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Marcus Aurelius: Pentagon Fiscal Chief “Nervous” + DoD Transformation RECAP

Pentagon fiscal chief Robert Hale: ‘I am nervous’ “Frankly, I am nervous,” says Robert Hale, the Pentagon’s comptroller. And with reason. A month and half into the new fiscal year, Congress can’t seem to decide between what are three, wildly different scenarios for Hale’s world in 2014. The House endorsed most of President Barack Obama’s …

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Marcus Aurelius: SecDef Puts Humans on the Block

SECDEF speaks; see article below.  Key points: First SOF Truth, equally applicable to every single element of the Joint Force, has been forgotten:  HUMANS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HARDWARE.  First SOF Truth, repeat after me, Mr. Secretary:  HUMANS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HARDWARE. Troops and families — carriers of the rifles and the rucksacks and …

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Marcus Aurelius: WaPo (Carter/Barno) on Military Isolation

Invite your attention to following generally overstated (IMHO) article and my accompanying comments in yellow-highlighted red.  Happy Veterans’ Day How the military isolates itself — and hurts veterans By Phillip Carter and David Barno, Published: November 8 Phillip Carter and retired Lt. Gen. David Barno are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively, and senior fellows at …

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Marcus Aurelius: Five Takeaways from a Decade of War [Defense One] Plus Blistering Alternative View from Phi Beta Iota Editors

Five Takeaways from a Decade of War Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in a keynote address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this week, signaled to military commanders that they should assume the across-the-board, automatic spending cuts imposed by sequester over the next decade will remain in place indefinitely. “We do not have …

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Marcus Aurelius: SecDef – Six Points, No Bench, No Plan, No Joy — Can CSA Mobilize Carlisle and Re-Invent the US Army in 6 Months?

Attached is a SECDEF speech from two days ago — six main points and the major thrust is things are not going to get better any time soon. PDF (10 Pages): (U) SecDef Six Points 5 NOV 13 Six priorities: First, we will continue to focus on institutional reform. Second, we will re-evaluate our military’s …

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Marcus Aurelius: Divine Secrets of the RYBAT Sisterhood – Four Senior Women from CIA’s Directorate of Operations Discuss Their Careers

Declassified and approved for public release 20 October 2013 PDF (23 Pages): (U) cia-rybat-sisterhood EXTRACT: Depending on your viewpoint, things have changed a little or a lot. Rather than venture helplessly into.that minefield, I would like to introduce a panel of senior women who rose to the ranks of SIS in the Directorate of Operations. …

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