Death by Powerpoint; finally some national attention to the epidemic

Kudos to Meg for forwarding me this article by Elisabeth Bumiller. For anyone who has spent a little time "touching up" your order, SITEMP, etc this article will be everything you've discussed with your peers. When the article cited "powerpoint rangers," I knew this reporter had done some digging.

The article and it's sources all state that PPT "dumbs" down and prevents critical thinking. That is similar to that horrible saying, "guns don't kill people, people do." PPT is just the tool that commanders choose to convey information. Commanders are ultimately responsible for assuring that his or her subordinates understood what was conveyed and if they didn't understand. The commander should also make his PPT slides about conveying the most appropriate information that PPT can. Too often I would see a commander fail to convey the proper information (most likely because he or she failed in her mission), but through PPT and its 3D effects, warping, etc the audience would be glamored and we would all leave the meeting with blank faces. It works most of the time.

I believe the congnative problem is that most briefers keep one slide up and talk the bullets. It's like the presenter made 3x5 index cards to keep him or herself on track and instead of looking down at them occasionally, put them on the wall so everyone could just tick down the list (because the other problem is the military just has too many damn meetings and you can't wait to get out of the meeting because you already know all of the information.) Everyone shuts down. If you have numbers send it in a goddamn email. If you have general, non-specific ideas or symbology to convey use PPT. IF YOUR PPT PRESENTATION IS ONE SLIDE AND IT CLOSES DOWN MAILBOXES BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

What this article really needs to talk about is that officers are just about the fluff. We aren't results-based managers of people. We are egotistical time-wasters looking for another BULLET for our OERs. We of course is the "royal" we.

Ok, Cooper is awesome in my book after this.

The Korengal

I share many of the thoughts and emotions of the Soldiers in this article and the author, Sebastion Junger. Whether you know much about the conflict or not it's just a great read.

I miss this skyline

Get up and go from Stefan Werc on Vimeo.

Confederate History Month?

Yes, it's true. Great article here by Frank Rich, that sums up my attitude about it.

Somber quote in wake of the Polish anguish...

“History counts its skeletons in round numbers” -Wislawa Szymborska

"Winning" in Afghanistan

This is the rest of the discussion I mentioned briefly earlier. My buddy Joe and I were talking about the Army's nation-building skills or lack there of. What I see is the lack of a stratigic planning, or more likely many people are going through military posts with the complete interest of not fixing any of this.

"Osama bin Laden is not Adolf Hitler. Al-Qaeda is not Nazi Germany. Al-Qaeda poses a threat. It does not pose an existential threat. We should view Al-Qaeda as the equivalent of an international criminal conspiracy. Sort of a mafia that in some way or another draws its energy or legitimacy from a distorted understanding of a particular religious tradition.

And as with any other international criminal conspiracy, the proper response is a police effort. I mean, a ruthless, sustained, international police effort to identify the thugs, root out the networks and destroy it. Something that would take a long period of time and would no more succeed fully in eliminating the threat than the NYPD is able to fully eliminate criminality in New York City."

-Andrew Bacevich

Not only is this a very accurate assessment, it is the only real viable and sustainable option for us. Despite what the Neo-con and Republican circles think, the military option is untenable.

Perfectly stated...

"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution," - Clay Shirky

Knowledge, ignorance and fear

With the new Tea Party rallies going on and the momentum that the movement is gaining I am trying to find something more than some vague principles:

Mission Statement
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

Core Values
Fiscal Responsibility
Constitutionally Limited Government
Free Markets

More to follow.