Change Latitudes

PANEL DISCUSSION #8 “Emerging Land Force Innovations in the Pacific” Panel Chair: LTG H. R. McMaster, Jr. Deputy Commanding General, Futures/Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Panel Members: Kevin M. Fahey Executive Director System of Systems Engineering and Integration (SoSE&I) Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) MG John F. Wharton Commanding General United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command MG Gary H. Cheek Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 United States Army MG Michael H. Shields Commanding General United States Army Alaska/Deputy Commander United States Alaskan Command James B. Johnson, Jr. Director, Future Warfare Center United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

Comments:

• LTG McMaster: on charlie rose once upon a time he expressed his distaste for relying on rules for command relationships. "I'm not into rules," he said then, "I'm into understanding complex problems." Is he presenting a new approach to Doctrine? Does he have to sketch out these concepts in purely military terms to drive staff operations? I have no clue and lack the experience to say, it just sounds grating to hear one of the leading military intellectuals of this generation so deep in the weeds of the latest mil-command-lingo... the kind of business operations language that would make a corporate consultant very proud. 
• What's in a name? I see indo-asia-pacific is the new term of art to refer to the strategic and defense block of the future. What began in 2007 in an open letter blog post from Lowy institute scholar rory mdcalf was then picked up by Aus Def White Paper in 2012  as "Indo Pacific". Seems like he tried to push Indo-Pacific-Asia (so fetch), then grabbed again as Indo Pacific which is how it was used by Sec Clinton in describing context to the US Australia alliance but eventually it came to be where we are today. Words are like fashion. Most people go with the flow but have  no idea where the line or color came from. Or where it's going for that matter. Words matter. Deni's paper in Parameters probably made it what it is today.
• LTG McMaster has adopted the verbal tick, too common among PhDs who go into consulting or development: the righteously rhetorical, "right?". This is verbal disfluency that seems to come from being in many rooms where no one challenges your thinking. Which unfortunately reduces the weight and power of his message and makes him sound like he's on auto pilot.
• 45 minutes... this is boring. Honestly. I'm losing hope.
• MG Wharton is talking about R/D stuff that is interesting but also makes me wonder why the services have fundamental research/development project management funding? Nice to see full throated support for r/d funding. I need to learn more about acquisition but holy shit it's like eating cardboard.