In this episode, we discuss:
*What the Marine Corps was like when Dathan enlisted in 1998
*Dathan’s journey to decision-making, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence
*A sense of what the Marine Corps infantry experience was like before 9/11
*The focus on uniformity, structure, and discipline that Dathan observed during his early years as a Marine
*The dangers of compartmentalizing training and education
*The experience of serving on MEUs in the late 1990s/early 2000s
*Why the Marine Corps is attempting to “reembrace” maneuver warfare and concepts like commander’s intent
*The confusion among some non-commissioned and staff non-commissioned officers between maneuver warfare and warfighting functions
*How Dathan helps his students understand maneuver warfare as a philosophy of action
*Applying the warfighting philosophy outside of combat
*The general lack of understanding among staff non-commissioned officers about what maneuver warfare is and isn't
*Dathan’s time serving with 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and the revelations he had there about his own competence and abilities
*Dathan’s experiences being involuntarily recalled to duty in February 2005 and being sent to Iraq as a combat replacement with several units, including Third Battalion, Second Marines (3/2); a Marine wing unit, Regimental Combat Team 7; and Regimental Combat Team 2
*The division between the active duty Marines of 3/2 and the combat replacements
*The lifechanging experience that Dathan had in Iraq with a lance corporal, and the role it played in his mission to educate Marines
*Dathan on the topic of race while serving in 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
*Dathan’s observations on race and the Marine Corps in general
*Dathan’s experiences serving at the Advisor Training Branch under the Special Operations Training Group
*Dathan's experience of going through the Marine Corps Security Cooperation Course and working with the Emiratis
*His journey to earning three college degrees (BA, Ed. M., and Ed. D.)
*How writing a dissertation was harder than going to combat
*The need for Marines to be valid and credible
*Dathan’s advice on Marines wanting to go college
*Dathan’s groundbreaking work with wargaming at the College of Enlisted Military Education (CEME)
*Dathan’s use of matrix-style wargames
*His stance on the superiority of wargames over tactical decision games
*The lack of understanding for wargames that Dathan encountered among his colleagues
*Dathan’s thoughts on the state of educational wargaming in the Marine Corps
*How enlisted Marine wargaming efforts lag behind officer wargaming
*How the complexity of some wargames make them less than ideal for use at CEME
*How wargames can help develop intuitive thinking, critical thinking, communication, and an understanding of warfighting
*The need to maintain momentum with wargaming efforts in enlisted education
*The connection between education, validity, credibility, and reliability
Links
Dathan’s “Introduction to a Wargame Seminar (Nov. 2019)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCeGEK2WUs&t=703s
Dathan’s “Wargame Demonstartion (Dec 2019)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge0SU9Cm6GE
Dathan’s dissertion: “Improving the Success of Light Armored Vehicle Drivers: A Qualitative Descriptive Narrative Study”
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED575388
Marine Corps Order 1500.55: MILITARY THINKING AND DECISION MAKING EXERCISES
https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/MCO%201500.55.pdf
