Great quotes from Retired Marine General James Mattis, posted on We Are The Mighty by Paul Szoldra, book mark this site, you'll want to go back.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis is a legend in the military. Revered by Marines and non-Marines alike, Mattis has taken on the persona of a modern-day Patton — having the knowledge and insight to lead his Marines through combat, while standing behind them and taking the heat if things go bad. In short, Mattis is a hell of a leader.
In 2013 while serving as commander of Central Command in Tampa, Fla., Mattis retired after four decades of service. Since then, he’s been teaching at Stanford and Dartmouth, as well as speaking across the country on leadership. He’s also working on a book with author Bing West.
We looked back at some of the best insights he offered, through a great collection of quotes. Most apply strictly to military service, but some can be just as useful in the corporate boardroom.
“You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it’s going to be bad.”
The “dream world” Mattis is talking about is one of denial and complacency — a mood in combat that can get you killed. And in corporate America, it can get you wiped out by the competition.
“If in order to kill the enemy you have to kill an innocent, don’t take the shot. Don’t create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act.”
Mattis, who co-wrote the manual for Counterinsurgency with Gen. David Petraeus, knows well that troops cannot win over the population to their side if they are killing the wrong people. His advice here to soldiers and Marines is spot on.
“I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.”
Of course he can spell it but that’s not the point. Mattis wants to impress upon his troops that failure should not be an option.
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
Before his Marines deployed to Iraq in 2003, he told them this (along with many other great pieces of advice in a now-famous letter). His point here is to be a professional warfighter who can be polite with civilians, but always remember that if things go south, the dirty work needs to get done.
“The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event. That said, there are some shit heads in the world that just need to be shot. There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.”
Recalling the mentality of the wolf, the sheep, and the sheepdog, Mattis understands that there is evil in the world. It’s important for his men to be prepared for whether they will be the hunter or the victim if they ever face it.
“There are some people who think you have to hate them in order to shoot them. I don’t think you do. It’s just business.”
One of his more controversial quotes, to be sure. But in Mattis’ view, to be a professional, you need to have a professional mindset. It’s not really necessary to get emotional about what you have to do. It just needs to get done.
“You can overcome wrong technology. Your people have the initiative, they see the problem, no big deal … you can’t overcome bad culture. You’ve gotta change whoever is in charge.”
In a talk at Stanford, Mattis was relating how toxic culture can bring down an organization that has everything else right. The culture of an organization comes from the top, and if that part is screwed up, there are going to be problems.
“The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.”
Mattis doesn’t want robots just mindlessly following his orders. As a leader, he gives broad guidance and lets his men use their own brains to decide how it gets accomplished.
“Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact.”
Amen.
“In this age, I don’t care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony — even vicious harmony — on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines.”
Mattis implores his officers to not get stuck in their own little boxes. Learning how to be brilliant on the battlefield is important, but it’s more important to be able to work with others to get the job done.
“PowerPoint makes us stupid.”
Military officers endure (and have to create) tons of PowerPoint briefings to inform their chain of command what’s going on. Mattis however, is not one of those officers. He actually banned PowerPoint since he saw it as a waste of time.
“You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.”
Mattis wants his Marines to always be thinking before they take the shot. It’s advice that has no doubt saved lives.
“An untrained or uneducated Marine … deployed to the combat zone is a bigger threat to mission accomplishment … than the enemy.”
The biggest detriment to mission accomplishment is not from the competition, but from within. Having the right mindset and skills is what results in getting results.
“No war is over until the enemy says it’s over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.”
Combat doesn’t happen in a vacuum. All the planning, meetings, and briefings on what potentially can happen in a given situation are good, but the bad guys will always react in uncertain ways. The key is to be prepared for anything.
“Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.”
Just because you are at the top of your game doesn’t mean someone won’t come along to knock you down. Units (and individuals) need to be vigilant and make sure that doesn’t happen.
“Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun.”
Mattis is an avid reader. On all his deployments, the general brought along a ton of books that he thought may help him along the way. In an email that went viral (via Business Insider) on the importance of reading, Mattis wrote that it “doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.”
“You’ve been told that you’re broken. That you’re damaged goods … there is also Post-Traumatic Growth. You come back from war stronger and more sure of who you are.”
While giving a speech to veterans in San Francisco, Mattis tried to dispel the mindset that those leaving the service should be pitied. Instead, he told them, use your experiences as a positive that teaches you to be a better person.
Showing posts with label military leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military leadership. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
The Ethic of the Combat Officer
SFA Commo Sgt's Comment: This article is not necessarily the view of SFA Chapter IX nor the Chapter officers. It was sent throughout the Veteran's Net, reportedly from an anonymous General Officer.
Warrior leaders of General Patton's or General LeMay's stature are no longer wanted. The fundamental job of the military, kill bad people and break their things, has become seriously hampered critically now, by rules of engagement whose guiding logic is political, not successful, combat. If the US military is ever defeated, it will be because it is running the best Day Care centers in the world.
We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO Club Stag Bar on Friday evenings to have a drink, smoke, and swap lies with our comrades. Having a drink with friends is now frowned on. Smoking causes cancer and might harm you. Bars are seen as sexist. Our personnel have quit patronizing their clubs, because what happens in the club is now fodder for a performance report. In fact, we don't have separate clubs for the ranks any longer; instead we have something called All Ranks Clubs or Community Clubs. They're open to men and women of all ranks. But no one is there. I wonder why.
The latest brilliant thought out of Washington is that operators flying remotely pilotless vehicles (RPVs, or drones) in combat areas from their workstations inside air conditioned trailers at duty stations in Nevada or Arizona should draw the same combat pay as real-world pilots actually aboard aircraft in hostile environments. More politically correct logic. Now they're saying these same RPV operators are subject to the same stress levels as combat pilots actually flying in combat.
Is that idiotic comment actually intended to be a statement of fact?
Where are people like the dynamic leaders of the past: Robin Olds, Doolittle, Patton, Ike, Boyington, Nimitz, etc.? They're identified and forced out. This Administration doesn't want those kinds of leaders. Division Commanders don't run Divisions and Corps Commanders don't run Corps. Can you imagine someone today looking for a LEADER to execute the Doolittle Raid, and suggesting that it be given to an educated, daredevil boozer -- whose chief attributes where he had the respect of his men, an awesome ability to fly, and the organizational skills to put it together. Add to the foregoing an incredible level of courage. If so, I would tell them they were either a liar or dumber than a brick.
We've lost the war on rugged individualism and that, unfortunately, is what fighting forces want to follow; not because they have to, but because they respect true leaders. We've all run across the kind of leader that made us proud to follow him because you wanted to be like him and make a difference.
We'd better wake up! We're asking our young men and women to go to really crappy places; some with unbearable climates, never have a drink, and adhere to ridiculous regulations that require you to tuck your shirt into your PT uniform on the way to the porta-potty at night, in a blinding dust storm, because it's the uniform.
The people we're sending to combat are some of the brightest I've met but they're looking for a little sanity, which they will only find on the outside, if we don't get a damn clue. You can't continue asking people to live for months or years at a time acting like nuns and priests. Even they get to have a beer once in a while.
Who are we afraid of offending? The people that already hate us enough to strap a C-4 to their own bodies and walk into a crowd of us? Think about it. I'm massively proud of our young men and women who continue to serve. I'm also very in tune with what they're considering for the future and I've got news for whoever sits in the White House, Congress, and our so-called executive level military leaders much talent has and will continue to hemorrhage from our services, because our warriors are tired of fighting on two fronts - one with our enemies, the other with the lack of sensible direction from this Administration. Take it or leave it....that's just the way it is, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, high-ranking military officers have been removed from their positions at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented. Things have gotten so bad that a number of retired generals are now publicly speaking out about the 'purge' of the US military they believe is taking place.
Dozens of highly decorated military leaders have been dismissed from their positions over the past few years. Why is this happening? What is going on right now is absolutely insane, especially during a time of peace. There is ongoing a deliberate attempt to reshape the military, and remove those who don't adhere to proper 'viewpoints'. Officers that question or won't cooperate are identified, and gotten out of the way.
Throughout world history, whatever comes next after a military purge is never good. If this continues, what is the US military going to look like in a few years? Perhaps you're reading this and you think that 'purge' is too strong a word for what's taking place. If so, just consider the following quotes from some highly decorated retired officers:
- Retired Army Major General Patrick Brady (Medal of Honor)There is no doubt Obama is intent on emasculating the military, and will fire anyone who disagrees with him.
-Retired Army Lt. General William G. Jerry Boykin. Over the past three years, the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not relieved for cause, has been unprecedented.
-Retired Navy Captain Joseph John. More than 137 Navy Captains have been forced out or given bad evaluation reports so they will never make flag rank, because of their failure to comply to certain views.
SFA Commo Sgt's Comment: Late breaking is the news that Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, who as the Army’s deputy commander for operations in the Middle East over-seeing the training of Iraqi forces, was formally reprimanded in February after a three-year investigation by the Army’s inspector general....for perceptions of misconduct, apparently. Some of SFA Chapter IX's membership know MG Pittard and know him to be a good leader and good man. Many in the El Paso community want him to retire and come back to serve the community in any number of positions.
A high Pentagon official who has asked to remain nameless told me Even young officers down through the ranks have been told not to talk about Obama or the politics of the White House. They're purging everyone, and if you want to keep your job, keep your mouth shut. This trend appears to be accelerating.
Obama, who is now on his fourth Secretary of Defense, is intentionally weakening and gutting our military, and reducing us as a superpower. Anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being identified and forced out. Coincidence? Every dictatorial regime on the planet has done this as soon as they gained power.
SFA Commo Sgt's Comment: Well, Vietnam era POW and Senator John McCain apparently thinks the military is headed downhill - based on the article titled "McCain: Military's low morale should spur Congress to act." How many of us would or could recommended that our children or grandchildren consider a military career?
Warrior leaders of General Patton's or General LeMay's stature are no longer wanted. The fundamental job of the military, kill bad people and break their things, has become seriously hampered critically now, by rules of engagement whose guiding logic is political, not successful, combat. If the US military is ever defeated, it will be because it is running the best Day Care centers in the world.
We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO Club Stag Bar on Friday evenings to have a drink, smoke, and swap lies with our comrades. Having a drink with friends is now frowned on. Smoking causes cancer and might harm you. Bars are seen as sexist. Our personnel have quit patronizing their clubs, because what happens in the club is now fodder for a performance report. In fact, we don't have separate clubs for the ranks any longer; instead we have something called All Ranks Clubs or Community Clubs. They're open to men and women of all ranks. But no one is there. I wonder why.
The latest brilliant thought out of Washington is that operators flying remotely pilotless vehicles (RPVs, or drones) in combat areas from their workstations inside air conditioned trailers at duty stations in Nevada or Arizona should draw the same combat pay as real-world pilots actually aboard aircraft in hostile environments. More politically correct logic. Now they're saying these same RPV operators are subject to the same stress levels as combat pilots actually flying in combat.
Is that idiotic comment actually intended to be a statement of fact?
Where are people like the dynamic leaders of the past: Robin Olds, Doolittle, Patton, Ike, Boyington, Nimitz, etc.? They're identified and forced out. This Administration doesn't want those kinds of leaders. Division Commanders don't run Divisions and Corps Commanders don't run Corps. Can you imagine someone today looking for a LEADER to execute the Doolittle Raid, and suggesting that it be given to an educated, daredevil boozer -- whose chief attributes where he had the respect of his men, an awesome ability to fly, and the organizational skills to put it together. Add to the foregoing an incredible level of courage. If so, I would tell them they were either a liar or dumber than a brick.
We've lost the war on rugged individualism and that, unfortunately, is what fighting forces want to follow; not because they have to, but because they respect true leaders. We've all run across the kind of leader that made us proud to follow him because you wanted to be like him and make a difference.
We'd better wake up! We're asking our young men and women to go to really crappy places; some with unbearable climates, never have a drink, and adhere to ridiculous regulations that require you to tuck your shirt into your PT uniform on the way to the porta-potty at night, in a blinding dust storm, because it's the uniform.
The people we're sending to combat are some of the brightest I've met but they're looking for a little sanity, which they will only find on the outside, if we don't get a damn clue. You can't continue asking people to live for months or years at a time acting like nuns and priests. Even they get to have a beer once in a while.
Who are we afraid of offending? The people that already hate us enough to strap a C-4 to their own bodies and walk into a crowd of us? Think about it. I'm massively proud of our young men and women who continue to serve. I'm also very in tune with what they're considering for the future and I've got news for whoever sits in the White House, Congress, and our so-called executive level military leaders much talent has and will continue to hemorrhage from our services, because our warriors are tired of fighting on two fronts - one with our enemies, the other with the lack of sensible direction from this Administration. Take it or leave it....that's just the way it is, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, high-ranking military officers have been removed from their positions at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented. Things have gotten so bad that a number of retired generals are now publicly speaking out about the 'purge' of the US military they believe is taking place.
Dozens of highly decorated military leaders have been dismissed from their positions over the past few years. Why is this happening? What is going on right now is absolutely insane, especially during a time of peace. There is ongoing a deliberate attempt to reshape the military, and remove those who don't adhere to proper 'viewpoints'. Officers that question or won't cooperate are identified, and gotten out of the way.
Throughout world history, whatever comes next after a military purge is never good. If this continues, what is the US military going to look like in a few years? Perhaps you're reading this and you think that 'purge' is too strong a word for what's taking place. If so, just consider the following quotes from some highly decorated retired officers:
- Retired Army Major General Patrick Brady (Medal of Honor)There is no doubt Obama is intent on emasculating the military, and will fire anyone who disagrees with him.
-Retired Army Lt. General William G. Jerry Boykin. Over the past three years, the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not relieved for cause, has been unprecedented.
-Retired Navy Captain Joseph John. More than 137 Navy Captains have been forced out or given bad evaluation reports so they will never make flag rank, because of their failure to comply to certain views.
SFA Commo Sgt's Comment: Late breaking is the news that Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, who as the Army’s deputy commander for operations in the Middle East over-seeing the training of Iraqi forces, was formally reprimanded in February after a three-year investigation by the Army’s inspector general....for perceptions of misconduct, apparently. Some of SFA Chapter IX's membership know MG Pittard and know him to be a good leader and good man. Many in the El Paso community want him to retire and come back to serve the community in any number of positions.
A high Pentagon official who has asked to remain nameless told me Even young officers down through the ranks have been told not to talk about Obama or the politics of the White House. They're purging everyone, and if you want to keep your job, keep your mouth shut. This trend appears to be accelerating.
Obama, who is now on his fourth Secretary of Defense, is intentionally weakening and gutting our military, and reducing us as a superpower. Anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being identified and forced out. Coincidence? Every dictatorial regime on the planet has done this as soon as they gained power.
SFA Commo Sgt's Comment: Well, Vietnam era POW and Senator John McCain apparently thinks the military is headed downhill - based on the article titled "McCain: Military's low morale should spur Congress to act." How many of us would or could recommended that our children or grandchildren consider a military career?
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