Defense and the National Interest

The Art of War - Spirituality for Conflict
Sun Tzu’s Art of War,
Translated by Thomas Huynh and the Editors at Sonshi.com
Annotations by Thomas Huynh
Foreword by Marc Benioff
Preface by Thomas Cleary
(Woodstock, VT: Skylight Illuminations) 210 pp.
DNI Review by Chet Richards, editor
April 30, 2008

Request for interest, that is.
There is an opportunity to hold a short, intense seminar on the applicability of Boyd’s ideas, particularly operating inside the OODA loop and grand strategy (sustaining our own morale and attracting the uncommitted), on the weekend of September 20 and 21 at the University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI. [...]

Inside Washington
National Journal, Sat. Apr. 26, 2008
By Elaine M. Grossman
Can Army artillery units hit the side of a barn? Maybe not, according to a troubling internal memo sent this month to Army Chief of Staff George Casey by three former brigade commanders.
“The once-mighty ‘King of Battle’ ” is a “dead branch walking,” write the active-duty [...]

We haven’t scheduled it, yet.  But the last one was such a big success that we’ve had a lot of inquiries about doing another.
If you’d like to get on the mailing list for the next conference, please send an e-mail to Joy Finch at Greenville (SC) Tech.

 An unconventional era of warfare requires unconventional thinkers.
It’s a cliché that Boyd would never receive his due from The Establishment. So it is with great pleasure that I can report that the Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, paid a stirring tribute to John today at Maxwell Air Force Base.
Here is the section where [...]

The Norwegian Navy is doing some interesting work in developing tools to measure how well individuals and groups are able to function under a climate that encourages mission-type orders. The development of such a climate is a component of the Joint Operational Doctrine of the Norwegian Armed Forces.

By William S. Lind
When Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kerensky sent his “army” to fight the Mahdi Army in Basra, President Bush called it “a defining moment.” It turned out instead to be a confirming moment. It confirmed that there is no state in Mesopotamia.
One of the most common signs that America’s [...]

From Pointer, the Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces
Excerpt:
John Boyd was a first-rate fighter pilot, engineer and scholar. The intellectual leader of the US Military Reform Movement, he sacrificed his career (’retired’ as Colonel) for his beliefs and theories on manoeuvrability, Manoeuvre Warfare and OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act), which have truly passed [...]

Chuck Spinney
Marmaris, Turkey
13 April 2008
The administration’s theory and practice of grand strategy can be summarized by the sound byte, “You are either with us or against us.” But the art of grand strategy is far more subtle than this. The late American strategist, Col John R. Boyd (USAF Ret) evolved five criteria [...]

until 20 April.  Postings and comment moderation will be sporadic.