Tribute: Army Leaders Honor the Ultimate Sacrifice

A Monday Night, While The Nation Slept

By Dean Popps

Monday night, while most of us slept, two senior Army leaders and a solemn accompanying cadre of others, made a silent, sad, nighttime journey to receive the remains of one of their own, a US soldier killed in Afghanistan, Major Brent Taylor of Utah, a husband and father of seven young children.

Major Taylor, the victim of a Taliban “insider attack”, was repatriated at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Both his family and his Army family were present, including the most senior of leaders.

Under Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy and Army Chief of Staff, Mark Milley are, by any measure, what the Army calls “studs” or “hosses”. McCarthy, whom I know longer and better, is a younger man, VMI grad, and an all-star—smart, capable, experienced, and a former trooper in 75th Rangers, the most elite Ranger unit. He was among the first on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001. After the Army, banking, and Capitol Hill, he spent 5 years running interference for Bob Gates, as his deputy in the front office, and then had a wildly successful defense industry career until he was confirmed as Under Secretary of the Army by the US Senate in summer of 2017. And, yes, he’s a real stud and leader.

Army Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, is out of central casting. He’s a larger-than-life Special Forces Princetonian, via New England roots, with much of his career as a flag officer spent leading combat forces. He loves being Chief, and the troopers love and respect him, but like all real soldiers, he prefers the smell of gunpowder in his nostrils to the Washington bureaucracy and games. Yes, he a “hoss” and a “stud”—and a great Chief.

Why do I mention these leaders ?

On Monday evening, I talked to McCarthy. His sober tone reflected the Army work ethic of these two men. I asked if he was Dover-bound.