Dead Drop: June 16

HUMBLE BRAGG:  “Make (the Confederate States of) America Great Again”  doesn’t seem like a winning tactic. So, we were surprised to see two presidential candidates, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence, declare that if elected, they will restore the name “Fort Bragg” to the North Carolina military facility recently renamed “Fort Liberty.”  DeSantis declaimed that: “The people who have served there are proud of their service there,” adding “It’s an iconic name and iconic base, and we’re not gonna let political correctness run amok in North Carolina.” Pence followed the next day with very similar language.  We confess we were not too steeped in knowledge about the man for whom the base was originally named – but Jamie McIntyre in his daily newsletter filled in some gaps informing us that: “The base was originally named in 1918 for Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general and slave owner, who, according to a 2016 biography, Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles.” Sounds pretty iconic.

OK, WE ‘MIGHT’ HAVE GOTTEN THAT ONE WRONG:  About two months ago, The Dead Drop reported that “just about everyone’s bet” was that Admiral Lisa Franchetti would be nominated as the first woman Chief of Naval Operations and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs. This week, NBC News reported that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instead has recommended to the President that Admiral Samuel Paparo, current head of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, will get the CNO job. At this writing – these are just “reports” – and nobody is going anywhere until the President formally nominates a candidate – and for that matter, until the Senate confirms the appointment which may not happen until Senator Tommy Tuberville (R, AL) lifts his stranglehold on senior promotions. One theory on why Austin may have recommended Paparo over Franchetti is the thought that his recent Pacific experience gives him a leg up on dealing with threats from China.  We’re not sure we’re buying that – since he was widely expected to take over the joint U.S. Indo-Pacific Command next – which has a lot more to do with potential combat with China than does the CNO gig which is about recruiting, training, and equipping the U.S. fleet rather than warfighting.