THE Fighting Illini

Today in the AP is a good point/counter point on the dichotomy of our contemporary generals. Now, I am a fan of Big Stan. He was a soldier’s officer who was one of the most capable ass kickers and name takers out there today.

But Dave has been my hero since the day I pinned my air assault wings back in ’07 and first heard the tall tales of his leadership.

By KIMBERLY DOZIER, Associated Press Writer Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 29, 12:34 am ET

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan – Gen. David Petraeus trudges across a gravel helicopter landing area with his aides, looking purposeful but a bit grim, as he reaches a village outpost in the violent Afghan province of Helmand. He’s here to chart progress, or lack thereof, in a war that’s running at the pace of a horse cart, in a world that runs at the speed of a text message.

The only time the 57-year-old commander’s smile reaches his eyes are a couple of brief moments when he stops and chats with troops. He poses for snapshots that memorialize his first months in command here, fighting a long war that he knows the American public, not to mention the White House, wants done yesterday.

Petraeus does not snap when a reporter asks him a question he has answered 50 times before, and will at least another 50 this year: Do you see progress?

When he replies, the pressure weighing on him shows in his voice — quieter than when he was in charge at U.S. Central Command in Florida, or earlier in Baghdad and Mosul — and it shows as well in the slightly hunched set of his shoulders, leaning on one arm of the chair.

There is none of the showmanship described in magazine profiles that sketched a megawatt four-star commander who outmaneuvers his adversaries with political and media savvy.

Instead, there is a solemn professor, patiently getting through the next order of business in a day scheduled down to the minute. To answer that “progress” question, he asks his aide for a stack of charts, leafs through to the chosen page, and then walks the reporter through his vision of the war, like a tough calculus problem he keeps having to explain over and over.

Calm, calculating professor. That’s how this war-of-waiting is going to be won. He is the professional officer’s officer. He has kept Stan’s name on the plans he implemented, and that are successful. GEN Petraeus has that sixth political sense to navigate these murky waters.

His leadership is something to be modeled and aspired to. The next time we feel down in our daily grind, just think of the last 10 years of 15-hour days this guy has gone through. GEN Petraeus’ fight is emblematic of the war itself. In his own words:

“I think we’ve pushed it right to the limit,” the general says, “and we stay there.”

He calls the pace “sustainable,” but says quietly, as he shakes hands, “there’s not much of a reserve.”

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

-Arnold Schwarzenegger