[September 6, 2015] One of the very first things I was taught as a leader of soldiers was that I had only a few key responsibilities; one of them was to provide the appropriate resources for our troops. But what I was to discover later was that those same leaders were applying selective neglect by purposefully withholding resources… Read More »
[September 5, 2015] One hundred and one years ago today French General Joseph Joffre gave the order to attack the advancing German armies that were pushing allied troops westward in a series of defeats early in World War I. Failure would mean the death of thousands, the collapse of military forces resisting the Germans, and the fall of… Read More »
[September 2, 2015] I wrote about immigration into the United States, both legal and illegal, over a year ago (see links below) and how it has become one of the hottest topics in the U.S. presidential campaign. However, immigration as a political topic goes much further than the Americas, extending into Europe and parts of Asia and that… Read More »
[September 1, 2015] A year ago U.S. President Obama said that the United States had “no strategy” to address the threat by the Islamic State terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL. There was immediate and merited criticism of his no strategy comments and subsequently a week later the president rolled out a “strategy” to defeat ISIS. It was… Read More »
[August 30, 2015] Inspirational Leadership! Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is a Republican running for his party’s nomination to be the next U.S. president. Since the early August Republican debates where he held his own, his campaign has come alive with inspirational speeches. His campaign continues to grow despite what many talking heads have predicted. Carson makes it… Read More »
[August 29, 2015] Anti-establishment leadership! U.S. presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is an Independent running for the Democratic Party nomination. By his own claim, he is a “socialist democrat” who is working to unite people for a better world and opposes political cronyism in Washington, D.C. His popularity expanded quickly as he regularly draws large crowds to his speaking… Read More »
[August 28, 2015] An incident occurred during a military training exercise early in my career that taught me an important lesson – small things matter. After relocating my platoon to a new defensive position I set our machinegun foxhole in what I thought was an okay spot. My commander ordered me to change it and later during a… Read More »
[August 27, 2015] Texas A&M University is the first academic organization I’ve featured here under core values. The reason has everything to do with the fact that college-level organizations rarely have their core values advertised, if they have them at all. None that I attended had core values at the time and no one I know could recall… Read More »
[August 26, 2015] Game 7 of the Baseball World Series was the first ball game I ever watched on television. My family did not own a television set at the time so I watched the October 1962 game from the home of a good friend. It was something new for me but what I remember most about the… Read More »
[August 25, 2015] An old custom in the U.S. military is for newly commissioned Second Lieutenants to receive their first salute by a person of their choice. The new officer gives a U.S. silver dollar as a token of appreciation and in my case I received a salute from Sergeant First Class J. Benjamin Sessions … a great… Read More »