Full Spectrum Operations vs. Countinsurgency

Please don't extrapolate from the title of this entry that I am saying that counterinsurgency (COIN) and full spectrum operations are mutually exclusive terms. That's not what I'm saying. It is, however, what a writer from the Los Angeles Times, aided and abetted by a former DOD big-wig and a Colonel on the Army Staff, appears precisely to be saying.

Into the Fire

I start a new job in a couple weeks.  Things could get a little dicey at first.  Not as difficult as what COL Hal Moore faced at the Battle of Ia Drang.  For sure, no one will be shooting at me.  Let's just say that two strategies are about to collide.  Garry Owen!

Abide With Me

Rick Meredith: Teacher, Mentor, Friend

Flag and nameplate outside Rick Meredith's cubicle

Today was his funeral.  A friend whom I've known for only three years died this week.  Taken suddenly ill just the week before, he died Monday afternoon.  He passed away within minutes after I got back to the office from a completing a trip he had assigned to me last month.  It was almost like he wanted to be sure that I got back with no problems.  Last night was the receiving of friends at the funeral home and this afternoon was his funeral.

Defense Department tells service contractors to identify themselves as service contractors -- Defense Systems

Well, here's the link to the article:  Defense Department tells service contractors to identify themselves as service contractors -- Defense Systems.  There's nothing new here.

Puzzling.

I've been a contractor on Fort Gordon for five years and this has always been a requirement.  Maybe it's just the writers of the Federal Acquisition Register catching up with the rest of the contracting world.  Hard to say.  But it should be noted that at every single military/industrial conference I've attended I hear from multiple sources that the DOD's acquisition system is broken.  This article confirms that.

Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

Today I was asked by some very influential people to define three common doctrinal terms:  tactics, techniques, and procedures.  Bear in mind that I am, by profession, a doctrine writer.  For three years I've had these words and their proper definitions pinned to one of the inner walls of my cubicle.

(Now, cue the sound of a crash and burn).

Gabriel's Oboe: After a Thousand Replays, I Still Hate it When it Reaches the End