[July 09, 2015] At the United States’ premiere National Training Center located in the Mojave Desert of southern California, my Infantry Company conducted a classic dawn attack on a “simulated” enemy. We failed miserably in the attack. But our senior leaders turned it into a tremendous lesson on how to succeed on the battlefield; something I employed years… Read More »
[July 08, 2015] I listened intently to a small group of Albanian refugees, 16 years ago to the day in 1999, telling stories about their flight from their home country of Kosovo. They’d departed quickly; fleeing from an ethnic-inspired war that not only drove them from their homes but also saw the destruction of all records showing their… Read More »
[July 06, 2015] I’m reminded of a political exhibit that overdramatically shows the contrast of Greek youths of the past with Greek young men today. On one side ancient Greek men: warriors, strong, independent, and harsh-looking. On the other side, the young Greeks of today: potheads, weak, wards of the state, but good-looking. This contrast couldn’t be less… Read More »
[July 03, 2015] Tomorrow is the much celebrated Independence Day in the United States. As a prelude to this day – independence from England and won with great sacrifice – media analysis Mark Dice shows us a video he made about the ignorance of average people about this special day1 (see video here). I was taught that ignorance… Read More »
[July 02, 2015] For the military, superior communications is one of the greatest advantages one can have over the enemy. When I joined the army, we talked with others using a short-range FM radio. Communications were based on the radio and required the person we wanted to speak to being in a certain place – relatively close proximity… Read More »
[July 01, 2015] One of the oldest disagreements in human history is possibly about to be resolved; or at least the possibility exists that a long-running religious split might begin some healing. What is known as the East-West Schism or the Christian split is the break between what is now the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. So… Read More »
[June 30, 2015] A few years ago, a group of senior U.S. military officers flew into what is considered one of the world’s most dangerous airports (not in a combat zone) – Tegucigalpa, Honduras. While their mission was fairly benign, they were to discover that the level of violence and corruption in that country was staggering. Today, we… Read More »
[June 29, 2015] A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation on those things that were likely to brand senior military leaders as unprofessional. Putting aside for the moment that many senior officers have failed because of basic violations of law or due to bad personal habits, leaders also fail for more common reasons. For… Read More »
[June 28, 2015] I’ve often written about how an organization’s core values help drive the conduct of its people and its external relationships with customers and stakeholders. Many examples were offered to help illustrate this fundamental fact about organizational behavior. Today, I will depart somewhat from my earlier format to bring forward an example of a more controversial,… Read More »
[June 27, 2015] I remember my family sitting in front of our black and white RCA television set each evening to listen to Edward Murrow on CBS Evening News … and we only got good reception on that one channel. In the 1950s, Murrow was a favorite of my dad who insisted that we all hear about important… Read More »