Showing posts with label Colin Powell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colin Powell. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Why are Best Republican Candidates Generals?
Defense is a legitimate role of the Federal Government.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Needed: Comprehensive Command and Control Reform
David Gergen and I saw need for improvement in the Obama administration’s response to the BP oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. LTG Russell Honore, USA, (ret.) described a command and control structure for addressing the crisis during multiple interviews on CNN. I decided that Colin Powell was “the answer.” Woodward decided that Colin Powell would be the “right” person to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense.
Joplin is 60 miles west of here. In less than 12 hours, Joplin had been declared a state emergency and a Federal Disaster area. Initial reports on CNN seemed to discourage local people helping out and leaving the situation to the “professional” first responders. This is counter to the local culture.
Early news coverage included statements by the Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, and a MG from the Missouri National Guard saying they were here to support the local authorities. By May 25, 2011, CNN was reporting that it seemed like no one was in charge. However, two parents had been kept out of the morgue for 3 days. “This is a Federal Disaster. We have to be 100% certain.”
George W. Bush was the Decider. Barack Obama is the Sage. Barack Obama is also the Commander in Chief (CINC). Since Donald Rumsfeld “transformed” our forces, CINC Obama is the only CINC. We need to UNTRANSFORM some of our forces so that we have full functional capability in general purpose command and control. We may not need to have (m)any Field Armies but we do need to have comprehensive (full functional) command and control capability.
Any task force that responds to a general disaster needs to have full functional capability.
Joplin does not have a functional integrated C3 system to include a disaster recover database.
Somebody in the system has the set of formal addresses as recognized by the USPS. Junk mailers can get access to the addresses. We have just completed a census. Sounds like what’s needed to be able to identify within 10% how many people are missing.
Joplin needs communication for cell phones and computers. The devastation is only a mile or less wide so water is accessible locally.
I have heard only one person mention on TV that search and recovery operations need to extend Eastward, perhaps to Springfield.
Joplin needs UNTRANSFORMED general purpose command and control. CINC Obama is expected Sunday.
We have spent 10 years "investing" in homeland security until we have the "Top Secret America" described in a Washington Post series a few months ago. We are heavy on the Intel. We need to reestablish an Ops capability.
The concept is simple - a rapid reaction deployable CCIS node for disaster recovery. In the GAMO and JINTACCS communities, this would be the JTF headquaters node. In WWMCCS, it would include R2DC3, DWC4, and FORWARD TALK. In NATO, it would be the MWHQ initiative of Task Force 6 (C3).
(DR)2H
Joplin is 60 miles west of here. In less than 12 hours, Joplin had been declared a state emergency and a Federal Disaster area. Initial reports on CNN seemed to discourage local people helping out and leaving the situation to the “professional” first responders. This is counter to the local culture.
Early news coverage included statements by the Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, and a MG from the Missouri National Guard saying they were here to support the local authorities. By May 25, 2011, CNN was reporting that it seemed like no one was in charge. However, two parents had been kept out of the morgue for 3 days. “This is a Federal Disaster. We have to be 100% certain.”
George W. Bush was the Decider. Barack Obama is the Sage. Barack Obama is also the Commander in Chief (CINC). Since Donald Rumsfeld “transformed” our forces, CINC Obama is the only CINC. We need to UNTRANSFORM some of our forces so that we have full functional capability in general purpose command and control. We may not need to have (m)any Field Armies but we do need to have comprehensive (full functional) command and control capability.
Any task force that responds to a general disaster needs to have full functional capability.
Joplin does not have a functional integrated C3 system to include a disaster recover database.
Somebody in the system has the set of formal addresses as recognized by the USPS. Junk mailers can get access to the addresses. We have just completed a census. Sounds like what’s needed to be able to identify within 10% how many people are missing.
Joplin needs communication for cell phones and computers. The devastation is only a mile or less wide so water is accessible locally.
I have heard only one person mention on TV that search and recovery operations need to extend Eastward, perhaps to Springfield.
Joplin needs UNTRANSFORMED general purpose command and control. CINC Obama is expected Sunday.
We have spent 10 years "investing" in homeland security until we have the "Top Secret America" described in a Washington Post series a few months ago. We are heavy on the Intel. We need to reestablish an Ops capability.
The concept is simple - a rapid reaction deployable CCIS node for disaster recovery. In the GAMO and JINTACCS communities, this would be the JTF headquaters node. In WWMCCS, it would include R2DC3, DWC4, and FORWARD TALK. In NATO, it would be the MWHQ initiative of Task Force 6 (C3).
(DR)2H
Friday, July 9, 2010
The OPS/INTEL Interface
In the late 1970s or early 1980s, the Ops/Intel interface was considered to be an important problem area in military command and control. Getting the right information to the right people at the right time continues to be a challenge.
For various reasons, my experience has been more on the “Ops” side than on the “Intel” side. I have tended to think of the Intel side as “arrogant” and possessing an inflated sense of self importance, consistent with the recent Gen McChrystal incident.
Willie F. Sutton would have been on the Intel side because that’s where the money is/was. The Ops side was where the “rubber meets the road” and you have to deal with reality which appeals to my physics and farm background.
I was not convinced by the “evidence” that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. I did not support the Invasion of Iraq. However, I have tended to agree with Senator John McCain on troop strength and withdrawal.
When I started this blog, I intended to focus on “the incident” in the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama and the USA need advice from people experienced in general purpose military command and control. They need someone with experience in “decentralized execution”. They need someone with experience in large-scale operations on the “Ops” side of the interface. Special operations tend not to be large scale and get “special” treatment.
The Obama Administration’s policy on the Gulf “incident” is that it is “new” which means that he and his staff will make mistakes. One of them is that he has not decentralized control enough to allow anyone to do anything in a reasonable time. Basically, the top will make mistakes but no one below will (except not do something.) There was an election. Obama gets to make the mistakes not the States, the Parishes, or the (little) people.
Parsons and Perry wrote a report (Concepts for Command and Control Systems) for Systems Development Corporation dated December 23, 1965, which outlines a model of the military process consisting of five functions (sense, analyze, decide, act, communicate) at command points. The short version is “assess the situation and take appropriate action”. The Obama version at the lower levels is “Update the Plan and Resubmit”.
The McChrystal incident caught my attention and caused me to do research on General Petraeus who “wrote the book on CounterInsurgency”. I’ve now gotten better informed on Counter Insurgency versus Counter Terrorism. I will comment on that more in a later blog.
Peter Beinart says that the most impolitic thing that McChrystal himself said was that he feels hectored by Holbrooke. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-23/general-mcchrystal-failing-to-follow-obamas-afghan-policy/.
The article goes on to say that Obama should fire Gen. McChrystal for the difference in policy. The article discusses how McChrystal pushed for a Counter Insurgency policy.
We could use a good Army General’s input with respect to the Gulf Incident. I recommended Colin Powell earlier. David Petraeus would be a good candidate but not filtered through a Marine (James Jones or James Mattis).
Obama needs help with tactical military C2. A Navy blimp has arrived in the Gulf area. The Army used to use Balloons for artillery observers. Neither the Oil nor the Dispersant shoots at these.
(DR)2H
For various reasons, my experience has been more on the “Ops” side than on the “Intel” side. I have tended to think of the Intel side as “arrogant” and possessing an inflated sense of self importance, consistent with the recent Gen McChrystal incident.
Willie F. Sutton would have been on the Intel side because that’s where the money is/was. The Ops side was where the “rubber meets the road” and you have to deal with reality which appeals to my physics and farm background.
I was not convinced by the “evidence” that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. I did not support the Invasion of Iraq. However, I have tended to agree with Senator John McCain on troop strength and withdrawal.
When I started this blog, I intended to focus on “the incident” in the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama and the USA need advice from people experienced in general purpose military command and control. They need someone with experience in “decentralized execution”. They need someone with experience in large-scale operations on the “Ops” side of the interface. Special operations tend not to be large scale and get “special” treatment.
The Obama Administration’s policy on the Gulf “incident” is that it is “new” which means that he and his staff will make mistakes. One of them is that he has not decentralized control enough to allow anyone to do anything in a reasonable time. Basically, the top will make mistakes but no one below will (except not do something.) There was an election. Obama gets to make the mistakes not the States, the Parishes, or the (little) people.
Parsons and Perry wrote a report (Concepts for Command and Control Systems) for Systems Development Corporation dated December 23, 1965, which outlines a model of the military process consisting of five functions (sense, analyze, decide, act, communicate) at command points. The short version is “assess the situation and take appropriate action”. The Obama version at the lower levels is “Update the Plan and Resubmit”.
The McChrystal incident caught my attention and caused me to do research on General Petraeus who “wrote the book on CounterInsurgency”. I’ve now gotten better informed on Counter Insurgency versus Counter Terrorism. I will comment on that more in a later blog.
Peter Beinart says that the most impolitic thing that McChrystal himself said was that he feels hectored by Holbrooke. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-23/general-mcchrystal-failing-to-follow-obamas-afghan-policy/.
The article goes on to say that Obama should fire Gen. McChrystal for the difference in policy. The article discusses how McChrystal pushed for a Counter Insurgency policy.
We could use a good Army General’s input with respect to the Gulf Incident. I recommended Colin Powell earlier. David Petraeus would be a good candidate but not filtered through a Marine (James Jones or James Mattis).
Obama needs help with tactical military C2. A Navy blimp has arrived in the Gulf area. The Army used to use Balloons for artillery observers. Neither the Oil nor the Dispersant shoots at these.
(DR)2H
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Obama needs someone like Colin Powell
I have been trying to help our country improve tactical C2 in the Gulf of Mexico region. Now, the schism with Gen. McChrystal extends the need for military C2 to theater level.
I am 70 years old, served in the MO Army National Guard, was an Analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), the US Navy's think tank, I was a part of the Ground Combat Section of the Marine Corps Operations Analysis Group (MCOAG). I was the national specialist on Amphibious operations (NWP-22B and LFM-01). I went to Vietnam as a part of my work for MCOAG on the Mine and Booby Trap problem.
I completed the Counter-Insurgency Course for Senior Officers at Quantico.
I have a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Experimental Elementary Particle Physics. I have experience with Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. The big names in physics in those days were Schwinger, Feynman, Yang, Lee, Gell-mann, and a fellow on the west coast who spelled his name Chew. That Chew was brilliant but never won a Nobel Prize.
I spent 27 years inside the DC beltway. I discovered the Cato Institute while they were in San Francisco. I have worked for CNA, the National Academy of Sciences, the Dept of Army, BDM and TRW which are now a part of Northrop Grumman, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) all in the DC area and Harris Corporation in Melbourne, FL.
When I was with CNA, I worked mostly for the Marines Corps Group but I did a little bit of nuclear work for a Navy Group.
During the Carter administration, I supported NATO Initiatives and was a major contributor to Measure 6B8. I was the initial Program Manager of BDM’s contract to develop the Technical Interface Design Plan – Test Edition for the GAMO Program. This was the first joint full spectrum tactical command and control program. I also supported the collection and processing of the Joint Operational Information Requirements for the World Wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) Information System (WIS).
The short version is that I have experience with all of our military and naval services including helping develop the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) to support Mobilization and Sustainment.
A week or so ago, I started sending out tweets with #milc2 in them for military C2 mostly related to the Gulf. I peaked at 5 followers. I think I'm down to 3 now.
I watch CNN regularly. My home area here in Missouri is strongly Republican. I tend to agree with David Gergen on almost everything.
I was chairman of the Tactical C3 working group in the Military Operations Research Society (MORS). I have tactical, theater, and strategic C2 experience.
The Obama Administration needs assistance with large scale tactical military C2. I think I can communicate with Chu. I am willing to help in whatever ways I can.
Our country needs Colin Powell to serve as an advisor to the President on military command and control matters. I came to this conclusion based only on the need to address the Deepwater Horizon incident (BP Oil Spill) in the Gulf of Mexico. LTG Russel Honore, USA (ret.) makes a lot of sense when he speaks on the situation in the Gulf to CNN.
Our country needs a Military Officer in Obama’s inner circle. Someone of 4 star level in the Army (preferably) or the Air Force needs to be there. General James L. Jones, USMC (retired) was commissioned as a Marine officer. Marines come (and go) under the Secretary of Navy. Our Vice President’s son was a Marine. Adm Thad Allen is US Coast Guard. The US Army needs to be represented.
Donald R. Hodge, PhD.
I am 70 years old, served in the MO Army National Guard, was an Analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), the US Navy's think tank, I was a part of the Ground Combat Section of the Marine Corps Operations Analysis Group (MCOAG). I was the national specialist on Amphibious operations (NWP-22B and LFM-01). I went to Vietnam as a part of my work for MCOAG on the Mine and Booby Trap problem.
I completed the Counter-Insurgency Course for Senior Officers at Quantico.
I have a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Experimental Elementary Particle Physics. I have experience with Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. The big names in physics in those days were Schwinger, Feynman, Yang, Lee, Gell-mann, and a fellow on the west coast who spelled his name Chew. That Chew was brilliant but never won a Nobel Prize.
I spent 27 years inside the DC beltway. I discovered the Cato Institute while they were in San Francisco. I have worked for CNA, the National Academy of Sciences, the Dept of Army, BDM and TRW which are now a part of Northrop Grumman, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) all in the DC area and Harris Corporation in Melbourne, FL.
When I was with CNA, I worked mostly for the Marines Corps Group but I did a little bit of nuclear work for a Navy Group.
During the Carter administration, I supported NATO Initiatives and was a major contributor to Measure 6B8. I was the initial Program Manager of BDM’s contract to develop the Technical Interface Design Plan – Test Edition for the GAMO Program. This was the first joint full spectrum tactical command and control program. I also supported the collection and processing of the Joint Operational Information Requirements for the World Wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) Information System (WIS).
The short version is that I have experience with all of our military and naval services including helping develop the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) to support Mobilization and Sustainment.
A week or so ago, I started sending out tweets with #milc2 in them for military C2 mostly related to the Gulf. I peaked at 5 followers. I think I'm down to 3 now.
I watch CNN regularly. My home area here in Missouri is strongly Republican. I tend to agree with David Gergen on almost everything.
I was chairman of the Tactical C3 working group in the Military Operations Research Society (MORS). I have tactical, theater, and strategic C2 experience.
The Obama Administration needs assistance with large scale tactical military C2. I think I can communicate with Chu. I am willing to help in whatever ways I can.
Our country needs Colin Powell to serve as an advisor to the President on military command and control matters. I came to this conclusion based only on the need to address the Deepwater Horizon incident (BP Oil Spill) in the Gulf of Mexico. LTG Russel Honore, USA (ret.) makes a lot of sense when he speaks on the situation in the Gulf to CNN.
Our country needs a Military Officer in Obama’s inner circle. Someone of 4 star level in the Army (preferably) or the Air Force needs to be there. General James L. Jones, USMC (retired) was commissioned as a Marine officer. Marines come (and go) under the Secretary of Navy. Our Vice President’s son was a Marine. Adm Thad Allen is US Coast Guard. The US Army needs to be represented.
Donald R. Hodge, PhD.
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