"First, how extensive was the knowledge of Austin's health issues? Second, why did three days pass before Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks learned about the secretary's return to Walter Reed Hospital? Finally, why did Hicks not immediately return to Washington from her Puerto Rico vacation?"
The White House and Pentagon have said only a few officials were aware that Austin had developed complications from an operation for prostate cancer. But Zakheim thinks dozens likely knew.
Which invites another question: Why didn't "a single staffer or assistant who was aware of the situation advise his or her superior that Hicks should be contacted in Puerto Rico immediately?"
"Washington was fortunate that no major crisis exploded somewhere in the world while Hicks was unaware of Austin's status. While Hicks remained in the dark, there was a gap in the chain of command between the president and his combatant commanders in the field."
Zakheim recounts that during his tenure as undersecretary of Defense, he was informed while on vacation that Sec. Donald Rumsfeld wanted him to cut his vacation short and return to the Pentagon.
"Naturally I did so," Zakheim writes. "Yet the issue in question was of far less significance than the need for the deputy secretary to exercise her authority in the absence of her boss, especially as it was unclear how long that absence might persist."
Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into the communications lapses, and rightly so, says Zakheim.
"Given the threats that America faces in Europe, East Asia and the Middle East, no administration can afford a gap in the chain of command even for a few short hours."
Read the op-ed at TheHill.com.
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