What kind of Training? Army Training, Sir!

But what do we train for?

The immortal Bill Murray in “Stripes” hit the nail on the head with his “razzle-dazzle” display of coordinated rifle drill: no matter what you do, make it look good and senior leaders…

Slim Pech

Reflections on Retrograde from Afghanistan

What follows is my imperfect reflection on the retrograde movement from the Pech River valley in 2010-2011. I was in the Pech valley from late April 2010 until early November 2010, so not all of this comes from…

One Deployment Didn’t Win Afghanistan…And That’s OK

Reflections of a Veteran

Risk Aversion

Cut your losses, or go out swinging?

I've written previously on the CENTCOM retrograde process. “Retrograde” is sometimes a dirty word in the military, as some see it as a less-threatening synonym for “retreat.” Call it what you will, every army in…

The Army as I want it to be. 

Part 1-The basics

These posts tend to be a bit of a “ramble on” for me. I’ll often start with some grand ideas and then it trickles down into posts that seemingly have no clear direction and are a Herculean effort to wrap up. This time…

A Decline in America’s Hegemony?

Why the US no longer gets respect abroad

Fumbling in the Dark

Writing History while Being a Part of It

The great historian Herodotus stated, “The worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing.” And no, I am not comparing myself to Herodotus, by any means. However, he…

Realities versus Kabul Spin

The National Intelligence Estimate for 2014 and what it says for U.S…