Co-written with Robert Ward Stories about the decline of the Air Force are flooding the media. For example, in AOL Defense Mackenzie Eaglen and Doug Birkey claim that the Air Force is "slowly going out of business" because of budget cuts and won't be able to modernize its fleet, maintain military supremacy or adapt to …
Keeping The Faith: Can the military save on pay and benefits without breaking faith? By Kellie Lunney
DeM Banter: Probably too close to this to comment... Government Executive August 15, 2012 America’s military community has long felt disconnected from the civilian population it protects. In the latest survey from the nonprofit military support group Blue Star Families, 95 percent of respondents, who included service members, veterans, spouses and children, agreed with the …
10 Habits of Remarkably Charismatic People by Jeff Haden
View Original / Inc.com DeM Banter: Lots to work on here...guess it is time to get started...and only the biggest geeks will get the photo...anyone know the original actor who played the role? Charisma isn't something you have. It's something you earn. Here's how. Some people instantly make us feel important. Some people instantly make …
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Conflict with China: What It Would Look Like, How to Avoid It: by James Dobbins
view original / thediplomat.com DeM Banter: A more realistic view of "the Pivot?" Since the disappearance of the Soviet Union, China has become America’s default adversary, the power against which the United States measures itself militarily, at least when there is no more proximate enemy in sight. With America’s war in Iraq over and the one in Afghanistan winding …
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Hidden History: America’s Secret Drone War In Africa By David Axe
DeM Banter: Are we pondering the 2nd and 3rd order effects? There is good here...to be sure, but are we looking at the strategic implications of proliferation and the empowerment of robotic warfare? Perhaps we are... Danger Room (Wired.com) August 13, 2012 More secret bases. More and better unmanned warplanes. More frequent and deadly robotic …
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Leadership Lessons From The Geniuses Of Jazz by Frank J. Barrett,
view original / forbes.com DeM Banter: Great stuff... knew there was a reason I loved jazz... Frank J. Barrett, a professor of management and global public policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., is also a jazz pianist who has led his own trios and quartets and traveled with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. In his …
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Fixing The Air Force By Jeff Schogol
DeM Banter: Classic...crisis, complexity, and confusion (C3), but does the USAF culture support the communication, creative thinking and collaboration to fix it? ...trust.....something that takes a great deal of time and effort to rebuild Air Force Times August 20, 2012 Pg. 20 Welsh must repair relations with Congress and reserve components, experts say The new chief of …
12 Maverick Leadership Tips from James Bond by David K. Williams
view original / forbes.com DeM Banter: All about the Maverick leader.... seems like a long forgotten breed outside of Hollywood movies...we could sure use more, especially in today's environment... Many of today’s most inspiring businesses were created by maverick leaders who colored outside of lines and thought outside of the box. Sir Richard Branson comes to mind. Mark Cuban. Elon Musk. …
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Exploding The Myths About Vietnam By Lien-Hang Nguyen
DeM Banter: Cant help but harken back to Thinking in Time by May and Neustadt... history is extremely useful when...decision-makers separate what is known about the situation from what is unclear and from what is merely presumed; to study the history of the issue, thereby putting it in perspective; to beware of easy historical analogies when current …
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The Next Proxy War By Robert Haddick
SmallWarsJournal.com August 10, 2012 This Week At War In my Foreign Policy column, I explain why the U.S. should intervene in Syria. Hint: the reason is not about Syria. In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joseph Lieberman argued for stepped-up U.S. intervention in Syria's civil war. They called for providing …
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