Hi, my name is Bob, and I am a strategist.

At least I try to be, guilty as charged. But with that said, I do not buy into the conventional wisdom on what strategy is or is not; or who does it or who does not.

It's just not that simple. When I showed up at the Army War College they said essentially: "Congratulations with 20 years under your belt we will now teach you to be strategic." This mindset reinforces the idea that strategy is something associated with a particular rank, or level of command, and certainly looked at in a purely procedural perspective that is true.

I look at it differently (ok, no big surprise there, I get it...). But to me strategy is not a level of command perspective, a vague statement so generic as to be virtually worthless that Colonels write, Generals approve, and virtually no one reads. To me that is nearly as mindless as it is worthless.

For me strategy is a level of understanding. Once that strategic level of understanding is achieved it is then something of value to everyone in the chain of command, from the Chairman down to the Squad Leader that helps them put their actions into perspective and execute them in a way so as to achieve the best possible effect. Have I achieved the strategic solution to populace-based conflict? No, but it is my quest. I am confident that I am heading in the right direction, and I believe that I am very close, but it is a continuous process with daily refinements as new or old information tests and either validates or invalidates the strategic concepts.

Is this somehow the sacred territory of just elected officials? God help us if it is. No, everyone involved in this from top to bottom as a duty to think, to ponder, to question, to seek understanding. Certainly also to do our mission as assigned.

I picture that cliché' scene in every movie on organized crime were the big boss smacks some underling while declaring "I don't pay you to think!" Many Regular officers may very well feel those same intellectual shackles as well. That's sad where true. Because we do get paid to think, and you don't have to wait until you get to the War College to get started.