It has been widely reported since Chuck Hagel's nomination as
defense secretary that he'd be the first former enlisted man to serve in that
office.
But that overlooks several former Pentagon chiefs, including Wisconsin's
own Mel Laird, now 90, who served as defense secretary under Richard Nixon in
the latter years of the Vietnam War.
Laird enlisted in the Navy during Word War II, eventually becoming an
officer and seeing combat on a destroyer in the Pacific.
"It doesn't bother me," Laird said in an interview Monday, though he
expressed surprise the record hadn't been set straight before now.
This Associated Press report cites three other former defense secretaries
who spent part of their military service in the enlisted ranks.
When President Barack Obama announced Hagel's nomination as defense
secretary Jan. 7, he said Hagel would be "the first person of enlisted rank"
to hold that office.
A White House spokesman said Tuesday that formulation was intended to
refer to Hagel's highest rank in the military -- meaning Hagel would be the
first defense secretary who served only in the enlisted ranks.
But whatever the intended meaning, this particular factoid about Hagel
has been restated in language that is clearly wrong.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said at the outset of Hagel's
rocky nomination hearing last week that "if confirmed, Senator Hagel would be
the first former enlisted man" to serve as secretary of defense.
And numerous media reports have said Hagel would be the first enlisted
man to serve as defense secretary.
The Defense Department's own website states that Laird, for example,
"entered the United States Navy as an enlisted man," before getting his
commission as an ensign. Laird was an officer when he was wounded by shrapnel
aboard the USS Maddox during a kamikaze attack, according to a biography of
Laird, "With Honor."
Hagel is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the coming days,
despite a stormy eight-hour confirmation hearing.
Laird's confirmation hearing after the 1968 election went a bit
differently than Hagel's, as Laird recalled. Laird, a veteran GOP congressman,
was introduced by his state's two Democratic senators, Gaylord Nelson and Bill
Proxmire, and his nomination was quickly sent to the floor. The hearing itself
lasted about 15 or 20 minutes, he said.
Laird said he watched the Hagel hearing on television, and thought Hagel
"wasn't prepared as well as he should have been." Laird also said he thought
the hearing was so dominated by foreign policy that issues specific to the
Pentagon and military were given short shrift.
