There are many, many things I do not really understand. Some of those things are pumpkin spice in everything this time of year, sub-atomic physics, and the ongoing popularity of the song “I’ll be home for Christmas.” 

First published during World War II, composer Walter Kent and lyricist Kim Gannon wrote a haunting melody that seems upbeat – everyone will be home for Christmas – but that really is a downer at the end. Bing Crosby released the song in 1943, backed by John Scott Trotter and his orchestra (“Danny Boy” was on the flip side) and after wistfully singing about getting home for Christmas, the song ends with “if only in my dreams.” That last line echoed very true for the tens of thousands of American fighting men and women deployed for WWII. They knew that they would not be coming home for Christmas or any time soon. My own uncle, for example, got married to his sweetheart on a 10-day pass and then left for Europe for four years. Yet today, “I’ll be home for Christmas” pops up every year when they start playing Christmas music in stores (so, what, about now?) and people hum along, blissfully unaware of the song’s sad origins.

Which, of course, brings me to Donald Trump, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and who will — and who will not — be home for Christmas.

You may recall that then-candidate Trump once noted that he knew more than the generals about the world, the war in Afghanistan, and such. He was, as he himself declared, a “very stable genius.” Trump also promised to hire only the very best people and that we as Americans would soon grow tired of winning so much. 

Perhaps you were swept up in such feelings of winning and may have missed a couple of news stories that crossed the national stage in the last week or so regarding the military. As a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, I admit I am probably hyper-aware of such stories, but one of Trump’s “best” made a bit of military news last week, only to see the president double down.

Trump’s current national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, (his fourth in three years, contrasted with Obama having two NSA’s over eight years) made some news when he mentioned in a speech in Las Vegas that the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be reduced to no more than 2,500 by yearly 2021. That news came as a bit of a shock to the actual military people involved, namely the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as they were unaware of any such plan and had not been consulted on the issue.

To further cloud the issue, President Trump then went on to announce that all U.S. combat troops would be out of Afghanistan by Christmas, later amended to the end of the year (which is what, a week later?).

As commander in chief, Trump can order troops around as he desires. But presidential decisions around such troop movements have traditionally been discussed by presidents with their military commanders. It appears that Trump (“smarter than the generals”) did not do so, which is worrisome to me as a military person and should be worrisome to you, too. 

Chairman of the JCS, Army General Mark Milley, recently stated that the comments by the national security adviser were not new policy announcements, and he neatly threw O’Brien under the bus when he said that anyone can “speculate” on military policy, but that he as the commander would base such decisions on the situation on the ground and his (Milley’s) conversations with the president.

I like Milley. He showed great character when he apologized to his troops for having been, well, conned, into walking with Trump across a tear-gas-cleared street so Trump could hold a bible in front of a church that Trump doesn’t actually attend. Milley is both honorable and smart, and I would much rather have him guiding military policy than O’Brien.

Here in Colorado this stuff matters. Home to Fort Carson and thousands of combat troops, Colorado has a direct impact, and is in turn impacted, by military policy decisions. Trump appears to be increasingly desperate about the coming election and I suspect his “home by Christmas” tweet was yet another ill-considered ploy to grab some votes, with little thought as to the consequences of such actions. But to military professionals such rash actions can have very damaging effects on military readiness, troop morale, and our standing in the world.

I always get a bit sad when I hear Bing sing about Christmas. In that long-ago war, the soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen knew their duty. Today’s troops do as well. It is a pity that the president does not. 

Perhaps his bone spurs are acting up.