The topics we discuss in this episode include:
-Brendan’s journey to studying combat decision-making
-The difference between what you learn in the classroom and how things really are in the fleet
-Brendan's “sabbatical” in 29 Palms
-Preparing young officers to lead platoons
-The challenge of maintaining a fighting edge with your unit while deployed
-The dangers of over-formalizing and over-standardizing training
-The role of trust in the Marine Corps and how training increases it in a unit
-The importance of humility for leaders
-The role of the personnel system in a fighting organization
-The role of processes, policies, and people who don’t add value to an organization
-Brendan’s thoughts on General David H. Berger’s force design plans for the Marine Corps
-Brendan’s take on the competency of our elected officials on defense matters and how well the services do on advising those officials
-How well the Marine Corps teaches decision-making
-What techniques Brendan found most effective in teaching decision-making
-Where Brendan found inspiration for his own PME
-The need for consistency in a PME unit program and making PME a norm in a unit
-The genesis of Brendan’s excellent website: http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com
Links
Brendan’s Infantry Skills Training website: http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com
"I Want to be ‘Ender’” by Brendan McBreen: http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/dm/EnderMcBreen1998.pdf
Eratta
Regarding the Charles Whitman decision-forcing case, I misquoted the referenced poll percentage. The poll claims that around 36% of Americans were against the Vietnam War in August 1966, when Whitman went on his rampage.
