ANOTHER NEOCON WIN:

The hawkish Flynn's own words show a career military officer who wants the United States to throw everything its military, intelligence and national security apparatus has at groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida. That approach will provide a clear contrast to the Obama administration's more measured strategy, which it contends "is destroying" ISIS.

Like many U.S. generals and military officers, Trump's pick sees threats to the United States just about everywhere he looks. This worldview aligns with the president-elect's, but it appears Flynn is much more interventionist than his future boss who has talked of untangling America from its overseas conflicts and commitments.

Flynn, who served as a top intelligence adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal in Iraq and Afghanistan, arrived at the DIA in July 2012 vowing to accelerate the agency's overhaul. Asked after a public speech how he would treat employees reluctant to embrace his agenda, Flynn said he would "move them or fire them."

He drafted a blueprint that called for sending more employees overseas, being more responsive to regional U.S. military commanders, and turning analysts' attention from the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan to a broader array of emerging national security threats.

"I think that Flynn's efforts to move the organization into a role supporting combatant commanders was spot on and it is where DIA should be heading," said Fred Kagan, a military historian and unpaid adviser to the DIA. "I think that he was trying to introduce a lot of valuable innovation into the organization."

Critics said that his management style could be chaotic and that the scope of his plans met resistance from both superiors and subordinates. At the same time, his tenure was marked by significant turbulence, including the fallout from the classified intelligence files leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, as well as other emerging crises.

"His vision in DIA was seen as disruptive," said a former Pentagon official who worked closely with Flynn.

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