The four types of military officers

I divide my officers into four groups.  There are clever, diligent, stupid, and lazy officers.  Usually two characteristics are combined.

Some are clever and diligent — their place is the General Staff.

The next lot are stupid and lazy — they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties.

Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the intellectual clarity and the composure necessary for difficult decisions.

One must beware of anyone who is stupid and diligent — he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always cause only mischief.

==General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, commander in chief of the German Reichswehr, 1930 to 1934.

I first learned of this classification from Kenneth Roberts’ fictional King Dick, a character in Lydia Bailey, a historical novel about the Haitian revolution and the U.S. war against the Barbary pirates.

Tags: Effective MIlitary Officers, Four Types of Military Officers, Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord