Douglas Macgregor

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Douglas Macgregor (2020)

Douglas Abbott Macgregor (born January 4, 1947 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) is a retired Colonel in the United States Army , political scientist , military theorist, author and consultant . On July 29, 2020, President Donald Trump nominated Macgregor to succeed Richard Grenell for the office of Ambassador of the United States to Germany . Since then, the personnel has been with the Senate for confirmation .

Life

Macgregor is the son of Norman K. Macgregor Jr., who served as a pilot in World War II , and his wife, Alice M. Abbott, a sports-loving Dickinson College graduate . He attended the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington . As a fifth grader, he read Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin's book Panzer Battles , published in 1956, and according to his own account, he had already become a “proponent of mobile armored firepower” at a young age. He came to Germany for the first time as an exchange student in the eleventh grade . He later studied at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point , where he graduated in general engineering with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976 . He then embarked on an officer career in the US Army, which led him to the military locations of Fort Knox , Fort Benning , Schwabach and Fort Carson , among others . In Fort Benning he completed his training as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Rangers .

In 1983, the USMA's Department of Social Sciences chose Macgregor, who had meanwhile risen to captain , for an associate professor course . This included a two year degree in political science from the University of Virginia . After being there in comparative politics the academic degree of Master of Arts acquired and three years in the Department of Social Sciences had taught the USMA, he received his doctorate in 1987 at the University of Virginia in the subject International Relations for Ph.D. As early as 1986 he appeared as an author on military and defense issues.

After teaching as Professor of Social Sciences at USMA, he was promoted to major . He also received a place at Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , where he graduated in 1989. In the same year he was ordered to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany, where he was initially employed as Regimental Adjutant and from 1990 as Operations Officer of the 2nd Squadron.

In the Second Gulf War he took part as an operations officer ( S3 officer ) of armored units (2nd squadron of the 2nd cavalry regiment). In February 1991, the unit he led destroyed 70 Iraqi armored vehicles without any losses of its own in a 23-minute battle as part of the operations later known as the Battle of 73 Easting . He proceeded in an unconventional manner and anticipated the movements of Iraqi unity. For this he received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device .

From June 1991 to June 1992 Macgregor worked as special assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Concepts, Doctrine, and Developments at the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in Fort Monroe . In June 1992, the US Army placed him in command of the 1st Squadron of the 4th Cavalry Regiment in the 1st Infantry Division , Fort Riley . He resigned in July 1994 to serve as Forces Team Chief in the War Plans Division of the Operations Section 12 of the Army Staff . In April 1995 he became a Fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies . The following November, the US Army promoted him to Colonel ( colonel ). From November 1996 to October 1997 he worked as Deputy Director of the Command and Control Battle Lab in Fort Leavenworth, in the same period of the following year in the Future Plans Division (J5) at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Brussels .

Under the command of Wesley Clark , he served from October 1998 to January 2000 as planning chief - Director of the SHAPE Joint Operations Center (JOC) - for the deployment of NATO forces in the Kosovo war . For this he received the Defense Superior Service Medal . From February 2000 he worked as a special assistant to the Department of Defense at the National Defense University in Washington, DC , and later at the Institute for National Strategic Studies and the Center for Technology and National Security Policy as a senior research fellow . In June 2004 the US Army decommissioned Macgregor. He currently operates as Executive Vice President of the consulting firm Burke-Macgregor Group LLC .

Military-theoretical and security-political positions

Macgregor speaks German. In his work he dealt among other things with the battles of the Wehrmacht against the Red Army in World War II and with the relations between the GDR and the Soviet Union during the Cold War . In his widely acclaimed work Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century (developed in 1996 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a fellowship research project , published as a book in 1997) he made a name for himself as a proponent of far-reaching army reform. In it, he criticized the US Army for clinging to outdated Cold War paradigms and presented a new concept that he believed - supported by changes in organization, training and culture - would revolutionize the capabilities of the military. Among other things, he proposed the establishment of smaller, modularly organized, highly mobile, self-contained units with the ability to combat combined arms . Its concept remained controversial. The book caused a sensation among experts. The blunt criticism of the military leadership at that time is said to have ruined his career, according to his own admission.

In political and military circles, he acquired the reputation of a lateral thinker, for example through the view that many US military bases overseas could be saved and that NATO was a zombie . He supported the libertarian politician Ron Paul in the internal candidacies for the Republican Party primaries in 2012 . At the US news broadcaster Fox News , he appeared again and again as an expert on the broadcast of the presenter Tucker Carlson, who is considered to be conservative-libertarian . At one of these appearances, he described US President Trump as a "one-man team" that was "surrounded by strangers". He also took the view in Fox News that a “globalist elite and their lobby in the Capitol, Pentagon and State Department” wanted to keep the dispensable war in Afghanistan going out of selfish interests.

According to the journalist Marc Felix Serrao, Macgregor sees the world as an “arena of competing great powers”, in which partnerships are only possible with “limited liability”, but are definitely desirable. In order to resolve conflicts in international relations, one should therefore always look for solutions “with which both sides can live”. Macgregor does not rely on supranational organizations, not even on the “megalomaniac” nation building of the neoconservatives . He repeatedly urged in articles and on Fox News for US troops to withdraw from Syria and Afghanistan in order to relieve the US defense budget. He classifies Turkey's Syria policy under President Erdogan as neo-Omanism . Erdogan would like to be ruler of the former areas of the Ottoman Empire and wants to establish a Sunni-Islamic regime in Syria with the support of states on the Arabian Peninsula . In doing so, he gets into a local conflict with Russia, which is also involved in Syria , from which the USA and the West should stay out.

Nomination for US ambassador to Germany

In September 2019, speculation surfaced about Macgregor as a possible candidate to succeed John R. Bolton as National Security Advisor . In April 2020, the US newspaper Politico reported that US President Trump was considering Macgregor for the position of Under-Secretary of State for Defense Policy at the Pentagon, alongside Anthony Tata (* 1959), another retired professional officer and Fox News guest commentator that the choice finally fell on Tata. According to a tip from the administration, Macgregor was then considered for one of the vacant ambassadorial posts. US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had concerns about Macgregor in his ministry.

On July 29, 2020, President Trump nominated Macgregor for the post of Ambassador of the United States to Germany, which had become vacant following the resignation of Richard Grenell on June 1, 2020. The appointment of a US ambassador by the US president must be confirmed by the Senate . The Democratic US Senator Bob Menendez , a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, told the US broadcaster CNN in early August 2020 that statements by Macgregor would disqualify him for any government office and urged his Senate colleagues to reject him. Menendez was referring to public claims that Macgregor has made over the years about immigration and Muslims, as well as about the relationship between Germany and the United States. According to CNN, Macgregor claimed, among other things, that Muslim migrants would come to Europe "with the aim of transforming Europe into an Islamic State". According to CNN, Macgregor criticized Germany for “granting social benefits to millions of unwanted Muslim intruders instead of giving more money to their own armed forces”, and in a 2018 interview about Germany coming to terms with the past, he took the following view: “There is a sick mentality that generations after generations must atone for the sins of what has happened in 13 years of German history, and the other 1,500 years of Germany will be ignored. "

A comment in the US daily The Washington Post on August 5, 2020 ruled that Macgregor was "a racist crackpot", pro Putin, against Angela Merkel and, with regard to transatlantic relations, even worse than Richard Grenell.

Because of Macgregor's comments on Germany's government and history, the American Jewish Committee asked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to withdraw Macgregor's nomination for the Berlin ambassadorial post. Anti-Defamation League , B'nai B'rith and StandWithUs also raised concerns about Macgregor's comments in connection with his nomination .

Fonts

  • Uncertain allies? East European Forces in the Warsaw Pact . In: Soviet Studies (from 1993 Europe-Asia Studies ), 1986, Volume 38, Issue 2, pp. 227–247 ( preview ).
  • The Soviet-East German Military Alliance . 1987, PhD thesis at the University of Virginia, new edition: Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-52105-750-9 .
  • Future Battle: The Merging Levels of War . In: Parameters , Winter 1992-93, pp. 33-47 ( PDF ).
  • Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century . Research project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies 1996 ( PDF ), Praeger, 1997, ISBN 978-0-27595-794-0 .
  • The Joint Force: A Decade, No Progress . In: Joint Force Quarterly , Winter 2000/2001, pp. 18-23 ( PDF ).
  • Resurrecting Transformation for the Post-industrial Era . In: Defense Horizons , No. 2 (September 2001), pp. 1-8 ( PDF ).
  • Transforming Jointly . In: Hans Binnendijk (Ed.): Transforming America's Military . Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, National Defense University Press, Washington, DC 2002, p. 219 ( PDF , Google Books ).
  • Transformation under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights . Praeger, Westport / CT 2003, new edition 2008: Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-31336-157-9 .
  • XVIII Airborne Corps : Spearhead of Military Transformation . In: Defense Horizons , No. 37 (January 2004), pp. 1-6 ( PDF ).
  • Warrior's Rage: The Great Tank Battle of 73 Easting . US Naval Institute Press, 2009, 2012 reprint, ISBN 978-1-59114-533-2 .
  • Fire the Generals! In: Winslow T. Wheeler, Lawrence J. Korb: Military Reform: An Uneven History and an Uncertain Future . Stanford University Press, Redwood City / CA 2009, ISBN 978-0-80476-163-5 , pp. 123 ff.
  • Thoughts on Force Design in an Era of Shrinking Defense Budgets . In: Joint Force Quarterly . Issue 63 (4/2011), pp. 21-29 ( PDF ).
  • Margin of Victory: Five Battles that Changed the Face of Modern War . US Naval Institute Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1-61251-996-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Dickinson Alumnus , Volume 30, No. 3 (February 1953), p. 26 ( PDF )
  2. ^ Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate . Press release on the whitehouse.gov portal from July 29, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020
  3. ↑ Malte Lehming: Trump's new ambassador for Berlin: He considers coming to terms with the past to be a “sick German mentality” . Article from August 5 in the portal tagesspiegel.de , accessed on August 6, 2020
  4. ↑ Maureen McIlhane: Dickinson Tennis 1942 , website in the portal chonicles.dickinson.edu , accessed on August 4, 2020
  5. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin : Panzer Battles . University of Oklahoma Press 1956, Ballantine Books Edition, New York 1971
  6. ↑ Marc Felix Serrao : Tank specialist, crossheaded and old-school realist: This is how Donald Trump's designated ambassador for Berlin ticks . Article in the nzz.ch portal from July 28, 2020, accessed on August 2, 2020
  7. ↑ Douglas Abbott Macgregor's scientific contributions , search result in the researchgate.net portal
  8. ↑ Embittered war hero and ardent Trump supporter. In: sueddeutsche.de , July 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ Douglas Macgregor: A connoisseur of the Upper Palatinate as the new US ambassador , onetz.de, July 28, 2020
  10. ^ Douglas Macgregor , biographical entry in the globalpi.org portal (Global Policy Institute, Washington, DC)
  11. ^ Daniel S. Stempniak: An Agent of Change or A Colonel Who Just Complained: A Case Study of Colonel Douglas A. Macgregor and His Book, Breaking the Phalanx, A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century. School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, AY 02-03, p. 12 ( PDF )
  12. ^ Joint Forces Quarterly , Winter 2000/2001, p. 18
  13. ↑ Hans Binnendijk, Stuart E. Johnson (Ed.): Transforming for Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations . National Defense University Press, Washington, DC 2004, p. 134 ( PDF )
  14. ↑ Douglas Macgregor , website in the portal burke-macgregor.com , accessed on July 28, 2020
  15. ↑ Oliver Kühn: A new Fox commentator for Berlin? Article from July 28, 2020 in the faz.net portal , accessed on July 28, 2020
  16. ^ Daniel S. Stempniak, pp. 2, 49
  17. ↑ Marc Felix Serrao, article from July 28, 2020
  18. ^ Douglas Macgregor: A Radical Plan for Cutting the Defense Budget and Reconfiguring the US Military . Article in the foreignpolicy.com portal on April 26, 2011, accessed on August 2, 2020
  19. ^ Douglas Macgregor: NATO Is Not Dying. It's a zombie. Article from March 31, 2019 in the portal nationalinterest.org , accessed on July 28, 2020
  20. ↑ Anthony Wile: Exclusive Interviews: Colonel Douglas Macgregor on Two Failed Wars and Why He Supports Ron Paul for President . Article on the thedailybell.com portal on April 15, 2012, accessed on August 2, 2020
  21. ^ Fox commentator, Trump fan and military lateral thinker . Article from July 28, 2020 in the portal tagesspiegel.de , accessed on July 28, 2020
  22. ↑ Marc Felix Sarrao, article from July 28, 2020
  23. ↑ Ret. Army Col. Macgregor: "Globalist Elite" In Pentagon Pressuring Trump To Stay In Afghanistan , posted on November 28, 2018 at realclearpolitics.com , accessed on August 2, 2020
  24. ↑ Marc Felix Serrao, article from July 28, 2020
  25. ↑ Oliver Kühn, faz.net , July 28, 2020
  26. ^ Douglas Macgregor: Why Russia And Turkey Spat Over Turkey Isn't America's Problem. Article from March 29, 2020 in the portal nationalinterest.org , accessed on July 28, 2020
  27. ↑ Katie Rogers: Who Could Replace John Bolton? Article from September 10, 2019 in the nytimes.com portal , accessed on August 4, 2020
  28. ^ Lara Seligman, Robbie Gramer, Elias Groll: Who's on the Shortlist to Replace Bolton . Article from September 11, 2019 in the foreignpolicy.com portal , accessed on August 4, 2020
  29. ^ Daniel Lippman, Lara Seligman: Fox News regular Anthony Tata to be tapped as Pentagon policy chief . Article from April 23, 2020 in the portal politico.com , accessed on August 2, 2020
  30. ^ Lara Seligman, Nahal Toosi, Daniel Lippman: Fox News regular Douglas Macgregor in the running for State Department post . Article from April 24, 2020 on the politico.com portal , accessed on August 2, 2020
  31. ^ Em Steck, Andrew Kaczynski: German ambassador pick disparaged immigrants and refugees, called for martial law at the US-Mexico border . Article in the portal edition.cnn.com from August 4, 2020, accessed on August 5, 2020
  32. ↑ This is what Trump's candidate for ambassador thinks about Germany . Article in the welt.de portal on August 5, 2020, accessed on August 5, 2020
  33. ↑ Max Boot: Trump chooses for ambassador to Germany a racist Fox commentator who is pro-Putin and anti-Merkel , Washington Post, August 5, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020
  34. ↑ Caroline Kelly, Andrew Kaczynski: Jewish advocacy groups slam Trump's pick for German ambassador for bigoted comments . Article from August 7, 2020 in the portal edition.cnn.com , accessed on August 8, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Macgregor, Douglas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Macgregor, Douglas A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American officer, author, and advisor
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia