Summary: Like all power tools, technology can hurt or help an organization — depending on how the leaders use it. Since the dawn of third generation warfare in WWI, the power of an army results from its speed as well its force. Fast recognition, fast decision-making, fast execution, fast learning — these are power. This requires decentralization. …
Summary: “The Attritionist Letters” are Marine officers’ protest about their general’s policies that resulted in our failures in phase one of the WOT, now be be repeated in phase two by Trump’s all-general national security team (since they refuse to admit these failures). This, the third letter, cuts to the heart of the problem. See the …
Teaching Marine junior officers to obey, not think (Attritionist Letter #3) Read More »
Summary: As we begin the second phase of our post-9/11 wars, let’s ask why the first phase went so badly despite our vast expenditures of money and blood. This second of the Attritionist Letters, describes one reason for these failures (which will lead to failures in the second phase): generals shackle their field-grade officers. See the introduction to this …
The Attritionist Letters: the Marines shackl their field-grade officers & losing wars Read More »
Summary:Â Sixteen years of the War on Terror have made our jihadist foes stronger, more virulent, and more widely spread — few Americans realize that America’s internal divisions are mirrored by equally serious problems within the US military. The “Attritionist Letters” described one facet of that conflict, written by Marine Corps officers. We should listen to …
Attritionist Letter #1 – The US Marines turn away from the future Read More »
Summary: Captain Grazier (USMC) writes another chapter in our series explaining why we lose at modern warfare despite the training, size, and fantastic tech of our forces. Another post by a Marine officer explaining our military’s internal struggle to overcome its attritionist tendency (i.e., fighting 21st wars with WWI methods). He explains the complexities of …
When will our military learn modern warfare, & overcome the attritionist tendency? Read More »
