The Human Element: When Gadgetry Becomes Strategy

[Surferbeetle]

Ken,

Couldn't get back to you earlier in the week, so here are my belated answers to your points/questions.

I do not understand the second question; and what is being measured?

My take is that Dr. Kennedy is trying to describe the economic situation, which is similar to an armed conflict in that there are many participants with varying intents and capabilities, which result in a large stew of randomness. My point was both numbers/technology and words are needed to both characterize and influence such a situation at a specific moment in time.

Been working my way through holiday cookies, forgive the allusion. If a ‘measuring chocolate chip cookie’ is made of words and numbers, most folks will argue about the proper proportions of the ingredients but most will agree both are needed in order to have a ‘measuring chocolate chip cookie’.

If you're in the thick of things on the ground, I'd bet there's no problem having your chain of command trust you...

So far so good…

That second phrase is where we've gone wrong. You should not have to share your understanding with the resource providers; it is not their job to second guess you to death (literally) it is their job to support you with the resources you require. It is your chain of command's job to insure you ask for what is needed and to fire you if you ask for excess; since we know you'd never do that, you should get what you ask for. It is also their job to fight any resource battles.

Let me work on additional clarity here (my bad), with the understanding that ‘the internet does not do nuance well’. In terms of what the US Army’s logistical system is set up for, I agree with your statement. Requesting X rounds of ammo described by NSN # Y is not the issue. A CA-bubba/COIN oriented soldier runs into problems when requests are relayed that do not meet the MCO paradigm. Examples would be X tons of seeds, Y tons of fertilizer, Z lf of irrigation pipe, etc. What I am suggesting is that for COIN work we need to think about teaching standard methods to our forces to request from the Host Nation Government or requisition/purchase needed COIN resources. We are certainly getting better at it, but we still have a long way to go.

The Bean counters have taken over the institution and everyone is okay with that? Weird.

For large projects, which involve a democratic society’s resources, beancounters are key team members, and need to be listened to. Consider our taxpayer dollars and what has happened to them with TARP…I digress.

I am currently working my way through Against the Gods, The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein, which chronicles some of the things we are discussing here, and it’s a good read as well. So to sum it up, I am seriously taking COL McMaster’s article under advisement and attempting to square it with my weltanschauung; but my preferred ‘measuring chocolate chip cookie’ is still heavy on the numbers side.

Best,

Steve