[December 28, 2016] There will be times and places where the most effective leader will do the greatest good by personally being present at a significant time or place and paying one’s respect. Yesterday, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where his nation conducted a surprise attack on December 7, 1941 bringing America into… Read More »
[December 27, 2016] It was a hot summer day at Fort Benning, Georgia when my class was to take an exam on how to survive a chemical attack by a determined enemy. It was rumored to be our school’s most difficult test and that could explain why two Second Lieutenants were cheating on the exam; both were caught… Read More »
[December 26, 2016] A few days ago I wrote about my view of the Iraqis during the early part of the War in Iraq. From my one-year tour of combat duty in Iraq with a U.S. Army Engineer unit, I came into contact with Iraqis, terrorists, combat troops, contractors, home town folks, reporters, and politicians. It is instructive… Read More »
[December 22, 2016] Yes, even teenagers can be good leaders and many are very good without formal training or mentoring of any kind. It appears as if they’re born that way but we know that not to be true. Such was the case when a young teenager taught me a lesson in leadership and a gaggle of other… Read More »
[December 21, 2016] One thing I like most about great leaders is that they don’t mince their words. My grandmother reminded me often to “speak plainly and loudly” if I wanted to be heard above others. She was one to never filter what she thought and taught all us grandchildren to never disguise our thinking in “double talk… Read More »
[December 19, 2016] Yesterday was World War One’s 100th anniversary of the last day of the Battle of Verdun; December 18, 1916. Most folks will have little interest about this particular battle but at the time it was the longest, largest, and most destructive battle in human history and also part of the first global war. We should… Read More »
[December 18, 2016] In early 2005, my military unit returned from a one-year stint in Iraq and my first tour in that country. Once back in the United States, I jotted down a few of my thoughts about the war, the Iraqis, terrorists, combat, contractors, home town folks, reporters, and politicians. Over the next few weeks, I’ll provide… Read More »
[December 17, 2016] In 1983 I was a new Second Lieutenant attending the U.S. Army Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. On my first day I purchased the 42nd Edition of The Army Officer’s Guide, copyright 1983 … and still have it on my desk today! The professional development of any leader can be traced to that… Read More »
[December 7, 2016] There are many military analysts who claim that the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire on this day, December 7, 1941 could have been prevented, or the destruction reduced, and that it was a gross failure of the military and of the political administration of President Roosevelt. There are also a number of… Read More »
[November 12, 2016] As a U.S. Army Private (the very lowest rank), I had the dubious task one day of escorting our new Lieutenant around to meet all the unit’s soldiers on our military base. The location was small because it was in West Germany and it had been a World War II German Army ammunition depot …… Read More »