Tag: Strategy
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An Airman is…
Last year I asked, “What is an Airman?” This year, I think the establishment of the U.S. Space Force may help us find that answer. Last year, after the Air Force announced the selection of CMSgt JoAnne Bass to be the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, I asked a question that has…
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Observations: The Kill Chain by Christian Brose
Some of the best books are about telling you uncomfortable truths you already know. The last year has brought a lot of changes across the world, but as an Airman, two of the notable ones have been the selection of the first black Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Charles CQ Brown, and…
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The Future of Great Power Competition
The next generation of high-end warfare looks both familiar and different. Many well-meaning military strategists and planners are continually lamenting our ability to fight a potential high-end fight against potential adversaries like China or Russia – commonly known as Great Power Competition (GPC). They explain that we must keep surging ahead with costly next-generation fighters,…
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Process Over Outcome
What the Military can Learn from the State Department A defining element of military indoctrination, training, and culture is the focus on victory. Sports analogies are common as we execute a “full court press” and “push to the end zone,” and we’re exhorted to not “leave anything on the field.” Every great military speech is…
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Every Airman a Strategist
Ignore it at your own peril; you have a bigger role than you think. On 11 September 2001, 19 members of the terrorist network, Al-Qaeda, hijacked four airliners and killed nearly 3,000 people. As a result, the United States and its allies employed hundreds of thousands of personnel to fight a war on terrorism spanning…
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The Power of Reactivity
We hear all the time about the need to be proactive, but let’s analyze how being reactive wins conflicts. Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Many in both the military and in private industry will crow on about the importance of being proactive. They’ll spend millions of dollars in rushing a program forward to be…
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OODA? I Hardly Knew Ya!
While many in the military have (finally) learned about the OODA Loop and the man that created it, it’s still an understudied approach that deserves more analysis. As I recently discussed, I entered the Air Force in a long training pipeline and sought inspiration to keep me pushing forward. While many writers, thinkers, poets, etc. entered…