From The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army. The book chronicles the careers of four different generals (GEN John Abizaid, GEN George Casey Jr, GEN Peter Chiarelli, and GEN David Petraeus).: A few weeks before he was scheduled to depart, Abizaid was walking on a […]
Tag: Army
A reflection on action research “storytelling”
What follows is a 1st person, stream of consciousness reflection written to my mentor & committee chair. I describe what it was like to record a 10 min video “telling the story” of some preliminary findings emerging from my action research cycles into curriculum and adult learning. The video is hosted at YouTube. It […]
Force Generation curriculum project update
In one of our top level curriculum review meetings yesterday, our Deputy Commandant mentioned in his concluding remarks that there was a real “buzz” in the Army among the senior leaders concerning “Force Generation”, and he attributed it to the initiative I have been describing here which is holding out a lot of promise for […]
A Reflection on Personal Learning Environments, blogs and wikis
Dr John Persyn from the Dean of Academic Operations started up a study group to look at what InstructorNet could/should/might/ought be. He made the mistake of asking me to think out loud. If you don’t disagree with anything that follows, or at least wonder what I am smoking, then I have failed I take the InstructorNet working group […]
Reflecting on education and promotions within the military
A fellow student was researching the relationship between education and promotion within the Army, so I wrote him this quick reflection: its very true that military promotions are multi-variable; explicitly we consider the whole person concept. Education IS a factor, but only up to a point Examples: 1. enlisted soldiers get promoted based on […]
The face of future warfare or a phenomenon emerging from complexity without attribution?
Here is some underreported insight that supports the theme of “Money as a Weapon System” which should give you a moment of pause. LiveLeak reports this interview of Rep. Paul Kanjorski. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds in the video below, Kanjorski explains how the Federal Reserve told Congress members about a “tremendous draw-down […]
Boomers meet Dr Strangelove: a friendly exchange of ideas
I respect Jim Quinn’s mind and writing. Always thoughtful and provoking, often persuasive, never dull. He issues an interesting challenge to Boomers everywhere in this essay on the arrival of their defining moment. It’s a good read, as always, but I took some exception to the part where he said: “…The Military Industrial Complex will […]
Cultural context in qualitative research: can it even be done?
A “critical friend” in the action research process is a trusted agent who gives deep insights from the outside into the nature, quality, and path of your introspection. They help keep you grounded, and offer triangulation points in the sense-making process as you grapple with your own questions and insights. They act as sounding […]
Blogs and democratization within hierarchical organizations
an update on “giving voice to important matters” after we briefed him on the power of blogging, our commandant, the senior military officer in charge of the college has embraced the idea and has started asking provocative questions about the future of the college’s curriculum and modes of instruction. Students and faculty are starting to […]
PAR Journal entry: initiating the “Force generation” project
this is the text of an info paper I wrote for our Deputy Commandant to send to the 3 and 4 star generals in charge of Army leader education and training. It describes the motivation for and purpose of our inquiry into “the education gap of force generation”, and lays out a methodology and strategy […]