What would a smaller military look like and how would it fight? By Tom Vandebrook

DeM Banter:  how many times have we heard..."do more with less?"  Or... we need to be more "agile" or more "efficient and effective?"  As a car guy... I get it... you can always squeeze a little more horsepower from your motor--but there does come a point where your gains are extremely small versus the cost. …

Don’t turn away from reforming military retirement benefits By Gen. James L. Jones (USMC, retired), Adm. Gregory Johnson (USNA, retired), Major Gen. Arnold Punaro (USMC, retired) and Gen. Charles Wald (USAF, retired)

DeM Banter:  If all of the sudden we are high-fiving ourselves for this great measure and budget cutting--isn't it interesting that no one is talking about the 900lb gorilla in the room or the very large pink elephant in the corner?  None of these distinguished gentlemen are affected by the budget cuts and if we …

David Bowie’s 75 Must-Read Books by Maria Popova

DeM Banter:  Always a big fan of reading lists...and a big Bowie fan...so this is pretty cool. View Original  From poetry to history to theory of mind, with plenty of fiction and a few magazines for good measure. Creativity is a combinatorial force — it rests on our ability to fuse, usuallyunconsciously, existing concepts, memories, bits of information, …

Fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq is in U.S. interests By James M. Dubik

DeM Banter:  I know... we keep harping on this...but it is REALLY ALL ABOUT LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY.  Here's the big problem...the enemy has a very well thought out strategy that is fluid and adaptable...and we have none.  The plan that Gen Dubik mentions below is something we have talked about for a long time.. AND...when …

American strategy in Afghanistan flunks Sun Tzu By GIAN GENTILE

DeM Banter: love the Sun Tzu quote the author uses below...and we have it posted several times here on the blog. What do we do about it? Interesting we have been saying...we (the US) won in Iraq...history would say...no...you simply retreated from the battlefield. The enemy gets a vote...and he's voting now. This situation demands …

The decay of the profession of arms By Maj. Matthew Cavanaugh

DeM Banter:  Something we have discussed at great length here at the m100Group.  Where is the innovation, the deep thinking, the dynamic, the disruptive?  As my good friend Elvis Costello once said... So where are the strong? And who are the trusted?
 And where is the harmony? … What’s so funny about peace, love, and …

Pentagon on watch for disruptive technology worldwide by Ray Locker

DeM Banter:  I thought the US were the ones doing the disrupting? Hasn't that always been part of our history...isn't that what we do?  Now we are "watching" for disruptive tech?  Several years ago DoD belittled China for simply mimicking US technology--but what is the first step on the road to mastery?  To mimic? Interesting …