[August 01, 2014] Recently someone replaced the U.S. flags on the Brooklyn Bridge towers with white flags. It was a classic “who dunit.” While several groups have taken credit for the act, one appears to be real. According to a spokesperson, we “do stuff like this for the thrill of it.” These are self-proclaimed anarchists who have the… Read More »
[July 14, 2014] “War solves nothing.” Of course, for those with a knowledge of history, we know that is not what the rest of the world thinks. The popularity of war and conflict is self explanatory – it works. In Part 1 (link here), I proposed that the de facto policy of the United States regarding our allies… Read More »
[July 13, 2014] “War solves nothing.” Well … at least that is what we’ve been told in America over and again many times. By that logic, both World Wars and the Korean War should not have been fought. America was a big participant and, of course, neither war was started by us. Yet, today’s de facto policy of… Read More »
[July 05, 2014] Sad word comes to us that two days ago World War II hero Louis Zamperini passed way at the age of 97. Some of us may have first heard of Zamperini when the book “Unbroken” came out in 2010. I read this book as soon as it hit the shelves and was amazed at the… Read More »
[June 12, 2014] Playing little league baseball while growing up in the deep South brought with it a number of lessons in life. These lessons were to later translate into successful leadership traits that were to stay with me the rest of my military career. In fact, I think that was the point of the game; besides having… Read More »
[June 06, 2014] Codenamed Operation Overlord, the invasion of German-occupied France had been long in coming. Success was an outgrowth of the many leadership lessons from the failures at Dunkirk and other battlefields. Those lessons were hard earned and cost the lives of tens of thousands of military and civilians. Yet, what did the military and civilian senior… Read More »
[June 06, 2014] Operation Overlord was the codename used for the invasion1 of German-occupied France. Today’s anniversary of those landings allows us to look back at a time that was very different when compared to our world today. However, we can see similarities across history that evil is not always recognized early for what it will do if… Read More »
[May 26, 2014: posted 8:05 pm] I’m posting this well after my speech and after returning home to Brooklyn, NY. While speaking, I made two important changes that are integrated below. First, I added the Coast Guard and civilians to those I thanked for their service. Several friends of mine were civilians who were wounded and some killed… Read More »
[April 15, 2014] Today is tax day. But I digress. I won’t be sarcastic by referencing ethics and taxes in the same sentence (oh). From many mentors throughout my military career I’ve been given counsel to “Never do anything illegal, immoral, or unethical.” While it certainly provided me with successful and practical guidance, the ethical advice never seemed… Read More »
[April 08, 2014] Senior leadership means knowing when to act, when to speak, and when to make a decision. Because senior leaders are involved more at the strategic level work (and thus less at the tactical level), it is not typically necessary to be quick to make a move. Senior leadership in this respect is similar to the… Read More »