What people who have worked with Clark have to say

[mfs378]

Check it out...

[*]"Wes Clark has been a superb battalion commander and will be a superb brigade commander. He is an officer of the rarest potential and will clearly rise to senior general officer rank. He will be one of the Army's leaders in the 1990's." - General Colin Powell

[*]"Professional and moral attributes are impeccable, Strong in all areas. Best leader-thinker in the Army... a great leader who takes care of soldiers and families... He has it all and has done it better than anyone else." - General Edwin Burba, Jr

[*]"He is unquestionably one in a million. A professional whose perceptions are correct, whose plans are thorough and complete, whose executions are artistic, and whose success is inevitable. I have never been more impressed with an officer's talent and dedication. He should rank with men like Douglas MacArthur, Maxwell Taylor, Creighton Abrams." -Col. Charles G. Prather IV

[*]"Wes Clark has the character and depth to be another Marshall or Eisenhower in time of war." - Brigadier General William W. Crouch

[*][Clark was] "the most brilliant and gifted officer I've known. Tough minded, forceful, yet sensitive to soldiers." - Lt. Col. L.G. Nowak

[*]"Brilliant, innovative, hardworking, and extremely enthusiastic, professional in every respect. I cannot praise him too highly... The fact that General Haig selected him for his personal staff is indicative of his caliber. Further, his gracious wife is a distinct asset to him and to the Army." - Brigadier General Clyde W. Spence, Jr.

[*]"Clark exhibits the best balance of professional ethics of any officer I know. Particularly noteworthy is his demonstrated selfless dedication to his men, his unit, and the Army. He exhibits absolute integrity of word, deed... he establishes and observes scrupulous ethical and moral standards." - Colonel Lester E Bennett

[*]Clark worked as a White House Fellow, serving as Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. James T. Lynn in the Office of Management and Budget stated, "Major Clark is the most able White House Fellow I have known during my seven years in Washington. He brought to his work a brilliant mind and rare common sense. He has initiative, style, imagination, moral courage, and integrity each in extraordinary degree. He has a rare sensitivity to others and a remarkable ability to motivate and lead them. He is totally dedicated to public service as a military officer."

 

[glenn1]

We've already covered this ground. Unfortunately for Clark, even though the good grades he got were probably deserved, historically rampant grade inflation in the Army OER (Officer Evaluation Report) system makes these comments suspect at best because of the Lake Wobegone effect.

 

[mfs378]

Originally posted by: glenn1
We've already covered this ground. Unfortunately for Clark, even though the good grades he got were probably deserved, historically rampant grade inflation in the Army OER (Officer Evaluation Report) system makes these comments suspect at best because of the Lake Wobegone effect.

I am not aware of any evidence to suggest that these quotes were not sincere; if you have any, please provide it.

Furthermore, not all the quotes (actually just one) are from military sources. I am not familiar with the OER, but I assume that at least this comment, if not others as well, were provided independently of any sort of military review. But again, prove me wrong.

I think that these comments speak volumes about Wes Clark, and find it a bit preposterous that you approach them from the position that they are 'suspect at best.'

 

[burnedout]

glenn1 has a good point regarding inflated OERs. NCOERs also suffer inflation to a relatively a lesser degree.

However, I recently heard from an NCO who worked under General Clark during the time that he was a battalion commander (LTC). He said that then-LTC Clark asked the hard questions, demanded results, but treated all of his subordinates fairly. Everybody perceives others differently.

General Clark's speeches are good (I personally attended a Clark rally here in Austin) although his briefings, especially those broadcast on CNN during the invasion could use some work.

Nevertheless, he'll have my vote in the upcoming Texas primary.