[March 24, 2018] Just this past week the personal assistant to the President of the United States, John McEntee, was unceremoniously walked out of the White House and fired from his job.1 The reason given was that his security clearance could not be approved. Also, White House advisor Jared Kushner’s clearance was downgraded.2 The processes for obtaining and… Read More »
[March 6, 2018] Working close to the flag is an old military saying that means a soldier works near a senior officer’s headquarters.1 As in any organizational culture, this means greater visibility and more opportunity for that particular military member. Such a position translates into a number of possibilities that can help or harm one’s career. One of… Read More »
[February 11, 2018] Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. National Security Agency made changes to their published core values (see them below and here on the NSA website). While the agency received criticism for this change1, that is not as big a problem as we are led to believe by the media. First, the criticism. Changed from the NSA’s… Read More »
[February 6, 2018] It has been said many times that war is simply a continuation of politics by other means. Actually the Prussian theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote it in his book On War (1832) and is one of the most important treatises on political-military analysis and strategy ever written. Clausewitz, like so many other theorists closely links war,… Read More »
[February 2, 2018] Good leaders have many friends. Great leaders have true friends. Some say that the best way to succeed in one’s profession is to have a wide network of folks who are helpful. Such a network can be tapped for information, advice, and encouragement. Yet, what the network can rarely provide, something only true friends can,… Read More »
[January 30, 2018] A number of years ago I had the opportunity to witness new Army recruits training at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Drill Sergeants were yelling at the recruits for them to get into formation and it was hard not to notice the look of fear on their faces. Motivation was being provided by the U.S. Army… Read More »
[January 20, 2018] My cousin was recently contacted by a dog rescue organization located in northeastern Louisiana. They wanted her to help get the word out about their adoption services for abandoned dogs. It appears that there has been an epidemic (her term) in abandoned dogs across the U.S.; somewhere around 75 to 90 million dog are abandoned… Read More »
[January 16, 2018] The recent question circulating among our senior political leaders is about the idea that we can no longer formally charge or prosecute people for treason despite it being the only crime defined in the U.S. Constitution. Their belief, as well as many scholars, is that recent leader trends suggest that we actually encourage treason among… Read More »
[January 14, 2018] There is an old saying that Communist and socialist nations possess militaries that perform poorly at war; especially at the tactical level. Experience seems to bear this out and thus it comes as no surprise that senior government officials in China believe their military to be unprepared for war, lazy, and complacent. They blame the… Read More »
[January 12, 2018] Yesterday I got a text message from a good friend in the U.S. Air Force. He was wondering what my thoughts were regarding Steve Bannon, previous Chief of Staff of President Trump and fired Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. Bannon, along with several other high-profile folks have done a good job of showing us ways… Read More »