INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Jeffrey Schloesser.
Jens Stoltenberg closed his eyes and massaged his temples. NATO summits never failed to test his limits – but this recent one? It felt like a dam had ruptured, a flood of insanity battering the alliance from every angle.
Take Trump. His recent speeches weren’t just isolationist, they were reckless. “Pay up or get out,” he roared. Yet what Trump missed – willfully or not – was that NATO wasn’t a protection racket. Putin watched with glee, no doubt, imagining vulnerable allies ripe for the taking.
Then there was Hungary. Obstructionist for months, now suddenly cooperative over Sweden’s long-awaited ascension. Rumors swirled of backroom deals – concessions to Orbán that made Jens’s stomach turn. At least one headache was resolved, but at what cost?
Worst of all was France’s unilateral proposal. Deploy NATO troops to Ukraine, Macron had argued passionately. A bold move, undeniably, but it risked dragging the alliance into direct war with Russia. The Eastern European members, understandably terrified, dug in their heels; as did Germany and the UK, who would be forced to play significant roles in such.
The summit room buzzed with tension, a chorus of voices arguing, pleading, occasionally threatening. It should have been inspiring, seeing democracy in action, but all Jens could feel was a bone-deep weariness. NATO, the great guarantor of peace, seems like it is teetering on the edge to many. This is a trying time for the alliance.
According to a statement, “Major General Jeffrey Schloesser (US Army Ret) author of Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan.
“From Major General Jeffrey Schloesser—former Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division and Regional Command-East—comes a revealing memoir of leadership in the chaos and fog of the Afghanistan War.
“Join Major General Schloesser in the daily grind of warfare fought in the most forbidding of terrain, with sometimes uncertain or untested allies, Afghan corruption and Pakistani bet-hedging, and the mounting casualties of war which erode and bring into question Schloesser’s most profoundly held convictions and beliefs. Among several battles, Schloesser takes readers deep into the Battle of Wanat, where nine U.S. soldiers were killed in a fierce, up-close fight to prevent a new operating base from being overrun. This encounter required Schloesser to make tactical decisions that had dramatic strategic impact, and led him to doubts: Can this war even be won? If so, what will it take?”This book is a rare insight and reflection into the thoughts of critical national decision-makers including President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, then-Senator Barack Obama, and numerous foreign leaders including Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Key military leaders—including then Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, then Central Command Commanding General David Petraeus, then Lieutenant General and future Chairman Martin Dempsey, and International Security Force Commander General David McKiernan—all play roles in the book, among many others, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley and Army Chief of Staff General James McConville. Analyzing their leadership in the chaos of war Schloesser ultimately concludes that successful leadership in combat is best based on competence, courage, and character
The book is “Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan.”
“BIO: Jeff Schloesser is a retired Army Major General who commanded the 101st Airborne Division for thirty-three months, including fifteen months in combat in Afghanistan. In his thirty-four-year Army career he served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Albania, Kuwait, Haiti, Jordan, Korea, and twice in Germany.
“He was an assistant division commander in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq 2003-04, the first Global War on Terrorism Planning Director in the Pentagon after 9/11, and the first Deputy Director at the National Counterterrorism Center for Strategic Operational Planning.
“An aviator, Jeff commanded two battalions of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and a brigade task force in Albania and Kosovo.
“He resides with his wife Patty in Park City, Utah, and northern Virginia. He has completed thirty-eight marathons.”
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