Boundary Condition #3 (1)

Christmas night 1776: As General Washington kneels to pray, the candle of life for an emerging ideal flickers, a river, a bitter cold march, a battle and the fate of a nation await.  Even in victory, much defeat is still to  come with yet another horrible winter at Valley Forge to be survived.  He is no great battle captain, yet he holds the Continental Army together until victory in 1783.  Abigail Adams: "I am apt to think that our later misfortunes have called out the hidden excellencies of our commander-in-chief. Affliction is the good man's shinning time."  General Nathanael  Greene: "He will be the deliverer of his own country."

Early on the morning of December 26th, 1776, Washington's force surprised and defeated the Hessian garrison at Trenton losing only two men, and they froze to death on the march not in the battle. Contrary to popular belief, the Hessians were not a sluggish hungover group from Christmas partying. They had earlier responded to a small incursion by another unit of the Continental Army without Washington's knowledge.  Washington was furious when he learned that his surprise was compromised, but fate was with him. The Hessian commander having ordered a search of the surounding area and finding no other troops, in deference to the worsening  weather brought in his pickets.

We celebrate our country's birthday in the warmth of summer recalling the day we declared our right as free and independent states, the day the signers pledged their lives, fortune and sacred honor, but we would do well to also  recall a bitter cold Christmas night, a general and an army that made it so.

The American Revolutionary War might well be considered a "hybrid" in that much of the war was fought as European armies of the day fought, but in the South, the actions of notable leaders such as Francis Marrion were pure hit and run guerrilla warfare tactics.  And Washington's army went from defeat to defeat, yet survived, maneuvering so as to fight another day.  He was no great battle captain – he lost more than he won – but through will and leadership, held the Continental Army together long enough to receive training at Valley Forge, to "dodge and weave" until he received assistance from France … long enough to win the day. 

It would seem worth study and reflection given a focus on decision making in worst cases and unconventional crisis. And so this becomes the third boundary condition in a search for intersections for Project White Horse 084640 in the coming year.

References:

Washington by Ron Chernow

Washington's Crossing byDavid Hackett Fischer

Almost a Miracle by John Ferling

1776 by David McCulloughg

To Try Men's Souls by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forsthen

one requires little imagination to guess Washington's mind.  How heavy was the burden of the multiple  defeats, knowing there might not even be an army come the spring, knowing that defeat here most certainly would be the end to the revolution, and indeed, how heavy on his mind was the responsibility created by the words of the July 4th Declaration?

Boundary Condition #1 (1)

This was the year the Earth struck back.

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

How deadly? Through Nov. 30, nearly 260,000 people died in natural disasters in 2010, compared to 15,000 in 2009

How extreme? After strong early year blizzards — nicknamed Snowmageddon — paralyzed the U.S. mid-Atlantic and record snowfalls hit Russia and China, the temperature turned to broil – the year may go down as the hottest on record worldwide or at the very least in the top three

How costly? Disasters caused $222 billion in economic losses in 2010 — more than Hong Kong's economy

How weird? A volcano in Iceland paralyzed air traffic for days in Europe, disrupting travel for more than 7 million people. In a 24-hour period in October, Indonesia got the trifecta of a deadly magnitude 7.7 earthquake, a tsunami that killed more than 500 people and a volcano that caused more than 390,000 people to flee. That's after flooding, landslides and more quakes killed hundreds earlier in the year. And in the United States, FEMA declared a record number of major disasters, 79 as of Dec. 14. The average year has 34. A list of day-by-day disasters in 2010 compiled by the AP runs 64 printed pages long

And put man in the equation, what then? It was also a year of man-made technological catastrophes. BP's busted oil well caused 172 million gallons to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Mining disasters — men trapped deep in the Earth — caused dozens of deaths in tragic collapses in West Virginia, China and New Zealand. The fortunate miners in Chile who survived 69 days underground provided the feel good story of the year.

2010's world gone wild: Quakes, floods, blizzards

By SETH BORENSTEIN and JULIE REED BELL, Associated Press Seth Borenstein And Julie Reed Bell, Associated Press Sun Dec 19, 5:31 pm ET

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.

"The term `100-year event' really lost its meaning this year."

And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.

Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.

Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.

Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes "are pretty much constant," said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. "All the change that's made is man-made."

The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people — many of them living in poverty — and more poorly built shanties than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.

In February, an earthquake that was more than 500 times stronger than the one that struck Haiti hit an area of Chile that was less populated, better constructed, and not as poor. Chile's bigger quake caused fewer than 1,000 deaths.

Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.

In the summer, one weather system caused oppressive heat in Russia, while farther south it caused flooding in Pakistan that inundated 62,000 square miles, about the size of Wisconsin. That single heat-and-storm system killed almost 17,000 people, more people than all the worldwide airplane crashes in the past 15 years combined.

"It's a form of suicide, isn't it? We build houses that kill ourselves (in earthquakes). We build houses in flood zones that drown ourselves," said Roger Bilham, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado. "It's our fault for not anticipating these things. You know, this is the Earth doing its thing."

No one had to tell a mask-wearing Vera Savinova how bad it could get. She is a 52-year-old administrator in a dental clinic who in August took refuge from Moscow's record heat, smog and wildfires.

"I think it is the end of the world," she said. "Our planet warns us against what would happen if we don't care about nature."

The excessive amount of extreme weather that dominated 2010 is a classic sign of man-made global warming that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave — setting a national record of 111 degrees — would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.

Preliminary data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever.

"These (weather) events would not have happened without global warming," said Kevin Trenberth, chief of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.

That's why the people who study disasters for a living say it would be wrong to chalk 2010 up to just another bad year.

"The Earth strikes back in cahoots with bad human decision-making," said a weary Debarati Guha Sapir, director for the World Health Organization's Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. "It's almost as if the policies, the government policies and development policies, are helping the Earth strike back instead of protecting from it. We've created conditions where the slightest thing the Earth does is really going to have a disproportionate impact."

Here's a quick tour of an anything but normal 2010:

HOW DEADLY:

While the Haitian earthquake, Russian heat wave, and Pakistani flooding were the biggest killers, deadly quakes also struck Chile, Turkey, China and Indonesia in one of the most active seismic years in decades. Through mid-December there have been 20 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher, compared to the normal 16. This year is tied for the most big quakes since 1970, but it is not a record. Nor is it a significantly above average year for the number of strong earthquakes, U.S. earthquake officials say.

Flooding alone this year killed more than 6,300 people in 59 nations through September, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, 30 people died in the Nashville, Tenn., region in flooding. Inundated countries include China, Italy, India, Colombia and Chad. Super Typhoon Megi with winds of more than 200 mph devastated the Philippines and parts of China.

Through Nov. 30, nearly 260,000 people died in natural disasters in 2010, compared to 15,000 in 2009, according to Swiss Re. The World Health Organization, which hasn't updated its figures past Sept. 30, is just shy of 250,000. By comparison, deaths from terrorism from 1968 to 2009 were less than 115,000, according to reports by the U.S. State Department and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The last year in which natural disasters were this deadly was 1983 because of an Ethiopian drought and famine, according to WHO. Swiss Re calls it the deadliest since 1976.

The charity Oxfam says 21,000 of this year's disaster deaths are weather related.

HOW EXTREME:

After strong early year blizzards — nicknamed Snowmageddon — paralyzed the U.S. mid-Atlantic and record snowfalls hit Russia and China, the temperature turned to broil.

The year may go down as the hottest on record worldwide or at the very least in the top three, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The average global temperature through the end of October was 58.53 degrees, a shade over the previous record of 2005, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

Los Angeles had its hottest day in recorded history on Sept. 27: 113 degrees. In May, 129 set a record for Pakistan and may have been the hottest temperature recorded in an inhabited location.

In the U.S. Southeast, the year began with freezes in Florida that had cold-blooded iguanas becoming comatose and falling off trees. Then it became the hottest summer on record for the region. As the year ended, unusually cold weather was back in force.

Northern Australia had the wettest May-October on record, while the southwestern part of that country had its driest spell on record. And parts of the Amazon River basin struck by drought hit their lowest water levels in recorded history.

HOW COSTLY:

Disasters caused $222 billion in economic losses in 2010 — more than Hong Kong's economy — according to Swiss Re. That's more than usual, but not a record, Schraft said. That's because this year's disasters often struck poor areas without heavy insurance, such as Haiti.

Ghulam Ali's three-bedroom, one-story house in northwestern Pakistan collapsed during the floods. To rebuild, he had to borrow 50,000 rupees ($583) from friends and family. It's what many Pakistanis earn in half a year.

HOW WEIRD:

A volcano in Iceland paralyzed air traffic for days in Europe, disrupting travel for more than 7 million people. Other volcanoes in the Congo, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Philippines and Indonesia sent people scurrying for safety. New York City had a rare tornado.

A nearly 2-pound hailstone that was 8 inches in diameter fell in South Dakota in July to set a U.S. record. The storm that produced it was one of seven declared disasters for that state this year.

There was not much snow to start the Winter Olympics in a relatively balmy Vancouver, British Columbia, while the U.S. East Coast was snowbound.

In a 24-hour period in October, Indonesia got the trifecta of terra terror: a deadly magnitude 7.7 earthquake, a tsunami that killed more than 500 people and a volcano that caused more than 390,000 people to flee. That's after flooding, landslides and more quakes killed hundreds earlier in the year.

Even the extremes were extreme. This year started with a good sized El Nino weather oscillation that causes all sorts of extremes worldwide. Then later in the year, the world got the mirror image weather system with a strong La Nina, which causes a different set of extremes. Having a year with both a strong El Nino and La Nina is unusual.

And in the United States, FEMA declared a record number of major disasters, 79 as of Dec. 14. The average year has 34.

Through September, the 2010 disaster death toll had already surpassed such notable years as 2004, when the South Asia tsunami struck, and 2008, when Myanmar was hit by a massive cyclone and China suffered a devastating earthquake.

A list of day-by-day disasters in 2010 compiled by the AP runs 64 printed pages long.

"The extremes are changed in an extreme fashion," said Greg Holland, director of the earth system laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

For example, even though it sounds counterintuitive, global warming likely played a bit of a role in "Snowmageddon" earlier this year, Holland said. That's because with a warmer climate, there's more moisture in the air, which makes storms including blizzards, more intense, he said.

White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warming: "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society's emissions of heat-trapping gases and particles are sharply reduced."

And that's just the "natural disasters." It was also a year of man-made technological catastrophes. BP's busted oil well caused 172 million gallons to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Mining disasters — men trapped deep in the Earth — caused dozens of deaths in tragic collapses in West Virginia, China and New Zealand. The fortunate miners in Chile who survived 69 days underground provided the feel good story of the year.

In both technological and natural disasters, there's a common theme of "pushing the envelope," Olson said.

Colorado's Bilham said the world's population is moving into riskier megacities on fault zones and flood-prone areas. He figures that 400 million to 500 million people in the world live in large cities prone to major earthquakes.

A Haitian disaster will happen again, Bilham said: "It could be Algiers. it could be Tehran. It could be any one of a dozen cities."

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: 

Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, on October 25, 2007….

While it is far beyond me to provide the correct distinction, I believe doing so to be important and that in this controversy lies an opportunity for all of us to reflect and learn. I have found no better discussion than the following  few words from "On Heroes and Heroism," the January 30, 1991 Forestal Lecture at the United States Naval Academy by James Bond Stockdale, Vice Admiral, United States Navy, Retired, recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions as senior officer while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam:

To the Midshipmen:

By way of your professional education I'll throw in the fact that the phrase "above and beyond the call of duty," which must be included in the citation, must be literally true, not just as we hear it in a manner of speaking.  Literally, the phrase means that the act for which the medal is awarded must be beyond the concept of "duty," an act the recipient could not be properly ordered to perform.  There are some very prestigious medals for heroic performance of duty out there – but this one is reserved only for acts that a person, often without conscious forethought, finds himself doing outside the law (I don't mean illegally, I mean extra legally, beyond the law), outside the rules of procedure, outside what a decent person would ever feel justified in ordering him to do…

In sociological terms, the society (Congressional Medal of Honor Society) is a diverse group… But to categorize them in what I might call "fitness report" language gets you off on a completely wrong track.  These guys all have one big thing in common:  They will not accept the status quo if it does not meet their standards.  They all have short fuses when predicaments, as they see them, are not tolerable.  For an instant or an hour or a month, each of them has stood up and turned the world around.  "It's not right that this ticking hand grenade should kill everybody in this foxhole."  "It's not right that this company of marines surounded on this mountain top by the Chosin Reservoir should wither and freeze and surrender!  We're going to break out of here!" "It's not right that I should bring harm to my fellow prisoners by letting myself be forced to inform on them."

Nobody gets this medal for his words or his attitude or his consistent high-quality judgement or reliability.  He gets it for a specific act. (And it's not something he can try to get.)  It all centers on this one impulse:  "No by God," "Not me," "Over my dead body."

For more on the thinking of James Stockdale see Wapedia, the Academy of Achievement Interview, the official website, and his book containing the Forrestal Lecture to the Naval Academy Midshipmen. 

———————————————————————————-

16 November, 2010: The Congressional Medal of Honor

Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta, United States Army

Veterans Day 2010

In high school, Joleta McNelis was never far away from a man she had never met. She carried Lt. John "Jack" Ensch in her heart — and on her wrist.  Aside from his name, the only thing McNelis knew about Ensch was the date his fighter jet was shot down over North Vietnam: 8-25-72. It was etched under his name on the metal bracelet she bought when she was 14.

When Ensch arrived there (Hanoi Hilton) in August 1972, he brought news that he passed along to his fellow prisoners through tap codes between cells: People across America were wearing bracelets with their names on them. "They were dumbfounded," Ensch said.

 By the time Midway aircrews flew those missions in 1972,  most of us were under no illusions about how the country felt about the war and indeed sometimes about us – the Yankee air pirate "war criminals." The air war, particularly over North Vietnam had long been a pawn in Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara's flawed strategy of war.  The "stick and carrot" ploy having failed, President Nixon pulled off the gloves that Spring and sent Air Force and Navy pilots back "down town" – Route Pack Six, Hanoi, Haiphong, Thud Ridge, the Red River Valley. 

No one has deemed us the "greatest generation," but  we didn't much care then or now.  We were proud to be American fighting men, we loved our country as much as any from any time since the Revolutionary War, we were well trained, really  loved being Naval Aviators and that special aspect flying off of carriers, and despite all too real and rationale fear, relished the challenge – as Right Stuff author Tom Wolfe  described – of "jousting with SAM and Charlie." Most of all, we simply liked being around the kind of people who chose to do that kind of stuff. And truth be known, we knew we were fighting not to win a war but to gain position strong enough for Nixon and Kissinger to negotiate the U.S. out of Vietnam.  That meant bringing home those "kind of people we liked being around" who currently enjoyed the hospitality of North Vietnam residing in the Hanoi Hilton, our POWs.

One of those POWs, Paul Galanti (the Life Magazine "birdman"), shot down in an A-4 Skyhawk on 17 June 1966, was best friend of my squadron commanding officer Lew Chatham. 

In a time honored tradition for fighter aircraft, the Skipper's name was painted on the side of the cockpit of NF 401, as was each pilot's name down the pecking order on squadron aircraft. Chatham had Paul's name painted under his own.  Indeed, a POW name was stenciled on all Champ aircraft under each of our names.  The  picture below is of me manning up in our operations officer's aircraft NF 403 showing Navy POW Capt Mel Moore's name.  Moore was an A-4 pilot and Executive Officer of VA-192, shot down on 11 March 1967 while flying a surface to air missile suppression or Ironhand mission.  As far as I know, the VA-56 Champs were the only Navy or Air Force squadron to place POW names on their aircraft. We knew for what and for whom we were fighting. 

The vietnam War was an extremely devisive period for America. But as Jack Anton wrote in the Los Angeles Times on November 4th, "The plight of the POWs gave people a way to separate their feelings toward policymakers from their feelings toward those who fought in the war — a shift in public attitude still evident today. Whatever people think of U.S. policy on Iraq and Afghanistan, support for the troops remains strong.  So, too, do the connections made by Vietnam-era bracelet wearers. ... More than 5 million POW/MIA bracelets were sold for $2.50 to $3 apiece in the early 1970s. ... Thirty-seven years after the wars end, the Defense Department's Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office receives requests for information on former POWs or relatives of missing servicemen nearly every day."

This post was originally intended to be a short link to Anton's article, which being in the La Times, many of you would not see.  "Vietnam war bracelets come full circle," on the front page of all things, caught me by surprise.  It intertwines the story  of how the bracelets came to be  with stories of POWs like Jack Ensch and the people who wore their bracelets, some as teenagers. Ensch said he is still struck by the outpouring of goodwill. "Even those people who were against the Vietnam War could identify with us being held captive there — the torture and the mistreatment. Nobody could argue that wasn't wrong," he said. "I think it was a collective learning experience for our society." Anton's article is well worth your time to  read and I offer my thanks to him for writing it.

If the Vietnam War had one good aspect, it was that our citizens relearned that what you think of war or a particular war should not reflect on what you think and how you treat the warfighter. No one cheered service men coming through airports in those days – they do now. No one lined the streets for miles for a soldier's funeral, or placed American Flags along the route then – they do now. Something that was not right, now is. Once again we honor our veterans – all of them.

Similar to what I  noted several years ago in the Ghosts of Christmas Past;Memories of Fly Navy, Anton's bracelet story generated one of those flashback/reflection moments and caused me to recall a comment by my golfing partner and retired Navy Phantom puke John "Dancing Bear" Evans. He reflected one day that with no disrespect meant to the "greatest generation,"  the WWII guys went off to war, did their business of warfare and did it exceptionally well, but with a country strongly behind them. The Vietnam warriors were no less brave, also did their country's biding, but did it not only in the hostile combat environment but returned to a hostile environment at home. They indeed deserve recognition as a very great generation.

 As we honor all our veterans, I suggest to you a separate moment of thought for those who indeed stood alone. I for one am proud to have shared the St Crispin's Day Agincourt "band of brothers" moment with you.

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother

In the 234 years of writing and speeches about America -  what it means, what it offers its citizens, what it does,  should do and stand for – by Presidents, Generals, Admirals, poets, the press, observers, citizens, and leaders – none are more compelling and important than the final sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Yet, on the 4th of July, 1776, even as the Declaration was adopted and before the words were delivered to General Washington and the Continental Army, the British Army having retreated from Boston, now landed in force in New York, severely outnumbering Washington's Army.  In retreat the Continental Army barely escaped a flanking entrapment at Long Island, and by late October had suffered two more defeats at Harlem Heights and White Planes.

As winter began and the British settled into winter quarters, with these successive defeats, the dominant positioning held by the British, battle losses by the Continental Army, plus the ending of militia commitments, could it be expected that the necessary thousands of troops would reenlist in the spring of 1777?  As the Continental Army encamped along the Delaware River on December 8th, finishing the long retreat from New York, Washington was now  considered an indecisive commander by many, some signers of the Declaration had gone over to the British, the Continental Congress had abandoned Philadelphia;  the General could see the army evaporating before his eyes.  The promise of the victory at Boston and the words of July were within a breath of being but  a small footnote in history.

Washington sent his most trusted agents into Philadelphia and New Jersey to enjoin the leaders to raise troops. In mid-December he wrote to Lund Washington, "Our only dependence now is upon the speedy enlistment of a new army.  If this fails , I think the game is pretty near up." Few new recruits were found.

But Washington was not beaten, knowing fully the consequences, along with General Nathanael Greene,  he makes the plans to cross the Delaware in the middle of the night and attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton.  He writes "... but necessity, dire necessity, will, nay must, justify an attempt." General Washington  has made the decision- for the army and a nation.

Americans all, know the story of the incredible game changing December 26th victory against the Hessians at Trenton, but the more telling story is not that of the battle, but rather it is of the "march."  Planned with three attacking elements, two are unaccomplished because of ice in the Delaware River.  Breaking camp at two in the afternoon, the conditions of the river and the winter storm cost three hours in the Delaware crossing. Given the need for surprise and a dawn attack, it would have not been considered cowardly to abandon the attack.  Washington never hesitated, explaining later to John Hancock, " I well knew we could not reach Trenton before day was fairly broke, but … I was determined to push on at all events."

In victory there were only two American casualties – both men freezing to death during the march.

The most well known painting of the Christmas night movement to Trenton depicts General Washington as bold leader standing at his boat's bow as the army crosses the Delaware.  The cover of 1776by David McCullough is adorned with a representation of Washington accepting the surrender of the Hessian commander.  But in viewing  the above little known painting of General Washington observing the beleaguered, ill outfitted Continental Army as it staggers through the cold, sleet and snow taking the whole of the night before reaching Trenton and attacking in a snow storm three hours later than planned, one requires little imagination to guess Washington's mind.  How heavy was the burden of the multiple  defeats, knowing there might not even be an army come the spring, knowing that defeat here most certainly would be the end to the revolution, and indeed, how heavy on his mind was the responsibility created by the words of the July 4th Declaration?

The audacious decision to attack across an icy river in the worst of winter weather resulted in a victory that made a piece of paper - expressing with some most excellent words  an incredible concept –  a living thing, an ideal we celebrate for the 234th time.  For me, the essence of decision making  and leadership is not to be seen  in the depiction of victory, but rather here  in perspective of General George Washington in the snow as his rag-tag Continental Army moves to battle, his decision completely in the balance.  Over time, the painting presented above has grown to be my favorite representation of American History, compelling as possibly representing the singularly most significant event in our history to this day. Without Trenton there would have been no "Spirit of 76" out of the 4th of July.

We celebrate our country's birthday in the warmth of summer recalling the day we declared our right as free and independent states, the day the signers pledged their lives, fortune and sacred honor, but we would do well to also  recall a bitter cold Christmas night, a general and an army that made it so.

Happy Birthday America

Note: Sources for this article are 1776 by David McCullough and 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present – The World's Major Battles and How They Shaped History by Paul K. Davis

The story of interest over the past days in regard to Rolling Stone's "The Runaway General –  Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House" does not go down easily, for more than just the obvious reasons.  I am reminded of General Rupert Smith's comment used in the completing post for the core What Kind of War series:

... we are living in a world of confrontations and conflicts rather than one of war and peace; one in which the clear categories of security and defence – the basic purposes for which force is used – have merged… This is no longer industrial war… absolute and clear threats in recognizable groupings, and… stable political contexts for operations… The threats ... are of and amongst the people – in the flesh and in the media – and it is there that the fight takes place. (My emphasis added)

1. War, warfare, violence, and conflict in this century


2. How we view, categorize, and respond to crisis


3. Control and impact of the narrative


4. Impact of the information sphere on organizational response, the media, rumor, how we think, how we decide


5. System perturbation, purposeful or unintended, in a system-of-system world existing in a state of unstable equilibrium


6. Leadership in complex environments

Over the jump, 10 articles from CNN, Foreign Policy, World Politics Review, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, World Policy Institute, and Military.Com

1) Islamist websites: McChrystal fired because war is lost (CNN)

The recent change in commanders in Afghanistan is proof the U.S and its allies have lost the war, statements posted on two Islamist websites said Thursday… The Taliban spokesman said the change in command is useless because Petraeus, the new Afghan commander, is weak.  "Indeed, he has got no (more) special qualities than General McChrystal had," Ahmadi said in his statement…. In another statement, a group calling itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said Petraeus is mentally worn out because of the lengthy war, which began in October 2001. ..."Nine years of military actions, different strategies and back-breaking monetary and life damages at the hands of mujahideen have left the crusaders totally in distress," the statement said.

Hastings clearly demonstrates a keen eye for off-color detail, but fails to weave the threads into something more coherent or meaningful. Getting the facts straight and reporting them is one thing; knowing your subject and making sense of it is quite another.

When you form a team, why do you try to form a team? Because teamwork builds trust and trust builds speed. There's always the undercurrent of a little friction in that team, but if that's made public, then it can deteriorate the public trust between people. Whoever hasn't violated that trust should cast the first stone."

If you read the Rolling Stone article carefully, you can see that the reporter, Michael Hastings, has woven three stories together. One story is the story of General McChrystal trying to keep up morale in a tough war with his troops thinking he is too worried about civilian casualties …I bet this is the story Hastings pitched to McChrystal's staff and the story McChrystal thought was being reported. ... The second story is Hastings's rather tendentious reporting on what McChrystal's enemies and critics say against him—their complaints, and their doubts about the war. ... I suspect that this is the story Hastings pitched to his editor. The whole thing has the feel of a hungry guy hoping to hunt a big trophy kill: taking down a four-star hero and showing that his war plan … is fatally flawed and doomed to failure ….The problem for McChrystal is that there is a third story woven through the article. This is the story of McChrystal and his staff on an unexpected layover in Paris when a plane is grounded because of the volcano. This part of the story has a "weekend in Vegas" feel to it. ...This third story was an accident – serendipity for the reporter and a train-wreck for McChrystal.  The underlying facts are not surprising or accidental at all.

 ...after Vietnam, an ethos of exposure swept the culture. The assumption among many journalists was that the establishment may seem upstanding, but there is a secret corruption deep down. It became the task of journalism to expose the underbelly of public life, to hunt for impurity, assuming that the dark hidden lives of public officials were more important than the official performances. Then came cable, the Internet, and the profusion of media sources. Now you have outlets, shows and Web sites whose only real interest is the kvetching and inside baseball.  In other words, over the course of 50 years, what had once been considered the least important part of government became the most important. These days, the inner soap opera is the most discussed and the most fraught arena of political life.

And into this world walks Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

... those who focus on McChrystal's impolitic commentsas justification for his departure risk missing the larger point—namely, the contradictions and fecklessness of a policy that created the frustration on the ground to begin with, and which led some members of McChrystal's staff to vent their feelings to a Rolling Stone reporter. 
... the comments seem to reflect frustration with the administration's tolerance of political maneuvering, both in Washington and Kabul, that runs counter to that strategy's effective implementation.

First, the president himself announced plans to begin withdrawing forces from Afghanistan in July 2011, sending the signal to a range of factions in Afghanistan and Pakistan that they should begin maneuvering for position after the U.S. withdrawal. ...
Second, the U.S. civil-military team in Afghanistan is clearly dysfunctional. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, an accomplished former general who commanded in Afghanistan, notoriously sent two cables to Washington second-guessing McChrystal's operational plans and trashing Afghan President Hamid Karzai as an unreliable partner. ...
Third, the Rolling Stone article raises the question of the role played by Richard Holbrooke, an accomplished and distinguished, if somewhat temperamental, diplomat and the president's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is such a role even necessary? The president already has a secretary of state, a secretary of defense, an ambassador (normally the president's representative in the country to which he or she is posted), a national security adviser, a regional combatant commander (at CENTCOM), and a commanding general in the field. With that many cooks in the kitchen, no wonder they cannot all get along

Civilian control of the military is as essential to our Republic as is a free press.  But does anyone believe that the dynamic between office dwellers from Foggy Bottom and academia and political cronies with authority over snake eaters, captured through the prism of the media (more office dwellers), will result in something productive?

The general and his aides had faced down terrorists and the enemies of America. They had welcomed into their midst journalists from top news outlets. The result had been stories that mostly made the men running the war in Afghanistan look like a bunch of can-do warriors…. But Team McChrystal and its leader met their downfall this week because they failed to recognize, as soldiers like to say, that the opponent, and the situation on the ground, had changed. ... It appears now that the hardheaded, make-my-own-rules military man didn't recognize that the latest in a series of interlocutors was not like the others. Michael Hastings was the most dangerous kind of adversary — a kindred spirit.

It was not in fact a term born in Iraq — the practice of chroniclers traveling with soldiers is as old as war, and even the word "embedding" itself was in use in the 1990s. But Iraq was certainly where it crossed over into the wider lexicon. Within the military there may now be some debate about whether embedding survives in its current form, after a journalist granted close access helped bring about the downfall of a four-star general within the very military system which spawned it.

According to McChrystal, the "Afghan people are at the center of our mission…in reality they are the mission." These sentiments are reflective of what has become the new way of American war—population centric counter-insurgency (COIN). The focus on COIN doctrine was enshrined by Gen. David Petraeus and the 2006 publication of the Army and Marine counter-insurgency manual, FM 3-24, which calls for a military approach that seeks to convince the population that counter-insurgents, acting on behalf of a sovereign government, can be trusted and are worthy of popular support.
            With its seemingly progressive and humanistic approach, FM 3-24, and counterinsurgency in general, offer a seductive ideal for the future of American war-fighting. But the veneration of COIN conceals a brutal reality. The history of counter-insurgency in the twentieth century is not a story of warm and fuzzy war, of benevolent soldiers providing essential government services to grateful natives, of armed social work, or of the gentleman soldier's antidote to the Shermanesque notion of Total War. Instead, counter-insurgency is a repeated tale of coercion and violence directed largely against unarmed civilians. And this defines both those COIN efforts that have been successful—and those that have failed.

A general is gone, another arrives, 70 plus days into Deepwater Horizon – What do we learn?

At Sea June 8, 1942
From: The Commanding Officer.
To: The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet
Via: Commander Task Force Sixteen.
(Rear Admiral R.A. Spruance, U.S. Navy).
Subject: Battle of Midway Island, June 4 – 6, 1942—Report of.
1.) The attack delivered upon enemy carriers by the torpedo squadrons of our forces is believed to be without parallel for determined and courageous action in the face of overwhelming odds. These crews were observed to commence their attack against heavy anti-aircraft fire from the enemy carriers and supporting vessels while opposed by enemy Zero fighters in large numbers. The enemy fighter opposition was so strong and effective that ten torpedo planes out of fourteen of Torpedo Squadron SIX did not return. It is recommended that the Navy Cross be awarded to each pilot and gunner of Torpedo Squadron SIX who participated in this bold and heroic attack. A separate letter containing details of all aircraft attacks and specific recommendations for awards will be submitted. ...

7.) It is extremely difficult to determine the extent of the damage inflicted upon the enemy by Enterprise, as the air groups of all carriers, as well as land based aircraft at Midway, participated in continuous attacks on enemy units throughout the three days action. Based upon reports available to Enterprise, it is estimated the following damage was inflicted upon the enemy:
3 CV's sunk.
1 CV on fire and badly damaged (probably sank night of June 5).
1 CA wrecked and abandoned.
3 CA heavily bombed.
3 DD sunk.

As a very young Lieutenant Junior Grade, I often kidded LCDR Pat Patterson  that I didn't know anyone so old they'd been in the Battle of Midway, so could he tell me what it was like. His reply – "What do I know, I was 19 years old and saw the whole thing backwards?"  When he retired, I was the good humor man for his dinner.  I got a copy of the Victory at Sea episode (3 parts) on Midway and ran it backwards.

In the Battle of Midway, Pat was a Petty Officer Third Class SBD gunner flying from the carrier Enterprise.  (From Enterprise message: Aircraft 6B15, Ens. G.H. Goldsmith, A-V(N), USNR. PATTERSON, J.W., 387 23 15, ARM3c, USN) He said his pilot was a terrible dive bomber, but on that day as they pulled off the run, he saw their bomb hit dead center on the Japanese carrier flight deck.  As fate would have it, they wound up landing on Yorktown rather than Enterprise just prior to the attack on Yorktown.  As he unsaddled from the SBD Dauntless,  a CDR ran out of the island, grabbed him and started accusing him of leading the Japanese strike force back to them.  It took a bit but Pat finally got the CDR to recognize that he didn't control much as the gunner in the back seat.  Shortly thereafter he went over the side as Yorktown was ordered abandoned.  No more had he hit the water, than a sailor landed right on top of him who couldn't swim and almost drowned them both.  Pat gave a quick dog paddling lesson and the rest is history.

Pat went on to getting into the enlisted aviator program.  On the night WWII ended, Pat was taxing out for a night  training mission in a Hellcat.  Mission complete, the "boys" taxied in for some cold ones.

Pat's Silver Star during the Korean War was combat efficiency par none. As a former enlisted aviator he was in a VC squadron doing air-borne target operations state-side when the war began. Similar to "Bridges at Toko Ri," the Navy was losing aircraft going after a heavily defended bridge in North Korea. Pat got ordered to get CQ'd -carrier qualified – and was flown to Korea.  He wound up running a special operation – one droned (radio controlled pilotless aircraft)Bearcat full of TNT, one control plane, Hellcat, and pilot (himself), carrier launched to dive bomb the "Cat" into the heavily defended bridge. Pretty effective – one launch, some flak, one bridge, one trap, come on home, one Silver Star.

Victor Davis Hansen has a fascinating book, Ripples of Battle, discussing the unintended consequences of battle- from ancient Greece to Okinawa.  I inherited the unintended consequences  (as  a "stash" at the old Naval Missile Center Targets Department) of the Tet Offensive and the resulting "bombing halt" on targets in North Vietnam with resultant over pumping of new "wings" into the pipeline.

For me, as a newly gold winged Naval Aviator, that resulted in 600 hours in the F-8, F-9 and T-33 in 18 months before going A-7s in Lemoore.  LCDR Patterson was Ops Officer for those flight test target missions at Point Mugu.  His "air force" included QF-9, TF-9, QT-33, T33, T-28, P-2, and F-8 aircraft.  I owe him much, as he understood well the issue of not going directly to a squadron and set up an excellent "training" program for his two stashed "nuggets."  I'm pretty sure that in that year and a half two of us sidelined "JGs" had more dissimilar ACM (air combat maneuvering – dogfighting), with more different types of performance qualities, facilitated by some of the highest quality "instructors" (NMC flight test and VX-4 including several MIG killers) than anyone anywhere. What a learning experience and what a hoot.  I'm convinced it saved my ass a little later down stream, so am rightly thankful.

Pat finished his career, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander supporting flight test operations at Point Mugu, California in the targets department.  Like the Marine Corps, each service has its "old breed," and those "old WWII prop dudes" could really fly; I once watched in awe as Pat flew down the runway at China Lake full throttle in a T-28, the propeller couldn't have been more than a couple of feet off the runway.

For sometime now, 4 June has been cause to lift a young Scotch in remembrance of one really great Naval Aviator, boss and great friend: LCDR Pat Patterson – USS Enterprise SBD gunner at Midway, former enlisted aviator, Silver Star recipient, and my first boss after being designated a Naval Aviator. 

In early June 1942, a battle was fought that turned the tide for the war in the  Pacific in WW II, and forever established the "bonafides" of naval carrier based air – Midway.

Fought 68 years ago, here's to LCDR Pat Patterson and to all who led the way. 

Fly Navy the VERY BEST Always Have

For Marie Rossi,  Pat Patterson, Sam Dorn, Gary Shank, Smokey Tolbert, John Lindahl, Gene Goodrow, Mike Bixel, Mike McCormick,  Ray Donnelly, Arlo Clark, Harry Hicks, Chuck Andres, and Randy Anderson. 

You are remembered – You live on -  Great Santini's all.

This year, something a little different – a carve out from the short story Testimony of Pilot by  just recently deceased Southern writer Barry Hannah.  The central character, Ard Quadberry, is Hannah taking literary liscense with his long time friend John Quisenberry, who is a USNA grad and Vietnam time frame fighter pilot in F-8 Crusaders.  'Quiz' schooled me in the F-8,  is a long time friend, and gave me an early copy of Hannah's Airships in 1971.

While the scene involves a Navy fighter pilot, for me, it represents the process of going to war.  The fighter, the helmet only story telling vehicles. Ard Quadberry is airman, sailor, soldier, marine.   In a few words this excerpt captures the sense of what young men and women feel and must do as they steel themselves for war.  Further, Liliian's words reflect the confusion, the sense of helplessness and loss and sorrow of young wives and girl friends as they observe those they love make that transition, moving away- physically, mentally, emotionally – compartmentalization being necessary for survival.  And all the while, underneath it all is the heightened recognition of love of country and insight about America and being an American in service of country that comes with offering all in war. These few words are the essence of Memorial Day for me. 

 From Airships by Barry Hannah

A-7 from VA-56, USS Midway over North Vietnam, 1972

 Through Lilian I got the word that Quadberry was out of Annapolis and now flying jets off the Bonhomme Richard, an aircraft carrier headed for Vietnam. He telegrammed her that he would set down at the Jackson airport at ten o'clock one night. So Lilian and I were out there waiting. It was a familiar place to her. She was a stewardess and her loops were mainly in the South. She wore a beige raincoat, had red sandals on her feet; I was in a black turtleneck and corduroy jacket, feeling significant, so significant I could barely stand it. I'd already made myself the lead writer at Gordon-Marx Advertising in Jackson. I hadn't seen Lilian in a year. Her eyes were strained, no longer the bright blue things they were when she was a pious beauty. We drank coffee together. I loved her. As far as I knew, she'd been faithful to Quadberry.

He came down in an F-something Navy jet right on the dot of ten. She ran out on the airport pavement to meet him. I saw her crawl up the ladder. Quadberry never got out of the plane. I could see him in his blue helmet. Lilian backed down the ladder. Then Quadberry had the cockpit cover him again. He turned the plane around so its flaming red end was at us. He took it down the runway. We saw him leap out into the night at the middle of the runway going west, toward San Diego and the Bonhomme Richard. Lilian was crying.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said, 'I am a dragon. America the beautiful, like you will never know.' He wanted to give you a message. He was glad you were here."

"What was the message?"

"The same thing. 'I am a dragon. America the beautiful, like you will never know.'"

"Did he say anything else?"

"Not a thing."

"Did he express any love toward you?"

"He wasn't Ard. He was somebody with a sneer in a helmet."

"He's going to war, Lilian."

"I asked him to kiss me and he told me to get off the plane, he was firing up and it was dangerous."

"Arden is going to war. He's just on his way to Vietnam and he wanted us to know that. It wasn't just him he wanted us to see. It was him in the jet he wanted us to see. He is that black jet. You can't kiss an airplane"

"And what are we supposed to do?" cried sweet Lilian.

"We've just got to hang around. He didn't have to lift off and disappear straight up like that. That was to tell us how he isn't with us anymore.''