Special Operations Association of America的动态

Everything Stu Scheller proposes in this essay is a non-starter. He argues, vaguely, that the #Department of #Defense requires #reform. The nature of the problem Stu is trying to solve is unclear, as is the goal of the desired goal of the reform. Given the holes in the initial structure of this argumentative essay, critical engagement becomes difficult. Still, I’ll engage with Stu’s three key proposals in turn. My goal is to clarify the discourse and prevent others from buying into undercooked thinking. ? Stu first proposes firing all GO’s because he believes they were promoted for counterproductive reasons. Stu doesn’t say what those reasons are. We can infer that Stu means that they were NOT promoted because of #warfighting capability. In his example, he points to a service chief. But service chiefs don’t do warfighting. #Combatant #Commanders and those in the chain of command under them do warfighting. Service chiefs man, train, and equip. They are, by definition, NOT doing any warfighting. In a sense, they are similar to a CEO with a discrete function to create a product demanded by the American government. This fundamental misunderstanding of how the #military actually works belies the #naivete that forms the basis of Stu’s #flawed proposal. ? Stu then recommends implementing a new system of promotion and retention based on competition. Stu reveals his belief that generals should only do “general” warfighting, and “general warfighting #lethality” should be the basis for promotion. First, he does not offer any meaningful criteria for or definition of “general warfighting lethality.” Second, let’s assume this means “skill at employing units in battle at a GO’s level”. This may be one thing that some generals do. But it’s not all that they do. Even at very junior levels of command, commanders – and commanding generals – do an awful lot more than fight wars. In fact, they rarely fight wars. More than that, while warfighting is indeed perhaps the most important function for many generals in wartime, if you can’t do the myriad tasks that enable warfighting before war, and enable and sustain warfighting during times of war – you are hardly good at ‘general’ things, and are an incapable general. ? Finally, Stu proposes a business model to maximize ROI within the DoD. What that model is and how we define ROI is also undefined, though Stu calls for “generating battlefield lethality” and CEO-like executive experience. While Stu appears to start to reveal an understanding of what executives in the military actually do – which includes executive management functions – Stu’s inability to define ROI reveals a core misunderstanding: The DoD has a budget, yes, but as a government department, it doesn’t generate profit. It’s not supposed to, and its objectives do not align with running a business. So the manner in which you assess capability and skill in your executive leaders is wildly different than how you’d pick a CEO in the business world.

Brian Kerg poses a fantastic assessment of this article based in fact, not opinion vs. opinion. Thank you, sir, for the continued critical thinking you provide to keep the Corps honest, but also defend process when necessary. Like LtCol Kerg's assessment said, any basic graduate of field-grade level PME like me, which is not a super high bar, understands that proposing solutions into the public sphere that are not feasible is dangerous. Flooding the information environment with distrust of our General Officers, may of whom are extremely brilliant individuals working themselves very hard to make the DoD better, is hasty... and self-serving in this instance. Does joint doctrine need reform? Yes. Does our military need to critically think about how to move forward in competition in order to best serve the country? Also yes. But please don't buy into undercooked thinking and extremely loose determination of facts. Judging commanders purely on "lethality", in the narrow confines within which he defines it, does not show the wide breadth of warfighting functions that contribute to lethality, particularly in great power/strategic competition. Scheller refers simply to the last tactical mile. This definition would leave out many of the most brilliant and fit for command officers I know... and am constantly blessed to be surrounded by, who address daily the many miles before that to make the DoD better. Critique of the DoD through freedom of the press gives us as a service the ability to change based on feedback. But I urge caution when discounting DEI, not considering lethality as a holistic concept, and lacking true knowledge on how the DoD is already addressing some of these issues...simply to follow an individual's vague article that is self-serving. #Marines https://lnkd.in/grYXYG-d

"Ours may be the only era when an entire general and admiralty class — more than?80% of which gain employment in the #defense sector?after retirement — has been consistently rewarded with lucre and prestige for losing...the?competitive promotion board?system for our military, as defined by law, ends after two-star selection. All three and four-star officers are thus political appointees...Hegseth is also not wrong when he accuses a senior officer class of self-serving political machinations which often disregard warfighting realities." #Generals #Admirals https://lnkd.in/eRN8aZPG

?? Pete Hegseth: Fox News Host with Controversial Past Sworn in as Defense Secretary! ?? READ MORE - Link in Bio. ?? Dive into the details as Pete Hegseth, known for his polarizing views, transitions from Fox News to Defense Secretary. Explore the implications of this appointment with SFL Media. ?? Post Hashtags: #PeteHegseth #DefenseSecretary #FoxNews #SFLMedia #PoliticsNews #BreakingNews #USDefense

In this episode of Clickthrough: A Total User Experience, Seileen Mullen, Former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, speaks about patient-centric modernization and its role in advancing readiness and care. From improving access to care to launching new care delivery models, this conversation highlights the innovative strategies reshaping military healthcare and advancing mission readiness. ?? Listen now: https://spr.ly/6047aL1qv #CustomerExperience #MilitaryHealth #MaximusInsights

My recommendation for the neXt Secretary of Defense in the article I published today. Link in the comments. Better timing may have been following the convention, as recommended, but the Presidential debate made me realize how badly America needs hope. If we cannot fix the military’s losing culture, all other problems are irrelevant. The next President provides the most expedient and effective path to true military reform. Congress will never agree, and military leadership will never aggressively reform a system that validates their titles and positions. Yet, the Commander and Chief has a unique ability to turn the American military from a bad investment into a winner. We need the next President to reform the military. We cannot wait any longer. It must be on this next election, or it will be easy to conclude that the American political machine epitomizes the long train of abuses and usurpations warned about in the Declaration of Independence. The next Secretary of Defense, within the Commander in Chief’s intent, should immediately screen leadership for warfighting lethality, build a promotion system based on competition, and create financial efficiency. We Can’t All Be Wrong LtCol Scheller

Erik Prince would make a fantastic SECDEF. He has incredible insights and ideas which would serve the nation well. Unfortunately, the MIC, politicians, fund managers, bankers, billionaires, retired generals....are all benefiting from ours wars for profit, so there is no incentive to change. In a recent Podcast I discuss some more solutions to fix our military: https://lnkd.in/d5qqgUuq

Colby Jenkins, Green Beret, Combat Veteran, U.S. Congressional Candidate (Utah – 2nd District) Colby is the real deal. Learn more about the Mike Lee - Rand Paul endorsed candidate for congress. Colby and I sit down for an insightful conversation.

Very interesting article. I like LTC Scheller’s analysis and ideas of pitting leaders against each other in competitions.

#BoozAllen CMO Kevin Vigilante, MD and EVP Steve Escaravage explore six principles from the digital battle space that can be applied to the digital health care space in their Military Medicine article. https://lnkd.in/eenegZv5