Chaitanya Jyothi Museum Opening, 2000
RAMANAM
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Countrymen,
ORBIS NON SUFFICIT
SOLUS DEUS SUFFICIT
Political Situation
90 days into USG decapitation, 4k out of jobs, will take a while to recover. This is normal every 4-8yrs.
The Defeat ISIL plan DOD was to give POTUS was a 10 minute brief, not a plan. Still working on it.
Commander’s Intent
WHAT to accomplish
Resources available
What risk you can assume
National Security
The schoolhouse class you got on national security decision making / foreign policy formulation . . . forget it. It is based on false premises: (1) rational actors, (2) rational process, (3) rational intent. Elements of these exist in the process, but they are not the deciding factors.
Washington D.C.
D.C. is a complex tribal society, to use an anthropologist’s term of art.
Take what worked in a tribal society overseas and transfer that to D.C.
D.C. is built on personal relationships. If there are none, you will not get your ideas to approval.
For example:
Understand tribal dynamics BEFORE acting. Do not be deceived that because everyone drives nice cars and wears fancy clothes their motivations are more complex than an Afghan warlord’s are.
The ability of Military leaders to navigate D.C. successfully is supremely important. Only we can prevent us from becoming Icarus.
Our perceived strategic value is the highest it ever has been. This is a hard-won reputation. It makes us all the more susceptible to crash and burn.
The quickest way to crash and burn is to not know how to navigate the town.
What The General Worries About
Our demonstrated inability to achieve durable results.
We are turning mowing the grass into an art form (referring to counter terrorism [CT] strikes).
We cannot kill our way to success.
We pretend to buy time and space with killing, thinking that we will achieve durable results, as we say, for other forces / political movements to finish the job.
Counter Messaging
Global Engagement Center: a DOS counter messaging center. DOD is not really involved, not thinking about it.
Current Counter Narrative is to denigrate, deride, counter. But this is only 50% of the needed message. We need the other 50%. Offer a different/better deal, not just deride the other. A car dealer says how much better his car is, not just how bad the other guy’s car is.
Everyone has their own idea of a better deal (democracy, autocracy, republicanism).
We have to develop the other 50% (positive) counter message, however challenging.
The non-kinetic / non-military aspects of the war / policy are horribly under-resourced. All the people in the USG working on Counter Narrative could fit in a small office.
Increasing Concern
We are asked to develop strategies — What is the plan for X? — but Who We Are is the first question. What is our grand national strategic goal, doctrine, etc.?
Is it protector of the free world?
Is it protect the free flow of ideas, goods, and services around the world?
Are we still these things?
If the answer is No, that changes the answer to the question we first must answer:
What is the USA? Who are we? What are our interests, actually?
What / Who do we want the world to believe we are? Answer that question and we can articulate goals and policy statements.
Question: What/Who is the USA?
Note-taker: USA is upstream from politics. This is a consequential fact that affects everything else.
The President must articulate answers to this question. The President leads the country to join in his/our view of ourselves.
Useful Description Of Policy, Strategy, And Operations
Policy: These are the President’s goals. Not how but what. War policy should be unconditional surrender to USA diplomatic, financial, and military officials by USA enemies.
Operations: Since activities are things departments and agencies DO, how do we ensure departments and agencies link/bind operations in furtherance of the President’s goals?
Strategy: This is the binding agent, a form of glue, which connects operations to the President’s goals
For example, if left to their own devices, Air Force would focus on dogfighting Migs while what we need is space, ISR, etc.
Shared Consciousness Idea
Organizational leadership: see from GEN McCrystal.
Realize that the more senior you become, you gain more experience, but you lose expertise. Think JumpMastering: as a senior leader, you have lost expertise even though you can wear the badge.
So, the question is: why does the US military push decisions that require expertise to senior leaders who do not have it?
They have experience, which often fails. And as junior officers you have to try to make a senior leader an expert when you should just make the decision yourself. This is a huge waste of time and talent.
Max speed of a large organization slows to 2-3 major decisions per day vs hundreds/thousands if your experts are empowered to make decisions.
I get asked, what about the fact that junior leaders do not see the big picture? I say to the questioner, Have you shared the information of the big picture? If not, then that is your failure. Share the information. Tell everybody everything you know all the time, said GEN McChrystal.
When told by subordinates, This is too much information, say to them, You will get stronger over time. You will know everything I know — make your decision.
Make everyone in your organization an expert: shared consciousness, shared context. The more you reduce the number of decisions the boss has to make, the better for everyone.
Βασιλεία του Θεού
Kingdom of God
AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA