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A little levity about TDRL. Thirty-five years ago I was directed to call an officer on TDRL to inform him he was being brought back to active duty and I would be doing his assignment. The voice on the other end of the phone simply stated, “Major, my fingers have not grown back…”. Talk about feeling very small.

I have actively pursued uncomfortable roles or positions to strengthen a perceived or realized weakness. This video gets at the importance of being self-aware about strengths, weaknesses, preferences, etc. and still being able to problem solve. Being proactive and resourceful goes a long way to getting through any phase. Love the vids!

I'm 63, retired, and I've had my money in S&P 500 funds (100% stock) since I started investing. I have made a great deal of money with my FA Kathie and I see no reason to change. The S&P 500 has made an average of 9.8% returns over the past 100 years. International and Bond funds are losers in my opinion because they don't make much money. This is just my amateur opinion which may not work for everyone.

When you reach the grade of O-5 and above or E-8 and above, there is a balance between functional and political. Strategic is ALWAYS political as a primary consideration. GOs are nearly always full political, except for FORSCOM commanders engaged in combat operational decisions.

Is there someone that we can contact to help us apply for CRSC? A company or individual?

I'm interested to see what data they use for Social Security costs going up. The Boomers were our largest generation and they're dying out. Many are already gone. I'm skeptical since Social Security has been "dying" according to the media since the 1980s. I'm not worried about 2034. I'm worried about _next year._ Letting the Army decay is America's most enduring military tradition. No matter how predatory our interests may be overseas, we just don't have a Prussian mindset to sacrifice everything for military might. Especially not in peace time. Every war concludes with the US scaling down the Army and letting it rot. Right now we have a military that scarily mirrors the post Fall of Saigon military. Yes, on paper it's filled with state of the art equipment, highly developed logistics, and combat hardened veterans. So was the 1970s military. In reality? It's decaying. It's not bad right now - AFAIK. But it will get worse. Like the 1970s we have decaying equipment, doctrine unfit for purpose, way too many toxic leaders that never deployed, a higher chain of command that doesn't acknowledge faults, budget shortfalls, recruiting shortfalls, low recruit quality, low pay, poor living quarters, and a an administration that doesn't really understand it (or want to ). The one thing the 1970s military had that we don't have, thank God, is a drug fueled crime wave. The 1970s Army was in bad shape (though not uniformly so) and it took a long time to recover. It did so thanks to Carter starting the ball rolling with weapons programs and an overdue pay raise and Reagan who tripled down. So many iconic modern weapon systems came out in the 80s not to mention massive changes to doctrine, the National Training Center, and later its clones. I'm one of the few soldier that will say that, despite massive improvements by 1986, the Army was still _way worse_ than the one I left in 2014. I don't pine for "the good ol' days" of the Black Boot Army. (Except BDUs) So how long have we got til it's really bad? Well, in 1950 Truman sent the US Army's Task Force Smith to intercede in the Korean War. The Army had just defeated two of the world's premier military powers just 5 years before in WW II. The ranks were still filled with combat veterans from General to Sergeant. It was light years from what people today would consider "Woke." The equipment and weapons weren't old junk or good idea fairy products but tried and tested. And the North Korean Army rolled over TF Smith in a day. I wouldn't say 5 years is an exacting number though. The US Army deployed TF Smith from Japan and apparently it was such a backwater component units weren't manned and equipped to their best. That's bad. But it's an analog example, not a duplicate. The modern Army luxuriates in Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, Islamic terrorists, and Mexican Cartels continuously threatening America. It keeps our politicians from chopping its budget right away. We're in a better place than the 1950 Army and it's probable we won't ever suffer near complete decay like in the 1930s. (Broomsticks used in lieu of rifles; artillery howitzers carved out of wood, horse cavalry still taken seriously) Yet I think if we deploy a division or a brigade into a combat zone next year an enemy's chance of calling our bluff and succeeding goes up considerably. And will continue to do so going forward unless something changes. It would really help if our government could pull some diplomatic finesse to narrow our enemies down. But I don't have any illusions that just not wanting foreign entanglements will keep us out of them. Even if we subtract all the forces pressing us into them, the entanglements themselves still vote. I don't think either candidate is a slam dunk for helping.

I ran into a few 2nd Lt's who were gung-ho spit and polish, all military bearing (like when to salute and when not), and "who's running this operation?" types. I can only guess these were Academy products, I never had the occasion to actually ask. All I know is, with 2 years, 3 mos, and 23 days in a real war zone I'd pass on trying to impress a single one of those kinds of head-in-the-sand types of Jr officers. When any of them turned up I had some stressful explaining to do, or I'd find good reason to vacate the area. Dressing me down for failure to salute after i been up all night on the flight line, dead tired, and in a zombie zone seemed a little much. Stopping me and reminding me of military decorum seemed the most appropriate - I could apologize, offer a reason, and be on my way. This wasn't the Academy it was a foreign base were real operational duties were done. Simple! I recall one time on the working side of our runway, one such 2nd Lt came up and asked me what I was doing. (I had been sent out to try to figure out how certain hydraulic lines needed to be routed, and connected, after guys reinstalling fuel cells pulled them off to facilitate what they were doing. No one bothered to mark these lines, noting which went where. It was a big puzzle and I was the most qualified person to work out the details, bar none, based on experience etc.) Anyhow back to this "beep" Lt, I said trying to figure out how to install these long metal hydraulic lines. His response was don't you know? I could see by his demeanor, grasping at the air for some sense of bestowed authority, he was gonna make my difficult job even harder than it needed to be. So I backed off hard, answering only questions as directed, to avoid anymore trouble (had been relaxed, as typical, until this guy decided to make my day). This was a war zone, life was hard here, unneeded military protocol took the back seat. Always! ..We were told not to worry about saluting officers, correct military dress, shinned shoes, etc etc - all superfluous at this stage and at this point at OUR base operations. No one sent him the memo, or he failed to read it, I guess. I gave up, no sense explaining anything, he was being an ass. Simple! ...So he found fault on top of fault, on being my non military deportment, another my uniform. I had been wearing jungle fatigues (or relaxed service dress as they might call it now). This was a new uni so it was still a bit stiff, and hot to wear, I had the top part off and wearing a white tee shirt. The Lt showing his 'authority' noticed there were no stripes sewn on the sleeves, being really new I was letting it wear in, before asking the barrack's house girl to sew them on. He never asked more info, just insisted I go find my supervisor, shrugged and went back to get my boss (a good guy, senior master sgt, who liked and trusted me). Back at the aircraft with my boss Lt 'Fresh out of Academy' asked my boss why he didn't send a more senior experienced mechanic out. My sgt said I WAS the most experienced and knowledgeable person he had, bar none. It pretty well deflated Lt 'Ego' - he told my boss to explain it to the branch chief. We left, the job was put on hold, my sgt kindly told me with a wry smile to get my sgt stripes sewn on the sleeves in question. Footnote: the branch chief a decent smart and wiser 1st Lt knew me well, he liked me and would now and then pull me aside to talk about stuff in general, I think he was trying to get a feel for me, since I was punching way above my weight in daily nominal operations. It ended there, I never heard another word. That 2nd Lt I had the run-in with was never seen it heard from again.. my guess he was given a new assignment, since he was obviously in the way of the work flow. My branch chief called me in a month later, offered me another stripe (SSgt) and a reenlistment bonus if I'd re-sign. I declined, I was burned out and wanted to go home. I'm sure I would have done well, making Tech Sgt at a young age, I listened to orders, paid attention, found new inovative methods, I liked and enjoyed the work, and the AF. I just simply hated the chicken shit. That hard-headed 2nd Lt turned the page for me - no more nonsense.

An academic who wonders if military incompetence is somehow beneficial is one who doesn't have a kid serving in the military. Nor did he examine (AFAIK) the situational differences between two opposing forces. One force may be objectively more powerful in every measurable way except in a certain situation. Like the flower of French chivalry outnumbering the Brits at Agincourt only to find out how deadly longbow arrows, field fortifications and deep mud in combination are. Or situations where a weaker force's hand is forced. He also doesn't consider there are different types of confidence. Yes, quite a lot are variations of institutional, professional, national, and personal pride as well as contempt for the enemy in myriad forms that can simply be sheer arrogance. But there's also the confidence derived from experience, a solid reckoning of all the odds, and sheer determination. The former is often a cover for personal cowardice that may exacerbate military disaster; the latter may seize, if not victory, at least survival.

I actually just finished reading that book lol, I'm currently a SGT (E-5) in the Army and I've had the privilege of filling the role as the Battalion Adjutant which is a Junior office postion. I've gotten to meet some amazing Officers & CSMs. I've also met some that made me question the Officer Corps too lol.

Best I served with were OCS as most had come up through the ranks. Worse were West Point too politically motivated and lacked respect for NCOs with experience

The thumbnail answers your question…

THE CAV ALSO WORN THE BERET BEFOR AIBORNE AND SF HAD IT

ALWAYS FEAR THE E4 THAT HAS NO FEAR OF A ARTICLE 15 AND WILL STEAL ANYTHING TO THE PAWN SHOP THE LEAGUE OF DISGRUNTLE SPECIALIST AINT GOT SHIT ON A RECON E4 MAFIA

Overconfidence is what got our four buddies killed in my unit in Afghanistan

The military command and Joe and Kamala need to be charged for that debacle in Afghanistan. That was the worst debacle in American history.

If there’s a will and there is a way. Hitler had the most powerful military in the world during WW2. Yet he was defeated by military forces who had the will to fight to the death no matter what was the shortcomings with their war equipment and personnel. 1 Samuel 17 gives you hope when it comes to a superior foe. Goliath was a big man. His height was six cubit and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels. On his legs he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. He was a man who did not take prisoners. The king will give his daughter in marriage and will exempt the family from taxes in Israel who was willing to take down this pain in the butt trouble maker of a giant. David with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. You may be small and weak or insignificant like David, but if you use whatever insignificant pebbles you have, and trust God, you can defeat the giant in your life.

Most officers don't have college paid for. Only a small portion attend the federal academies or receive full ride scholarships.

Talk to the Elite Special Operations soldiers who can talk about Military incompetence at the very top of our government.

not in competence; more of civil in competence; civil is a United States Constitution Law Word and Form, Class and office establish in Article I.6.2, Article II.4 and Amendment XIV.3, civil or military, (ratified 9 July 1868); civil is every thing military is not and when One get to military I or Military and the War Stage civil should be no more; civil is for the enemy not the United States of America Military Arms Forces Services especially the Marines; War is a Military Act of Violence between 2 Party, civil or military, that want to kill each other, by any means possible and necessary, be cause they are enemies; War is not civil nor wage by civil persons or civil military persons : civil i a ns: civil ians : civilians; if one is civil in War: your War Death will quick, pain full and Violent;

While serving as a clinic OIC, I developed an award system to motivate everyone to look for the good work others were doing and to recognize that work. I photocopied my hand in a handshake position. At our monthly meeting I would read out the nomination and give out the handshakes. If a person got 10 handshakes, they got a high five - another photocopy of my hand. If they got 10 high fives, they got a double high five. The practice died out shortly after I left, but the civilians are still talking about it 7 years later.

Incompetence can't be good. Gets our kids killed. Why did all the generals in 1914-18 think it was effective to "use soldiers' chests to stop machinegun bullets"? (Churchill said that.) Somebody mentioned Vietnam. What about Afghanistan? 20 years. We accomplished nothing; left serviceable equipment there for the Taliban; opened the door to make the place a terrorist playground again. Who made those decisions? How do decisions like that get made? You had a video on the different sources of officers recently. I have submit a scenario where the bulk of officers went to the same schools (the service academies) had the same professors, went to "war college" and had the same classes there. Think there just might, maybe be groupthink in our military? We have failed to defeat two guerilla armies in the past 50 years. Whether we should have committed troops is one issue. Why we won specific engagements (overwhelmingly sometimes) but lost the ultimate wars is a question everybody above the rank of E-4 should be contemplating. Navel gazing is the apt term I think. Did we actually intend to win either one? Think maybe the recruiting problems might be due in part to military age Americans not wanting to be sent to wars we won't win? Just asking as a taxpayer and the parent of the holder of a DD-214.

When I was in the army I always said the more rank on the collar the of the frontal lobotomy had taken place

America renamed Nine Bases. There are all kinds of Military agreements. The Ships from Japan just arrived in San Diego. I've grown tired of men insult military.

There is a great German historian who wrote a four book series on the history of war. Hans proves that even during his time, both sides in any given battle had no idea what numbers the enemy had, or even, how many their own wide were. Historically almost all numbers written down were way off. The battle of the "300 and allies" was recorded as having like a million Persians for the invasion. Completely logistically, impossible.

I have to say I love your shorts… very insightful… my background on this mess… Chapter 61 retired O-3E, 90% DoD, 100% VA UI, 100% CRSC, 12.5 years active time, and 20 year letter… and to answer your question I get ZERO CRSC… I get smoked by the Special rules regarding Chapter 61 Retirees: Disability Retirees (even those with less than twenty years of service) are eligible for CRSC but the rate of payment will be reduced by the difference between retired pay based upon disability and retired pay for years of service… so I lose (lack of a better word) 4,000.00 a month… go figure.

really interesting video. Why the weaker side might think they can win a conflict with a larger entity ? Another factor may be 'morality' variable. not sure if you mentioned this. "We will/can win because we are on the 'right' side and the enemy is on the 'wrong' side". Back in the 60's, Bob Dylan sang many anti-war themed songs. One such song was called "With God on our side". I think the point Dylan was trying to get across in that song was that war was futile because in such conflict, BOTH sides believe they have "God" (or some 'higher' ideology) on THEIR side.

My reading list just expanded again. In military terms, there are some quotes from WWII from both allies and enemies that reflect this. Since that time, we have learned to plan a LOT better than we did back then. Thing is, everyone has a plan to win until they get punched in the face (Mike Tyson) or first contact with the enemy (some random soldier). I noticed the Pervatin box. The German military had a LOT of meth heads and it spread into the general public. But, they were not alone. The US and Brits started handing out bennies to the troops - but put stricter controls on it than the Germans had.

I like your joke about Colonels not needing their brain anymore when promoted to General Officer. In the Air Force we had a similar joke about enlisted members: In basic you’re issued 8 marbles and every time you’re promoted they take one back. By the time you make E9 you’ve lost all your marbles.

This brings up so many thoughts. Starting with the idea that only the stronger side will win. While I agree, I think we have to also take into account just what we think of as a strength. Vietnam is the perfect example. We were way stronger in technology, equipment, and most likely manpower. But the Vietnamese psyche was their strength (though many aspects of it would be considered a weakness by our culture) Americans (military leaders, political leaders, and the general population) were all thinking in terms of months or years whereas the Vietnamese were thinking in terms of generations. They were willing to continue the fight with no end in sight. We counted casualties where they gave the price no thought.

I really liked this video and topics where you talk about deeper “whys”. A reflection of this is if you plan you must include contingencies for an overwhelming event “Black swan” “Kobayashi Maru” (details not super relevant) but plan for not to solve it but for mitigation and preservation. Continuation of Ops Plan (COOP) is one aspect of it but the ‘Black swan” should force tweaks or extra stuff in other plans and organization and equipment. So when the inevitable disaster strikes, there is a useful civil or military response. The Generals get where they are by making those above them happy by meeting concerns or priorities that make more political or personal sense than military.

There’s actually a military term for the condition where self deception enhances performance. We called it “Morale.”

Oops, thought this was about platoon sgt’s sleeping on tasking till 1446.l, on a Friday. That kind of incompetence

I enjoyed this. Very much. In my maritime career, I saw quite a few climbers who pushed the envelope in an aggressive manner. I have a bit of a stony visage, so it was easy to look-learn-file and keep my mouth shut. This last is extremely important. There ARE however, a few ( thankfully very few ) hills worthy of dying on. BUT - that said, try to find the issue that pushes both the Bull’s effort, because quietly and smoothly aiding his career, selflessly - leaves you often being the person holding the IOU. Quite a nice place to be in.

I remember reading Dixon back in the 80's and finding it interesting but ultimately unconvincing.

Another excellent piece of work. I can never forget how NBC spent a million dollars on a studio sized sand table of Saddams trench system because it was going to " Take months to get through." They knew better than the " inherently ignorant military officers. " Now they are saying, " America is invincible," while mostly retired Colonels are saying ," NO !!!". Addendum: I wonder what they did with all that sand in the middle of Manhattan.

Regarding "getting into fights thinking they'll win" i have to ask: What if the war is not being fought over what we think?

If incompetence is a superpower...then we gottem on the ropes! Incompetence like Afghanistan withdraw...No matter how right it would be to turn it over properly and still have a tactical advantage in the area and on the globe it just isn't profitable for the masses (did I put an M in that word?) in charge. A NATO Ukraine is good business to bring them up to mandatory NATO $tandard. I believe we'd be more serious if we had a serious and personal reason to War. Right now BlackRock (BLK) is making big money with the Military Industrial Complex...eventually BLK will make even more money when they rebuild Ukraine. All that fertile land the Ukrainian people think they are fighting has been sold to BLK who will make even more money when they control the food in Europe. So BLK just has to keep the US in the game which is easy to do when all the shot callers are invested in BLK and their subsidiaries. I feel bad for the people who are duped in the thinking that Putin is going to storm across Ukraine in to Poland then up the Chesapeake somehow...I wander why they think that... The Ukrainians are fighting for their country's life but it's futile and everyone but BLK and their interested stockholders knows it...Zelenski rules with an Iron Fist and his people (what's left of them) has no idea. Big money on the line...A President Trump would really throw a wrench in the cogs of their works and rightfully so, imo. Popcorn popping and cable billed paid up for the next year... What was the question?

Wow! Was this for a research project? More BLUF, less fluff. I thought it was going to be about the Peter Principle. BTW, which is a topic you should tackle. All jokes aside, keep up the good work!

The Afghanistan Papers, The Pentagon's Wars, Extreme Ownership, Rubrics of Leadership (George Marshall) What cookies do you want from us, sir?

In government, you fell up. In real life, you fail down.

I'll definitely be sharing this video with my wife. And since you pointed that out, I'll be sending her a bunch of your vids as well as start taking her to contacts with VA and VSO to make connections. There almost should be an entire course for spouses to learn these things. Thanks much.

Yes, I'd like to see an additional video about how this benefit is calculated. Thank you.

We had a West Point lieutenant get his POV stuck out in the field while we were training at Fort Benning, GA - he got his ass chewed backwards and forwards by our CO, who was a prior service enlisted Captain with a CIB before he went to OCS. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the West Point lieutenants in my unit. All show no go.🦅🇺🇸

The best infantry lieutenants are the ones that were prior service enlisted 11 Bravos, preferably with CIB’s. The West Point lieutenants in my rapid deployment infantry unit were by far the worst, with absolutely zero command presence. And now you know the rest of the story.🇺🇸

I once sent the Duty Driver at 0500 to make the OOD coffee for the morning meeting. The OOD had an order to wake him at 0530 and I was a bit surprised when the OOD presented early with the DD by the scruff of the neck and said to put him on report for peeing in the Officer's mess coffee pot. It did not go well for the kid at Captain's Mast.

This jouster recording himself is unbearable to watch 😢thumbs down 😢don't recommend channel 😢

Great list

ROTC produces the best Officers

Team lead wanted all hands on deck for the meetings he scheduled. Insisted on all hands when being told that deadlines wouldn’t be met if all of us were to attend all his meetings. He wanted to establish dominance. What he got was the pink slip. Took all of us half a year to clean up his mess. That guy objectively had no idea what he was doing and everyone knew it. How he was hired in the first place? Well, credit where it’s due: He 100% could “talk the talk”. But after spending more than 10 minutes talking to him, you knew he couldn’t walk the walk if two strong guys were carrying him.

I really like your videos! And I can’t wait to read your book.