General Scheisskopf Takes Command

General Peckem's plan to take over combat operations backfires when the Pentagon puts General Scheisskopf, a fanatic for parades, in charge of Special Services, which now controls all combat units. Scheisskopf's first order is to make everyone march. The change of command is a final absurd twist, replacing one set of incompetent leaders with an even more ridiculous one. It underscores the novel's theme that the military is a self-perpetuating bureaucracy that rewards the most absurd and ambitious.