[August 07, 2014] My old drill sergeant was right. I dislike admitting that he could give advice on military tactics that I could agree. I was not particular fond of him since he brought a bit too much terror into my life as a basic trainee. He had seven Infantry combat tours in Vietnam, a very rare and… Read More »
[August 07, 2014] My English teacher Mrs. Whitehead from my High School days would disapprove of this title because it ends in a preposition. My senior class was the one that did not do well that year and so we were regularly schooled on grammar basics and she was a success in that despite our lack of talent.… Read More »
[August 06, 2014] The demands made on military commanders are awesome; yet little is provided in the way of guidance. Commanders that make rapid, sound decisions are highly valued and promoted quickly to higher levels of responsibility. The problem is that decisions made rapidly often encounter resistance in application. Regardless whether the decision is the best or not, how… Read More »
[August 05, 2014] Labor unions were in their glory days in the 1970s and 80s. They had just help elect President Ronald Reagan who took office in January of 1981. Yet on August 5th in 1981, one of the most important unions of the federal government had its striking workers fired by President Reagan – 11,359 of them.… Read More »
[August 05, 2014] As an Infantry company commander I once criticized a soldier for failing to provide proper maintenance on a truck. Problem was, it was not his truck to maintain. Yes, all the facts appeared to point to that soldier not doing his duty. Yes, the soldier had been in trouble for this earlier. In my haste… Read More »
[August 04, 2014] One of the basic tenets of being a leader is to obey the law and follow rules. These are either established for moral reasons or more commonly for convenience and safety. This past weekend a well-known politician in Washington DC had a health problem that may have caused him to drive on the wrong side… Read More »
[August 04, 2014] During the occupation of Iraq by coalition forces, U.S. engineers were able to take a close look at the complex of dams in the country. Living in American, most people here do not realize the critical nature of dams in a country that is mostly desert. A person can live without electricity, but life cannot… Read More »
[August 03, 2014] My wife persuaded me to watch a television show she thought I might like. As most people know, I do not watch much television. Yet, the TV show Shark Tank, in its fifth season, has something most shows do not even allow. This is a show of a group of successful business people, the “sharks”,… Read More »
[August 02, 2014] A retired U.S. Marine officer writes that there are leaders who are cowards in the workplace. In this recent article, my first reaction was … yes! … leaders that are cowards on the battlefield have no place in the military. But this was not his intent with his article. “The Coward Leader” is about moral… Read More »
[August 01, 2014] Someone recently complained that today’s children are intellectually and physically lazy. The complaint is probably said by the grandmothers of every generation that has come before us; grandmothers, of course, being very smart and strong. At a commencement speech last year, the speaker told the graduates, “you’re pampered, privileged, and oversexed …”1 “Young people” spend… Read More »