Summary:  Building a unadaptive military from enthusastic and innovative American young people requires work. It does not happen by accident. DoD’s success at that — proven by our similar mistakes in Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan, two generations distant — is a measure of infernal success. Here General Screwtape explains the mechanics. “Do remember you are there …
Attritionist Letter #13: Thinkers need not apply Read More »
Summary:  How does the dead hand of excessive burocracy and outmoded doctrine retain its grip on the US officer corps? The services recruit young energetic, often idealistic men and women. Here we see how they become careerists. Contents Boyd asks a young officer “the question” Introduction from the Marine Corps Gazette’s Editor Letter #12: Succumbing …
Attritionist Letter #12: Succumbing to enticements (career advice for the successful) Read More »
Summary:  Technology allow leaders to reshape an organization according to their vision of the future — or of the past. Our military has the most advanced technology on the planet, so they balance this by adopting extremely antiquated forms of organization. We have the weapons to fight invaders from space, organized to fight the Wehrmacht. Contents …
Attritionist Letter #11: Artillery leads the way – to the past! Read More »
Surprise! We’re recruiting milita to help in Afghanistan. It’s a new tactic, just as it was in Iraq and Vietnam. It’s a direct violation of the COIN manual (FM 3-24), with its tiresome emphasis on building the legitimacy of the local puppet government. But then that was just a facade anyway, a trick to build support …
Summary: our use of firepower, artillery and airpower, is one of the great undercovered stories of the Iraq War. It has profound implications, both humanitarian and for our grand strategy. This is a second posts about our attempts to win hearts and minds with artillery; see the first here. Here is a brief excerpt …
Another example of winning hearts & minds with artillery Read More »
