Readers Attack, Defend Military Analyst Lightbody and Profile

Re “Lightbody: A Self-Made ‘Expert’ on the Military” by Mark I. Pinsky, Calendar, April 1:

I was very surprised during the coverage of the Gulf War to see Andy Lightbody touted on the news as a military expert. I was in ROTC at Loyola Marymount during the time Andy Lightbody was enrolled. In fact, I was his cadet flight commander. As a cadet, he was known for his tendency to exaggerate about himself and things he claimed to have done. He was also considered somewhat of a whiner.

Although Andy may be the Milli Vanilli of military experts, he did no worse than some of the major networks’ “experts,” some of whom I suspect had about the same amount of actual experience as Andy. I am qualified to criticize Andy and other “experts,” as I spent time in Saudi Arabia as an Air Force officer coordinating airborne radar, naval forces, ground radar and fighter support in the ‘80s. I was also assigned to a mobile radar unit, slept in tents, carried a rifle and wore chemical suits and gas masks. Overall, media coverage of the war was OK, but there was as much misinformation at the beginning as there was information.

I blame the media’s overzealousness in trying to make the public believe a station or network has the best information. The media manufacture these Andy Lightbody-type “experts” and then ironically, these “experts” gain validity by the fact that their opinions (laced with very few facts) are broadcast.

If Andy is an expert at anything, it would have to be at self-promotion. Maybe it’s sour grapes, but the fact that an ROTC college dropout makes more than $10,000 a month as a military expert galls me.

CAPT. MARIA M. LEAL, USAFR RET.

Northridge