KT McFarland 's 18 October 2021 'Fox & Friends' Interview on the Passing of General Colin Powell - Does She Suffer from Dementia or Is She Just Plain Stupid?

 

Former Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland joined 'Fox & Friends' on the morning of 18 October 2021, to comment on the news of Colin Powell's passing.  She began her remarks with this statement which was so far off base that it calls into question if she ever really even met General Powell:

“I first met Colin Powell in the Reagan Administration. I was the Secretary of Defense’s Speech writer and he was the Military Assistant. We were in and out of each other’s officers a dozen times a day.  And Colin Powell almost wasn’t. Because he was a Colonel, he was in the Military, he hadn’t gone to West Point and he was really passed over for promotion to General and during the Johnson Administration and LBJ and then Secretary of the Army said hey look, let’s have another look at those people you’re promotion or recommending for General; let’s see if we can find some minorities in there to better reflect the population of the Military and sure enough Colonel Colin Powell became General Colin Powell and the rest is history.”

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6277689966001#sp=show-clips

Just these few problems with KT’s faulty memory:

Ø  Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) was US President November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969. Powell was a Captain and Major during the LBJ Administration, NOT a Colonel and definitely was NOT promoted to Brigadier General until more than 10 years after LBJ left office.

Ø  When Powell was promoted to Brigadier General he had all the right tickets punched: Two Vietnam Combat tours,  White House Fellow, Divisional combat Infantry battalion command, War College Graduate, 101st Airborne Division Brigade Command, Executive Assistance to a Presidential Cabinet Secretary and other prestigious positions. He didn't need political intervention.

Ø  Never Passed over for any promotions, Promoted to Brigadier General with a little over three (3) years Time-in-Grade as a Colonel.  Contemporaries on the 1979 BG Promotion list had over four (4) years TIG as Colonels.

Ø  LBJ’s Secretary of the Army, Stanley Resor had been out of Government for over 10 years when Powell was selected for promotions to Brigadier General.

Ø  As for GEN Powell not being a West Point graduate, 8 of the 12 Chairmen since 1980 have NOT been Academy graduates. He was followed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Army GEN John Shalikashvili, a Draftee who entered service as an Enlisted man and was commissioned from Officer Candidate School. Army GEN Jack Vessey, the Chairman under President Reagan, was not West Point either receiving a Battlefield Commission in Anzio, Italy during World War II.  Several Chairmen were NOT Academy Grads but that would interfere with KT's "War Story."

In case you don’t remember who KT is (or was), She served as the Deputy National Security Advisor under LTG Michael Flynn for the first few months of the Trump administration but was fired by Flynn's successor LTG H. R. McMaster. Trump nominated her to be  U.S. Ambassador to Singapore but the Senate slow rolled the nomination and she withdrew it in February 2018 over questions about her the veracity of her Senate confirmation testimony. Not sure if KT has a faulty memory, just makes it up as she goes or, like “Dementia Joe” Biden, is suffering from the early stages of Dementia. Regardless which, she didn’t even come close with that Fox &’ Friends’ interview.  If FOX News want to maintain some credibility, they should refrain from booking KT in the future.

GEN Powell Career Highlights

9 June 1958 - Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the US Army.

30 Dec 1959 – Promoted to First Lieutenant

2 Jun 1962 – Promoted to Captain

1962-1963 – First Vietnam Infantry Advisor Tour wounded by a Viet Cong booby trap.

24 May 1966 – Promoted to Major

1968-1969  - Second Vietnam Tour, assistant chief of staff of operations, 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division, wounded in a helicopter crash,  rescues two other soldiers in the crash.

9 Jul 1970 – Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel

1972-1973 - White House fellow, working for Frank Carlucci, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget under Caspar Weinberger.

1973-1974 – Commander, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, 8th US Army, Republic of Korea

1975-1976 – Student, National War College, Washington, DC

1 Feb 1976 – Promoted to Colonel

1976-1977 - Commander of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

1977-1979 – Military Assistant to John Kester, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Harold Brown

1979 - Executive assistant to Charles Duncan Jr., Secretary of Energy

1 Jun 1979 – Promoted to Brigadier General (by Sec Duncan)

1979-1981 - Senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense.

1981-1983 - Assistant division commander,  4th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, Colorado.

1 Aug 1983 – Promoted to Major General

1983-1986 - Senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Weinberger.

26 Mar 1986 – Promoted to Lieutenant General

1986-1987 – Commander,  US V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany.

1987- 1989 - National security adviser to President Ronald Reagan.

4 Apr 1989 – Promoted to  General           

1989 - Commander in Chief, US Army Forces Command Ft. McPherson, Georgia.

1989- 1993 - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1991 - Oversees Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

1993 - Retires from the Army as a four-star general