[March 3, 2018] There’s a bit of old military humor that circulates occasionally that tells us about different cultures among the armed services. The central theme is that certain words can have significantly different meanings. The lesson is a good one and says that leaders must be precise in their speech. Here’s the joke: The reason the Air… Read More »
[March 2, 2018] It doesn’t matter if you are a man, woman, or child, getting ready to lead involves preparation to convince people to do things they would not ordinarily do. But … for the majority of people, they think that once they get into a leadership position someone will teach them how to lead people; this is… Read More »
[March 1, 2018] One of the first things that I learned from my military instructors on how to be a leader was to keep things simple. That’s not exactly what they said, it was keep it simple, stupid which is usually said in its acronym form KISS; oddly enough, originally a design application of the U.S. Navy in… Read More »
[February 28, 2018] Twenty-five years ago today, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) began a siege to the Branch Davidian religious compound outside Waco, Texas. After seven weeks the siege ended with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) storming the compound, resulting in the deaths of 80 men, women, children of the religious group and… Read More »
[February 27, 2018] On a muddy flat of palm trees, sand, and grass, U.S. General Peter W. Chiarelli, Commander 1st Calvary Division, was asked by an Infantry Squad Leader what he thought was the best thing he could do for the unit. This sergeant and his teammates had been under sustained enemy contact during the early part of… Read More »
[February 26, 2018] The battle that took place on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima during World War II was one of the fiercest of the Twentieth Century. Strategically, this tiny island was a key part of the Allied strategy to taking the war to the Japanese homeland and ending the war. U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz said at… Read More »
[February 25, 2018] Today’s blog post will stray a little but is still about leadership and those things that make for great leaders. For those who are unaware of the man Richard Marcinko, he is the founder of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 and Red Cell. Often known by the name, Rogue Warrior,1 some ask the basic… Read More »
By guest blogger Sadako Red [see disclaimer] [January 24, 2018] Alas, the City of Baltimore (my beloved town where I was born, raised, & still have family) is on a cultural slide toward failure of a magnitude not seen since towns ceased to exist in the Great Depression. Robberies, murder, rape, and a slew of crimes are on… Read More »
[February 23, 2018] Yesterday I ran across some of my notebooks from combat tours in Iraq. As an army engineer, those were laced with a military analytical framework that helped us overcome the complexity of construction in a combat zone. Based on the more well-known SWOT analysis, we planned, developed, built, and maintained more work than engineers had… Read More »
[February 22, 2018] The idea that leaders are where the action is has a long history both glorious and practical. Ride to the sounds of the guns is an old catchphrase of militaries around the world.1 It is an appeal to aggressive action at the point of battle and is a central idea in great leadership. The best… Read More »