of the Army — the Trump White House would replace them with their own candidates before leaving office.
So the Pentagon officials agreed on an unusual strategy: They held back their recommendations until after the November elections, betting that if Joseph R. Biden Jr. won, he and his aides would be more supportive of the Pentagon picks than Mr. Trump, who had feuded with Mr. Esper and has a history of disparaging women.
Read the full article.
Given my experience this is unsurprising. DOD & the army held up my promotion & gave me little choice but to retire. They’ve delayed @YVindman promotion for 5 months. Senior mil officials have been cowed into shedding core values. https://t.co/DX271B0D2v
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) February 17, 2021