For Adjutant General, I will be voting for Stan Spears

Over the next few weeks, I will be giving my two cents worth about the statewide political races and few local ones, along with other comments about this and that. I start off the series about political races with the race for Adjutant General. The race pits two good men against one another. Incumbent General Stan Spears has a record to be proud of and his challenger, former First Sergeant Glenn Lindman served our country well in Iraq. Both are good men. One should be elected. That one is General Spears.

In a trying time in our military’s history, transitioning from a Cold War based military to a more flexible military; General Spears has been a steady hand at the top of the South Carolina National Guard and the South Carolina National Air Guard. Under General Spears’s leadership, the guard has continued to meet its retention and recruiting goals, and kept McEntire Air National Guard station open at a time when it seemed ripe for closing. Further, overall performance of South Carolina Guard units in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has been commendable.

Mr. Lindman has a commendable record. He served the nation with honor in Iraq, earning the bronze star. He also agrees with Governor Mark Sanford that the position of Adjutant General ought to be appointed by the Governor. However, after watching Mr. Lindman in his question and answer session on South Carolina ETV, I got the impression he was more eager to snipe at General Spears than to offer real ideas for the office. There was a rancor present that just does not measure up.

Now, as for the idea of appointed versus elected Adjutant Generals, South Carolina is alone among the fifty states in elected such. General Spears says that is fine and that something should not be taken from the people. Sgt. Lindman disagrees and espouses that he would have a blue ribbon committee decide upon the merits of the appointments to the office. There are legitimate arguments on both sides of this issue. But, I am remindful of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was elected Captain of his Illinois militia (guard) company during the Black Hawk War. Perhaps if it was good enough for Lincoln, it is good enough for General Spears. I have to admit there is something to be said for guard members, and those they know in the community, the voters, in choosing their own leader.

Regardless of the appointed versus elected argument, if one had to look at the resumes of the two contenders and choose one to appoint, that logical choice would be General Spears. The General has done the job well for 12 years and deserves our support to do it for another four.