It's Time for a "What the F$%@!" Moment!

Lance Cpl Matthew Snyder

Before anyone thinks I have thrown decorum away. What was revealed courtesy of Commander Salamander  in a post on the U.S. Naval Institute Blog will have any decent American, regardless of what their position is on the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, uttering the oath "What the F*&@!" outloud or under their breath. I am going to post it in full along with a link to do something about this outragous injustice.

A Nation Shows its Gratitude

There are things that give you pause and make you wonder where our compass went to.

There is one way for a nation to show its gratitude.

The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters’ appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday.

On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder’s funeral in 2006.

And there is another.

Are we a Navy-Marine Corps family? What can we do? Well, there are the simple things – like voicing support for Lance Cpl. Snyder’s family. We can also do what we can to offset the costs – and I will update this post as that information comes forward. The American Legion is filing an Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court on this, and TheBurnPit is tracking as well . For now, these things we can do.

It is OK to feel outrage – but take that ourtage and focus it in a positive manner. Help the family – and do not let this stand in the culture. Support and defend; in a large measure, that is what families do.

Update: Payments via credit cards can be processed at this link

In the words of the immortal Marine Corps Sgt Major Dan Daley. "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" let's all be Marines and pitch in to help this family.

The Return of an Old Friend

The U.S. Army adjusts to the battlespace by reintroducing a weapon that was first introduced over fifty years ago as the standard issue rifle for U.S. Forces. The M-14 Rifle is making a comback due to the extreme ranges that are the norm for many of the engagements in mountainous Afghanistan. I linked a study in a post last week that called for changes in weaponry and increased emphasis on marksmanship.

It seems that someone has been reading MAJ Thomas P. Ehrhart's report and acted to reclaim the title of the Major's report," Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer."

Anyone who served in the military from 1957 to about 1968 knew about the M-14 and for some like the U.S. Marines and the early Army units deployed to Vietnam like the 1st Infantry Division and most of the combat support units, packed the "14" into battle with a basic load that shot for shot was outgunned by the AK-47. In hindsight, after the bad start of the early M-16 "Mattel Models" with their ammo jams caused by using the wrong powder, many dead soldiers would have a better chance armed with the old reliable 14.

When the United States went to Afghanistan it became the first war we had fought for any extended time in areas of wide open spaces and mountainous terrain since fighting in North Africa and Italy during World War II. And then it was total war with little concern for collateral damage. For a similar long term war, one has to look back over a century to the Great Plains and Apache Indian Wars of 19th Century America.

This week Army Times carried an article explaining how the Army was doubling the number of 7.62mm weapons in the infantry squad to now provide for two EBR's for every 9 man squad.

Since the beginning of the war, a typical nine-man infantry squad has included a single squad-designated marksman, armed with a surplus M14 rifle for engaging the enemy beyond the 300-meter range of M4s and M16s.

Today, squads are deploying to Afghanistan with two SDMs, each armed with the M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, a modernized version of the Vietnam War-era weapon that’s accurate out to 800 meters.

To any old soldier, a first look at this new M-14 would not look like the rifle you first learned to field strip in basic training back in the 60's.

The EBR features a standard M14 barrel, plus a receiver and trigger assembly that’s fitted with a Sage International adjustable aluminum stock, a Leopold 3.5x10 power scope and Harris bipod legs.

Read more:
 Marksman Issued Better Rifle

And more:
The Last Surviving M-14 Battle Rifles






.

U. S. MARINES

A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune say, "One Marine is better than ten Taliban."



The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes then silence.



The voice calls out, “One Marine is better than one hundred Taliban Soldiers."


Furious, the Taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After a 10 minutes of battle, again silence.


The Marine voice calls out, “One Marine is better than one thousand Taliban.”


Enraged the Taliban commander musters a thousand fighters and sends them over the dune. Cannon, rocket, and machine gun fire rings out as a huge battle is fought...


Then silence. Finally one wounded Taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander, “Don’t send any more men, it’s a trap. There are two of them.”



Courtesy of Gunfighter Cast on Facebook.

Hark! The Glow on the Near Horizon is The Dawn of A New Blog.

Coming Soon! The Naval History Blog.

First and foemost, this blog is an excursion into the most intriguing questions, theories and musings that continue to facinate naval historians. It is a meeting place where renowned scholars and self-taught history buffs linger and share ideas and prespective on naval events that shape nations.

The Naval History Blog is hosted by two organizations steeped in the traditions of naval history, which see it as a cornerstone of their missions. The U.S. Naval Institute and the Naval History & Heritage Command are working together to bring their considerable intellectual resources and passion for naval history to this destination

The official announcement of this new blog by Tom Wilkerson, Major General, USMC (Ret.), U.S. Naval Institute and Jay A. DeLoach, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) Director of the Naval History & Heritage Command, speaks to the heart of what this new blog is all about.

The blog is still on the stays; has just been christened, and will be commissioned and launched this coming week.

I am honored to have been invited to be a plank owner in this excellent endeavour.

Dispatches for a Wednesday Night

The trio of images that introduce the reads for this week, provide a hint of what is to come; Marines building a nation one family at at time; an empty library; and Queen Elizabeth I, who died four hundred and seven year ago today.

Mid-week brings forth this small but worthwhile selection of posts that deserve a careful read. First off is this from Steve DeAngelis, whose blog should be on everyones daily read list.

Steve's post expands on the message that his collegue and fellow blog friend Thomas Barnett has been evangelical about for a decade.

Because of Enterra Solutions' continuing interest in helping develop economies in emerging market countries, I have written a number of posts that have discussed the System Administrator concept proposed by my colleague Thomas Barnett. Tom has long argued that the U.S. is second-to-none when it comes to winning wars; but it has demonstrated much less acumen when it comes to securing the peace. The SysAdmin force (as Tom likes to call it) is envisioned as an interagency organization that brings to bear all of the nation's toolkit (from force to diplomacy to economics) to either prevent conflicts or secure the peace in the aftermath of conflict. The SysAdmin force would have a security component but it would primarily consist of non-military personnel conducting non-military activities. When Tom first proposed this concept, there were more snickers than cheers. Over time, however, the concept has become increasingly embraced by military, government, non-government, and commercial organizations.

Steve builds on current events and topics that this blog has recently written about, to present a clear proof that someone inside the halls of the Pentagon has taken Tom's message to heart. One of the great things I enjoy about Steve's blog posts is that they build on ideas and use articles to build a concrete argument supporting the topic. Take the time and read about the new version of what could be described as a post "Combat Town" outside of Indianapolis, or what major defense contractor has gone full bore into the "soft power" business.

Read more:
Nation Buiidling Approaches Continue to Evolve

Next Mark at Zenpundit get this nod for this focus on disappearing school libraries.
Education,Books and the Digital Age

Rounding out the night, a little history from the U.S. Naval Institute Blog.

Four-hundred seven years ago on this day, March 24th, 1603, Queen Elizabeth I breathed her last. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and the unfortunate Ann Boleyn, and when Good Queen Bess died, the relatively brief but celebrated Tudor Dynasty died with her. Yet, Elizabeth I’s significance in the shaping of the England, and the Great Britain that followed, is difficult to overstate.

Read more:
Englands First Queen of the Seas

Lost Soldiers or Lost Boys and Girls?

FIRST LT. BRIAN N. BRADSHAW, ARMY Killed June 25, 2009, Kheyl, Afghanistan; roadside bomb. AGE: 24 HOMETOWN: Steilacoom, Wash.

Here is something for reflection on a Sunday evening after the storm caused by the passage of the Health Care Bill in Congress has left by the polling data, most of the country in a state of flux, anger and confusion.


Dexter Filkins wrote this exquisite piece in the New York Times Magazine, accompanied by a photo essay that reminds us of the sacrifice of a few young Americans on our behalf.

Just kids. You step into the barracks thinking big, burly and deep-voiced. And what you get are chubby faces and halfhearted mustaches and voices still cracking, boys hurried into uniforms and handed heavy guns. Sept. 11 was junior high, fifth grade even, a half a lifetime ago. Megan Fox is everywhere, plastered above the bunks, the best that Maxim can offer. Junk food, too, sent A.P.O. (Army Post Office) from home: powdered Gatorade and M&M’s and teriyaki jerky. Underwear and socks. “Love you, bro,” scrawled a sister from California on a care package to Ramadi, Iraq. “Muwah!”

Read the whole post, then pray or pour a couple of fingers and meditate.
Lost Soldiers and War Memorials With Neatly Made Beds.

“Aid-eh Sho-mah Mo-bar-ak!”

Today March 20, 2010 marks the exact moment of the Spring Equinox, when the Sun passes over the Equator and for the Northern Hemisphere, marks the begining of Spring. It also is celebrated in Iran and dozens of other countries as Persian New Year, a tradition that predates the recent Islamic history of the region.


My own ties to Iran come from having Persian Sons whom have brought me a great deal of satisfaction as I watch them grow and prosper and in the case of my youngest, continue his preparation to contribute to a better world.

One blog that always gets top billing for being as I have noted many times, has been Thomas PM Barnett's Blog. This post led me to this article that as Tom writes, shows why Iranians are, "...one skillful and resilient population."
 
The lead off paragraph in the Financial Times article by Najmeh Bozorgmehr, reveals much about the relisence of people who have been resilient in the face of an imploding economy struggling under the weight of growing sanctions.

Ordinary Iranians are expanding an informal network of savings funds because the established banks are struggling under the impact of international sanctions and bad loans totalling $45bn (€33bn, £30bn).

There is no estimate of how many of these funds exist, but the anecdotal evidence suggests their number is growing and middle-class people are becoming involved in this parallel financial system.

Obtaining loans from banks is becoming more difficult, forcing people to make their own arrangements.

About 30 drivers in a taxi agency in Tehran have shares in sandogh , or fund, number three. Each share costs $2 per day; every month four members of the fund receive loans of $600 each. All member are guaranteed one loan per share during the 10 months the fund is supposed to last.

I can attest to be a witness to the same resilience in Iranian-Americans who have demonstrated the same ingenuity in helping each other gain a toe hold to the American Dream and then expand upon that purchase to add much to the fabric of American Culture.

Tactical Tidbits from Afghanistan

U.S. Marines shielding an Afghan father and child

The war in Afghanistan has burned in a sporadic fashion, bursting on the news scene whenever a suicide or car bomb explodes in crowded streets killing dozens. The butcher's bill for soldiers and Marines lost in combat has been at a level that only the loss of several at the same time garners any attention by the MSM. Only the most tuned in to military and strategic affairs are aware of the daily efforts of those we ask to step into harm's way.

A few years ago, General David Petraeus coined the most famous phrase of the Iraq War, "Tell me how this ends." when he made an off hand comment in 2003, to author Rick Atkinson who included it in his book, In The Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat. Those words were partially answered this week by a no less critical forum of the war than Newsweek magazine, when they declared Rebirth of a Nation: Something that looks an awful lot like democracy is beginning to take hold in Iraq. It may not be 'mission accomplished'—but it's a start. What does this then mean for Afghanistan? The war is of a different scale; and tactics that worked in Iraq may not work in what many continue to argue, is a template of tribal culture, unbending to the efforts of conquerors for thousands of years.

U.S. Marines meeting with tribal elders

One recent article posted by the editors of the difinitive go to source for information Small Wars Journal who linked this article by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, of the Washington Post, At Afghan outpost, Marines gone rogue or leading the fight against counterinsurgency?

The Marines are pushing into previously ignored Taliban enclaves. They have set up a first-of-its-kind school to train police officers. They have brought in a Muslim chaplain to pray with local mullahs and deployed teams of female Marines to reach out to Afghan women.

The Marine approach -- creative, aggressive and, at times, unorthodox -- has won many admirers within the military. The Marine emphasis on patrolling by foot and interacting with the population, which has helped to turn former insurgent strongholds along the Helmand River valley into reasonably stable communities with thriving bazaars and functioning schools, is hailed as a model of how U.S. forces should implement counterinsurgency strategy.

The Marines have so upset the Army centric chain of command that some are calling their area of operations, "Marineistan." This has prompted retired U.S. Army General and current Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry to declare that, "The international security force in Afghanistan feels as if it comprises 42 nations instead of 41 because the Marines act so independently from other U.S. forces." It seems from this old ex-soldiers prospective that the old interservice rivalry is alive and kicking in 2010. One only has to possess a smiggen of histoical memory to remember how General William Westmoreland put the U.S. Marines up in I Corps as a static blocking force against the DMZ, instead of down in the Meokong Delta where the Marines amphib experience would have paid major dividends. Istead Westmoreland deployed his beloved 9th Infantry Division to turn itself into a riverine force working alongside the U.S. Navy.

TAO for US Marines in I Corp Vietnam

US Military Rifles 1873-2010

Coupled with this story is another post from SMJ, that raises real concerns that the infantry is having trouble reaching out and touching the enemy. "Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer" by by MAJ Thomas P. Ehrhart.

Operations in Afghanistan frequently require United States ground forces to engage and destroy the enemy at ranges beyond 300 meters. These operations occur in rugged terrain and in situations where traditional supporting fires are limited due to range or risk of collateral damage. With these limitations, the infantry in Afghanistan require a precise, lethal fire capability that exists only in a properly trained and equipped infantryman. While the infantryman is ideally suited for combat in Afghanistan, his current weapons, doctrine, and marksmanship training do not provide a precise, lethal fire capability to 500 meters and are therefore inappropriate.

Comments from returning non-commissioned officers and officers reveal that about fifty percent of engagements occur past 300 meters. The enemy tactics are to engage United States forces from high ground with medium and heavy weapons, often including mortars, knowing that we are restricted by our equipment limitations and the inability of our overburdened soldiers to maneuver at elevations exceeding 6000 feet. Current equipment, training, and doctrine are optimized for engagements under 300 meters and on level terrain

This is an interesting series of recommendations that clearly states that if you are going to fight at long distances, you need to adapt by resurrecting the lost art of "marksmanship" along with weapons that can kill the enemy. Imbedded in this report are references and a hat tip to the Marines for teaching not only distance shooting, but for using the heavier and more accurate M16A2 rifle.

The Marines are the only service that still qualifies to a distance of 500 meters, though not under realistic conditions.91 They also retained the full size M16A2 rifle when others adopted the M4 carbine. Though it is more lethal, its overall length makes it less practical.

 
The article is a good source of historical data recounting the "Capability of the Infantry from 1917 to 2003."
Stepping further back in history one can review the tactics and efforts of General Nelson Miles who led the 5th Infantry armed with the long range Springfield Model 1873 Rifle in the Infantry in the Indian Wars:1876-1891.
 
 

Closing out this foray into tactics and strategies in Afghanistan is this remarkable series of reports coming from author, historian and good blog friend, Steven Pressfield who recently returned from Afghanistan where he accompanied Marine General James Mattis on an inspection tour. Steve's vivid description of his journey places the reader right alongside him and gives a fresh prospective. Downrange: An Informal Report on a trip to Afghanistan with Marine Gen. James N. Mattis. I urge all to read it and follow the rest of the four posts.
Part Two, Part Three.

The Pacific-An Introspection

This weekend the HBO mimi-series The Pacific a ten part 600 minute tribute to those who fought in a series of campaigns that in the words of Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle, is an "Overdue Pacific War Prospective." I would urge everyone to set aside time over the next three months to travel back and join the young men who plunged into a caldron of war, fought on a scale not seen in modern times.

off loading a tank

Landing at Tulagi Island

My family feels a special affinity and pride that HBO, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have produced this long overdue tribute to the men who fought against a determined foe across half the planet's surface, because my father, Jay B. Wade was a young sailor who served aboard the USS Zeilin APA-3 one of the transports that delivered the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion onto Tulagi Island. . The "Mighty Z" as she was known stuck fast to her duty to get her charges ashore and secure, before withdrawing to resupply and return again and again during the course of the campaign; bringing supplies and reinforcements, then evacuating the wounded and survivors of the naval battles in the surrounding waters.

Damaged HMAS Canberra

One thing not really mentioned when discussing Guadacanal, is that the United States Navy lost more sailors in the naval battles in the waters off shore, than the total number of Marines and soldiers lost in six months of land combat. The Navy lost 2 carriers, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 14 destroyers and several transports and support ships in the six month campaign to wrest the Solomon Islands from the Japanese Empire. The men of my fathers ship were present on the first night of the invasion to wittness the Battle of Savo Island, where they watched the worst defeat in US Naval history unfold a few miles across the bay. Then take onboard survivors of the battle before sailing to Noumea, New Calidonia on August 9, 1942.

Landing the Marines

ENEMY AIR ATTACKS ON THE TRANSPORTS forced a delay in unloading operations, but caused only light damage 7 August. This Japanese Mitsubishi "Hap" was flying fighter cover for the aircraft whose bombs are seen exploding off the stern of the transport. White streaks are wakes of landing craft scattering for safety.

I have written some about my father and how I came to learn of his service during World War II on this blog. Thanksgiving Tribute to My Dad, Why I Joined the Navy and Watchtower and Memories of My Father. The service experience of those who carried and cared for those Marines and soldiers has been mostly missing from the narrative, along with the role of those support ships that made each island conquest possible. In my quest to research my fathers legacy, I discovered that the USS Zeilin was the subject of an oral history published by Infinity Publishing as Attack Transport: The USS Zielin in World War II-An Oral Hisory. Learning of about this little piece of my family history prompted me to write about the Zielin and her sister ships in this article for Military History Online.

USS Zeilin

As I close out this post. Think of those men who gave their lives and for most, the chance to pass their physical legacy along to the next generation. We owe it to not only those who survived, but to those lost souls and their parents who mourned their loss, to pause and pay tribute by watching, reading and pondering the sacrifice of generations of Americans.

Wednesday Night Reading List.

Top Billing:

Goes this week to Fabius Maximus for uncovering this little gem of advice about fighting insurgencies from of all people 18th century France.

There have been few victories by foreign troops fighting insurgencies since Mao brought the art of 4th generation war to maturity after WWII. The few grey cases are those conducted with a legitimate local partner (e.g., Malaysia) or those not substantially foreign (e.g., Northern Ireland). To find clear victories we need look further back. Those during the high era of western colonialism resulted from massive technological advantages which we no longer have. We must look further back in time to find victories with useful lessons for us. Such as France’s aid to the British colonists in North America.

France gives us tips for the Afghanistan War, from their successful role in the American Revolution

Next comes this post courtesy of Zenpundit, Cameron on Conflict of Commands - A Guest Post Series

Thomas Barnett always proves offer something insightful as he combines a book review with his astute take on politics. The New Rules: 'Senator's Son' a Good Window into COIN in this week's World Politics Review column.

Historians.org serves up these thoughts on how How Writing Leads to Thinking (and not the other way around)

This next read will cause strong men and women shudder and weep. It comes by way of what Thomas Barnett says is the must read source for global news the The Economist. Mar 4th 2010 print edition.

XINRAN XUE, a Chinese writer, describes visiting a peasant family in the Yimeng area of Shandong province. The wife was giving birth. “We had scarcely sat down in the kitchen”, she writes (see article), “when we heard a moan of pain from the bedroom next door…The cries from the inner room grew louder—and abruptly stopped. There was a low sob, and then a man’s gruff voice said accusingly: ‘Useless thing!’

“Suddenly, I thought I heard a slight movement in the slops pail behind me,” Miss Xinran remembers. “To my absolute horror, I saw a tiny foot poking out of the pail. The midwife must have dropped that tiny baby alive into the slops pail! I nearly threw myself at it, but the two policemen [who had accompanied me] held my shoulders in a firm grip. ‘Don’t move, you can’t save it, it’s too late.’

“‘But that’s...murder...and you’re the police!’ The little foot was still now. The policemen held on to me for a few more minutes. ‘Doing a baby girl is not a big thing around here,’ [an] older woman said comfortingly. ‘That’s a living child,’ I said in a shaking voice, pointing at the slops pail. ‘It’s not a child,’ she corrected me. ‘It’s a girl baby, and we can’t keep it. Around these parts, you can’t get by without a son. Girl babies don’t count.’”

Read more:
The worldwide war on baby girls

After that, I rest my case for the night.

Musings of A Grizzled Veteran

Two weeks ago today,Alexander Haig former Secretary of State, presidential advisor and decorated military officer slipped the bounds of earth, to be mostly remembered for the statement, "I am in control here" after President Reagan was shot in 1981. Haig took an enormous amount of heat for getting the line of presidential succession wrong, and no amount of retraction or correction could erase what many would forever perceived as someone prone to overreaction.  What got me thinking about Haig in a different light was a post I happened upon over at Schmeditations that told the story of General Haig being awarded this nation's second highest award for valor, Distinguished Service Cross during the Battle of Ap Gu on 26 March 1967.

Reading about the battle and Haig's bravery and leadersip took me back over 40 years to my own time in Vietnam. I got to thinking about those who led me and their place in history and the realization that most, like Haig, have gone to Fiddler's Green. It ironic to think back and as a 19 year old realize that several of the NCO's men in their 40's were veterans of World War II like Staff Sargent Pizzaro, a veteran of Patton's Third army whose scarred face cast a shadow over the Bronze Star and Purple Heart ribbons on his chest. Vietnam made no condition that experience in an earlier war ensured you would survive, but Pizzaro came home as did SFC John Stevens who at the age of 46, won the Silver Star when his 1st Cav fire base was overrun. I realize these men like most of their comrades of World War II are rapidly dwindling and within a decade will be only a handful if any at all. For us of the Vietnam War, the youngest veterans from the final days in 1973 are at least 50. For my comrades, we the men of 66, 67 and 68, are all past 60 and closing fast on the far side of that milestone. Since Vietnam, America has gone on to fight small wars in Grenada, Panama, the Balkans, Lebanon and Somalia and the First Gulf War which is approaching its 20th anniversary within a year. And in the years ahead the men and women of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq will join those ranks.

Memories and examples of these and other wars have spawned a million books and articles and made military history a major section in every bookstore. Miltary history classes are among the most popular and the anticipation of HBO's The Pacific at an alltime high for a mini-series.

Which brings me to this post from the archives of Professor Mark Grimsley of The War Historian that answers why military history matters.

These insights lead toward a new answer to why military history matters. It matters because it can point us in the direction of the warrior ethos. In and of itself, to be sure, military history is a very bad way to learn the warrior ethos because those who simply read military history do not enact, and therefore do not internalize, the ethos, any more than reading a book about strength training will improve one’s physical condition. The warrior inside them is asleep, lost in a dream world from which it may never awaken.

For that reason I have begun to reorganize my courses so as to make explicit the connection between military history and the warrior ethos. In my History of War course, students now learn, side by side with classical Greek warfare, the warrior code as depicted in Homer’s Iliad, the code of the Samurai alongside warfare in medieval Japan, and so on. I also emphasize how the way of the warrior translates into everyday life. I learn as much as the student, for this is largely something new to me. I still teach plenty of military history in the “civilian utilitarian” sense: the nature of war; the causes, conduct, and consequences of specific conflicts, how the emergence of new societal forces compels changes in warfare. But I believe I have reached a deeper understanding of why military history matters—and as someone who has made a career of writing and teaching military history, why my own life matters.

Read the whole post.
Why Military History Matters

So as a tribute to those grizzled veterans who led me in my youth, now that I have assumed a similar mantle; I have endeavored to include the history of their valor in my classes and writing, always passing along the lessons of warrior ethos that transcends war to teach lessons of honor and personal responsibility.

A Few Solid Gold Nuggets of Quality Reads

This week saw a few really good reads surface on the blogs. Top billing this week goes to Mark of Zenpundit who has two posts that really got my attention.

First, is about HCT or "High Conceptual Thinkers" that Mark describes as:

“High conceptual thinkers” - those with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, who see meta-level patterns and excel at constructing paradigms, extrapolation, synthesis and consilience are probably not a large percentage of the population and, most likely, they include eccentrics and cranks as well as highly accomplished individuals like E.O. Wilson, Buckminster Fuller, Freeman Dyson, Nikola Tesla, Richard Feynman and probably figures like Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Winston Churchill, Robert Hooke, Da Vinci and numerous others.

Reading this post is fuel to ignite ideas of how we harness these creative thinkers and let them cast their minds in horizontal fashion to keep America on the cutting edge of innovation.

Read more:
Cultivating “High Conceptual Thinkers”

Next is this also from Mark who takes up on a question poised by Steven Pressfield in one of his "Writing Wednesday" posts.

Mark echos Steve's trial balloon on the interest in creating an E-book. I was intrigued with this concept and will be writing a more detailed post on this subject in the coming week.

Read more:
What Would You Want in an E-book?

Next is this trio of posts from Steve DeAngelis of Enterra Solutions that shows innovation at work.

Back to the Future Fuels

turning Trash into Treasure

Innovative Student Designed Medical Devices

Finally in a nod to the world of secruity that provides the safety net to allow innovation to take place.

Thomas Ricks has this nauatical post that echos what naval centric blogs like Galrahn of Information Dissemination and US Naval Institute Blog have been writing about for months. Pay attention to the ship and it's ability to preform multiply missions. HDMS Absalon.
Read the post:
Piracy Watch: Absalon, Absalon!