Much Harder.

[He] should be evaluated like an Olympic diver. He was asked to do something extremely difficult — something much harder than anyone on this list was asked to do.

- Peter Feaver, Duke University Professor, referring to Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accompanying President Trump to survey the aftermath of a political protest.

There are decisions.

And there are Decisions.

General Milley, Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologised for failing to recognise he was being put into a compromising position by his Commander in Chief. The President criticised him for apologising.

A good decision is one that advances you towards where you want to be.

General Milley’s decision to accompany the President undermined his credibility with his subordinates and the American public. Arguably it did not advance him towards where he wanted to be - Defender of the US Constitution. - even though it advanced his status in the eyes of the President - his Commander in Chief.

General Milley’s decision to accompany the President led to his decision to be alert to what may unfold leading up to the Presidential Inauguration five months later. He was said to almost have had a ‘crystal ball’ in his predictions.

The General set several goals for himself: stop the US going to war; maintain the military’s integrity, and his own; and prevent the President from using the military against the American people.

General Milley described his ‘bad’ decision as ‘a teachable moment’.

‘Every month thereafter I just did something publicly to continually remind the force about our responsibilities … What I’m trying to do … is keep the military out of actual politics.’

In the chaotic period before and after the 2020 US Presidential election, it was said General Milley ‘did as much as, or more than, any other American to defend the constitutional order, to prevent the military from being deployed against the American people, and to forestall the eruption of wars with America’s nuclear-armed adversaries.’

General Milley’s decision to accompany President Trump advanced him towards where he wanted to be: defending the Constitution when it counted.