“A leader without true followers, is simply going on a walk”. ~Unknown Follow me. Isn’t that our request—our demand as a leader? Why? Why would anyone follow me? Come on…it’s only two words, but it is really asking a lot. Trust is key. Why would anyone follow me if they did not trust me, my …
Seize The Day: DeMarco Banter
An Officer Corps That Can’t Score By William S. Lind, I read this article a few days ago and have spent days thinking how totally hosed we all were. In the article Mr Lind makes some very good points—and he ponders where are today’s reformers, where are the men such as Col John Boyd USAF, Col …
Hungry, Humble, Heroes of the Heart (H4): DeMarco Banter
I've been blessed with a few invitations to go out and speak with some amazing leaders. The video below is from a trip to San Francisco and an engagement at Pocket Gems. In the end... I am sure I learned more from the folks at Pocket Gems than they learned from me--but what an amazing …
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John Boyd’s Roll Call: Do You Want to Be Someone or Do Something? By BRETT & KATE MCKAY
DeM Banter: Things I ponder today... when I ask folks name the greatest airpower practitioner or theorist of the last 30 years...people struggle. Usually it will come down to John Boyd or John Warden...but they were never promoted above colonel....interesting. I have heard all the reasons why... Warden had a tough time as a Wing …
Adm. Mike Mullen: Americans forget the troops who die in ‘our dirty little wars’ BY JOEL GEHRKE
DeM Banter: Interesting piece, short...and actually falls a bit short of where I thought the former CJCS was going...but the line: "When you get to these wars, I worry that America has paid us very well, the compensation's good, [so the culture says] 'please go off and fight our dirty little wars and let us get …
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. …
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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, …
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The future of war by Sam Laney
DeM Banter: we sure have been talking about this for a while, but it doesn't seem the nation is concerned. All of the cuts in R&D, the military, and defense as a whole are a choice...what is our focus and what do we as a nation stand for...what causes us concern...what causes joy? Do we …
Becoming an Officer and a Gentleman By Mark Thompson
DeM Banter: The tone of this article is interesting... is the implication really that we don't need this sort of training--especially in this day and age? I very much recall the similar training we received at The Citadel and found it if the highest value (of course I have let much it it slip every …
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