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Post by artraveler on Sept 10, 2019 19:46:29 GMT -8
Call Sign Chaos
Mattis, Jim
Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
I have to confess. Jim Mattis is one of my contemporary heroes. Not just because he is a Marine, although that is a big part of it, but because he speaks common sense in a world where sense is neither common nor makes sense. This book is autobiographical and actually ends in 2014. He was ready to publish in 2015 when President-elect Trump asked him to take the top job at DoD. Other than his letter of resignation there is nothing in the book detailing his relationship with President Trump, and in the media, he refuses to comment on his reasons for resigning. Given his staunch sense of duty and ethical training he never will. However, there are numerous comments on the Obama Administration and their failure of leadership. Which, since they are a past Administration and concern policy he comments broadly on Iraq, and Iran.
“When it comes to the defense of our experiment in democracy and our way of life, ideology should have nothing to do with it”.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (p. x). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
This is a book about leadership, specifically the Marine style of leadership. Every Marine has been through the structured chaos of boot camp has leadership drilled into their thinking from day one, when we all stood on the yellow footprints and tried not to be noticed by the DIs for special consideration.
Thinking among POGs (people other grunts) is that the Marines are bloodthirsty killers. Who, because we are hammers, view the rest of the world as nails. Mattis is what every Marine aspires to be, a competent, thinking leader who loves the men and women who sign a blank check for their lives to protect our freedoms. In describing his life as a Marine he has distilled some basics of leadership, a few of those:
Be brilliant in the basics. Don’t dabble in your job; you must master it.
Second, caring. To quote Teddy Roosevelt, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
Third, conviction. This is harder and deeper than physical courage. Your peers are the first to know what you will stand for and, more important, what you won’t stand for. Your troops catch on fast. State your flat- ass rules and stick to them. They shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. At the same time, leaven your professional passion with personal humility and compassion for your troops. Remember: As an officer, you need to win only one battle—for the hearts of your troops. Win their hearts and they will win the fights. Competence, caring, and conviction combine to form a fundamental element—shaping the fighting spirit of your troops. Leadership means reaching the souls of your troops, instilling a sense of commitment and purpose in the face of challenges so severe that they cannot be put into words.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (pp. 12-13). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Mattis talks of the first Gulf War, the second Gulf War and the still ongoing challenges in Afghanistan and Iraq. He doesn’t pull any punches about the mistakes of George W. Bush administration in Iraq, he sums it up:
Business management books often stress “centralized planning and decentralized execution.” That is too top-down for my taste. I believe in a centralized vision, coupled with decentralized planning and execution.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (p. 59). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Initiative has to be practiced daily, not stifled, if it’s to become a reality inside a culture. Every institution gets the behavior it rewards. We had to reward battlefield behavior, not what in an earlier time we called garrison Mickey Mouse, or worse.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (p. 179). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
As economist Friedrich Hayek cautioned, “Adaptation is smarter than you are.” The enemy is certain to adapt to our first move. That’s why in every battle I set out to create chaos in the enemy’s thinking, using deception and turning faster inside his decision loop, always assuming that he would adapt.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (p. 180). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Mattis makes clear that the only way to defeat an enemy is to fully understand that enemy. For 50 years we opposed the USSR and understood, mostly, what they would and would not do. In spite of their ideology they were rational actors. However, in dealing with the Islamists a different rule.
I did not patronize this enemy. I had dealt with them long enough to know they had not arrived rationally at their hateful, intolerant worldview, and they would not be rationally talked out of it. We had to fight, or there would be worse to come.
Mattis, Jim. Call Sign Chaos (p. 195). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
It was this attitude that got him relived by the Obama Administration from his post in CENTCOM. And the basis for writing most of this book before he was tasked to become Secretary of Defense for President Trump. Call sign Chaos has real world lessons on leadership that are equally applicable in business and military. It is a read you will enjoy, educate and frustrate.
There is an old Marine adage, “if you’re going into a gunfight, bring all your friends with guns.” This Marine would follow this General anywhere, anytime.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 10, 2019 19:53:52 GMT -8
I couldn't agree more. This is a basic principal of life. It is what our Founding Fathers had in mind when the country was created. They knew, as some of the more intelligent companies know, that your people in the field have a better grasp of what is happening in their area than you do.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 11, 2019 8:13:28 GMT -8
Here's a link to the book: Call Sign Chaos. The reviews at Amazon are very positive. I thought this portion of one was interesting: |
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Post by timothylane on Sept 11, 2019 8:48:49 GMT -8
Interesting that someone would bring up two of orders of crusading knights. Of course, they were priest-warriors, so celibacy was to be expected. The Teutonic Knights had similar practices, but aren't as well regarded today (which no doubt says something about the French king who targeted the Templars -- I once read the suggestion that the Shroud of Turin was Jacques Mornay, not Jesus Christ). They later switched to Calvinism precisely so that their head could inherit the (Polish) fiefdom of East Prussia. As it happened, he was a Hohenzollern, and when his line died out shortly afterward it reverted to the Elector of Brandenburg (which thus became known as Brandenburg-Prussia).
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 11, 2019 10:26:29 GMT -8
There were a good number of military orders. For example there were also the Knights of St. James (Santiago), St. Thomas and St. Lazarus.
Most of these started off provided care or protection to pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land.
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Post by timothylane on Sept 11, 2019 10:52:47 GMT -8
Santiago is Spanish for Saint James. The name James is related to Jacob, hence the Spanish Iago and the French Jacques. Thus, support for the Stuarts was known as Jacobitism from James II. In English, Jack can be its own name (I had a late friend named Jack Young), or from either John or James.
The Knights of the Hospital, incidentally, are also the Knights of St. John, and are still around.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 11, 2019 11:41:52 GMT -8
Yes, I repeated St. Thomas. I have corrected the mistake.
Many people may not know that the Church declared a crusade in the Iberian Peninsula as well as in the Holy Land. The Muslims conquered the peninsula in the early 700s and Ferdinand and Isabella finally got rid of them just before financing Columbus's first voyage to discover the Indies.
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Post by timothylane on Sept 11, 2019 11:55:00 GMT -8
Without the conquest of Granada, I doubt Ferdinand and Isabella could or would have financed Columbus. Hugh Thomas in The Spanish Civil War mentioned the Spanish filling in the Moors' irrigation canals as an example of the danger of being too zealous in a cause.
I believe the Teutonic Knights' operations in the Baltic were also a crusade, since the Baltic tribes were pagan at the time. And of course, there was the Albigensian Crusade, including the infamous massacre at Beziers ("Kill them all, and God will know his own"). The military commander of the latter was Simon de Montfort, father of the English reformer.
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Post by artraveler on Sept 11, 2019 13:55:20 GMT -8
Such a monkish ethos was once common among military types
I suppose you could call Mattis a kind of warrior monk, but that is doing disservice to the Marine and the man. If you get anything from the book it is that the military is a broadsword cutting everything in its path down. It is an instrument to be used sparingly but when used the mission need be clearly defined and agreed upon by all who order us into battle. No half measures, no stops and starts, no wobbly knees. Our enemies need to know that when we come at them we are coming with everything in the inventory and that the Marines and other services are in fact, No better friend, and no worse enemy.
It is true that every Marine is first a rifleman, even officers. We hold an ethos of elite unit because we hold fast when others run for cover. There is an old adage in the Marines, once a marine, always a marine. I have a sign next to my front door,
"This property is protected by a United States Marine who is short on negotiation skills and is a terror in combat. Negotiations are now over".
Over the years people who apparently cannot read have knocked on my door. They do not come back.
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Post by timothylane on Sept 11, 2019 14:09:57 GMT -8
The Mobile Infantry in Heinlein's Starship Troopers were based on the Marines, and the Navy ran their OCS as it does for the Marines -- even though the MI are called Army and are a separate service. (Of course, Heinlein was himself a Navy officer who graduated from Annapolis and later gave a speech there.)
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Post by artraveler on Sept 13, 2019 6:42:25 GMT -8
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 13, 2019 7:13:07 GMT -8
Artler, I believe there is an American warrior type who is under-appreciated and mostly vanishing. I couldn’t be a good soldier if you paid me. But I recognize that there are good soldiers….very good ones, in this case.
I had an impromptu conversation with one of those soldiers on Wednesday. He stopped by to ask a quick favor about something. He’s running against a communist in a local election. This guy is ex-cop, ex-military, and told me he parachuted out of a plane to the beach behind Sword on whatever commemoration date had just passed for D-Day. They landed where the paratroopers that day had landed.
He had to train locally to re-certify himself. And they apparently jumped not in those modern chutes that set you on the ground as soft as a baby’s bottom but with the older-style chutes.
There’s always a little Commander McBragg in those old stories, I’m sure, but I won’t be jumping out of an airplane anytime soon and am amazed at those who go out of their way to do so.
This guy’s current hill is a communist. And I hope he takes that hill. I think he will.
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Post by timothylane on Sept 13, 2019 7:31:09 GMT -8
That paratrooper presumably is British-born. Their 6th Airborne landed in that portion of the assault area. To be sure, they were scattered about (as tends to happen, especially in night landings), but I don't think any Americans ended up that far east.
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Post by artraveler on Sept 13, 2019 7:35:37 GMT -8
This guy is ex-cop, ex-military, and told me he parachuted out of a plane to the beach behind Sword on whatever commemoration date had just passed for D-Day.
Wow, unless he was jumping in diapers he must be in his late 80s to early 90s. 101st or 82nd these guys were expected to take 75-90% casualties. My best wishes to anyone running for office at that age.
Yes, we do have a warrior culture, but time and failure to commit to that culture has winnowed the ranks to a few families in the South and West. There are notable warriors from the East and Midwest but the bulk of our military come from south and west. There are numerous reason for this that we have discussed before and there is no reason laboring over them again.
If you understand why Ethan Edwards in The Searchers is standing outside the door at the end of the movie, than you understand the American warrior.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 13, 2019 9:52:47 GMT -8
He said that one guy was in his 90’s who took part in the commemorative jump of the D-Day invasion. He jumped in some kind of tandem harness.
As far as I know, this middle-aged guy I was talking to was born in America. He’s just an adventurer, as you might guess.
Another gung-ho guy I know is my ex brother-in-law who is/was a Marine and an ex-cop. I think there are a lot of ex-cops out there. Probably the unwritten story is that political correctness and the desire to punish cops who do the job as it should be done have driven a lot of them out.
Heck, we saw this aspect way back in the Dirty Harry movies from the 70’s. Yes, it’s a Hollywood movie. But does anyone doubt that the police forces have been so pussified that there’s little place left for law-and-order types? We know for a fact this is the situation in Seattle where you can’t actually be a good cop in any traditional or realistic sense without getting into trouble.
These days, why would anyone want to subject themselves to that? But it still must be satisfying work for many because, as far as I know, they have no problem filling the ranks. But I think there is an unnatural-selection going on that is turning a lot of departments to Jell-o: See: Broward County.
Now is exactly the time you need to own your own gun and know how to use it.
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Post by artraveler on Sept 13, 2019 13:47:19 GMT -8
The ranks of every police force in the country are filled with military. In some parts of the country it may be as high as 50% in others as low as 5%. You can bet your last dollar that the low number is in democrat controlled cities. One of the reasons police quit is, as Brad says, the PC culture the other is the police culture. In the military, even the coast guard, orders are followed and loyalty in both directions up the chain of command and down is expected.
The more that is tested by the system the more likely police will, either give up (Baltimore) or give in (LA). It doesn't matter what the organization is once the rank and file feel that the leaders will not back them when they are in the right then all pretense of order is lost. If a police officer feels that his department will not back his arrest of, let's say a DUI, he will not bother to stop him even if he is convinced he could make a solid arrest. It doesn't mean that police need to bust heads on a daily basis but there must be confidence among officers on the street and the captains and chiefs who set policy that everyone is going the same direction. Once that trust is lessened or destroyed it may be a generation before it can be regained--if ever.
The same is true in the military. The best example is France. In WWI the French fought bravely and suffered truly horrific casualties. In WWII they did not live up to the same standards--why? Leadership The French high command was prepared to fight the German invasion of 1871 not the German army of 1940. Innovation and audacity were replaced with defensive thinking and political leadership. DeGaul was, at best, a mediocre general but at least he was willing to fight the bulk of the French high command were more interested in their mistresses and a good wine.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 13, 2019 13:53:03 GMT -8
And I have heard that some would not even communicate with each other while the Germans invaded. They despised each other so much.
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Post by timothylane on Sept 13, 2019 14:06:33 GMT -8
When the Germans invaded the Low Countries, Gamelin was talking with the NW theater commander, General Georges. The latter said this meant they would do the "Dyle scheme" (i.e., moving up to the line of the Dyle, through Brussels, to hold half of Belgium). Gamelin -- overall commander -- agreed, saying, "What else can we do?"
I once had Sir Arthur Bryant's 2 histories based on the Brooke diaries. Brooke met General Corap once, and the latter (who commanded the 9th Army, which would hold the Meuse north of Sedan -- or more precisely, not hold that line) was more interested in lunch than in discussing plans and preparations.
There were some in the British cabinet (including David Lloyd-George) who were willing to keep out of the war even if Germany invaded Belgium -- as long as the invasion only involved the southeastern corner. But the Schlieffen plan involved going all the way to the channel, which the British saw as an imminent threat.
Richard Armour, in It All Started With Columbus, mentioned that one of the causes of the war was a severe shortage of paper, which made a mere scrap of it worth fighting for. When I read it in the early 60s, I actually got the reference.
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