Atlantic magazine profile on Mark Milley includes Fort Drum recollections

Oct. 29—The cover story of the November issue of The Atlantic magazine is an interview with Mark Milley, who served as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest ranking military officer. Milley was Fort Drum commander from November of 2011 to December of 2012 and led the 2nd Brigade Combat Team from 2003 to 2005. He was with the division in the mid-1990s.

In September, Milley stepped down as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, stepping into the role. Milley became chairman under former President Donald Trump in October of 2019.

The Atlantic cover story, by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the magazine, is titled, "The Patriot: What does a general do when the commander in chief undermines the Constitution?"

Much of the article reviews Milley's time under the term of Trump. Goldberg wrote: "Milley was careful to refrain from commenting publicly on Trump's cognitive unfitness and moral derangement."

Milley did share with Goldberg a couple of stories about his time at Fort Drum.

One incident occurred in 2011 when Milley took command of Fort Drum and involved his father, Alexander Milley, a World War II combat veteran.

"His father and his father's younger brother, Tom, a Korean War veteran, came to attend his change-of-command ceremony," the article states. "'My father always hated officers,'" Milley told Goldberg. "'Every day from the time I was second lieutenant to colonel, he was like, 'When are you getting out?' Then all of a sudden, it was 'My son, the general.'"

After the change-of-command ceremony at Fort Drum, a reception was held at Milley's house. "I've got the Japanese flag up on the wall, right over the fireplace," Milley says in the article. "It's a flag my father took from Saipan. So that night, he's sitting there in his T-shirt and boxers; he's having probably more than one drink, just staring at the Japanese flag. One or two in the morning, we hear this primeval-type screaming. He's screaming at his brother, 'Tom, you've got to get up!' And I say it the way he said it: 'Tom, the Japs are here, the Japs are here! We gotta get the kids out of here!' So my wife elbows me and says, 'Your father.' and I say, 'Yes, I figured that out,' and I go out and my dad, he's not in good shape by then — in his 80s, Parkinson's not super mobile — and yet he's running down the hallway."

Milley then grabbed his father and the article continues: "His eyes are bugging out and I say, 'Dad, it's OK, you're with the 10th Mountain Division on the Canadian border.' And his brother Tom comes out and says, 'Goddammit, just go to f****** bed, for Chrissakes. You won the war; we just tied ours.'"

Milley said the episode reflects the range and effects of PTSD. "One hundred percent of people who see significant combat have some form of PTSD," he told Goldberg.

Milley also shared with Goldberg a story that happened in Baghdad involving a visit by then-commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division Loyd Austin, who is now secretary of defense. "Milley took him on a tour of the city," the article states. "Milley, Austin and (Ross) Davidson (Milley's operations officer) were in a Humvee when it was hit."

"Wedged into Austin's door was this four-inch chunk of shrapnel," Davidson says in the article. "If it had breached the door seam, it would have taken Austin's head clean off. It was a 'Holy s***, we almost got the commanding general killed' type of situation. That wouldn't have gone well.'"

Milley, 65, grew up in the Boston area. He graduated from Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1980. At Princeton, he played Division I hockey. In February, he dropped the puck at Princeton's historic Baker Rink for its centennial anniversary.

"Though he was not a star on the ice, hockey has been an important part of Milley's life," Mark F. Bernstein wrote earlier this year in the Princeton Alumni Weekly. "A standout at Belmont Hill School outside of Boston, he was recruited to Princeton by then-coach Jack Semler. He also considered West Point, but Milley says that his parents, both of whom had served in the military, urged him to attend Princeton, then the only Ivy League school with an ROTC program, to give him a greater range of opportunities in later life."