A Spin-Free Day

I spent this Wednesday traipsing around White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, interviewing soldiers about the gadgets and gizmos the Army fielded in its Network Integration Exercise, and I was completely unfettered by a minder. I could talk to any enlisted soldier I encountered, and they in turn gave me their candid assessments of the devices, even if their opinions did not jibe with those espoused way up the command chain.

Since those assessments will help drive deployment of computer and communications systems that carry an aggregate price tag in the billions of dollars, the Army deserves kudos for letting soldiers speak their minds to reporters.

How refreshing -- treating professional soldiers as professionals.