Author: M. L. Cavanaugh

Simplifying Strategic Concepts: Thinking about what landpower, seapower, airpower (and the marines) ought to do

Simplifying Strategic Concepts: Thinking about what landpower, seapower, airpower (and the marines) ought to do

| 02.05.14 | Commentary & Analysis

By Major Matt Cavanaugh

I’ve been thinking a lot about simplification lately. Bruce Lee said once that “the height of cultivation runs to simplicity.”  Of course, there’s a downside to this process – Mencken would retort, “for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”  For the record I think both are right, but that doesn’t negate the advantages of finding clearer ways of thinking.

In this case that topic is “strategic concepts.”  In 1954, Samuel Huntington suggested that each military service is built around such a “strategic concept,” which is “its role or purpose in implementing national policy.”  In short, what is your utility to society such that society ought to continue to support and nurture it going forward?  This is a particularly important topic right now – as military budgets recede.

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Global inequality is getting worse – more Jean Valjean’s will pick up AK47’s

Global inequality is getting worse – more Jean Valjean’s will pick up AK47’s

| 01.31.14 | Commentary & Analysis

Friday’s Last Word: Pull Pin, Throw Grenade, Run Away: A provocative thought to kick off the weekend…

By Major Matthew Cavanaugh

Many know Victor Hugo’s 1862 story, Les Miserables, particularly the tortured existence of the protagonist, Jean Valjean (depicted on screen by Hugh Jackman).  Valjean spends years in a French prison for stealing bread for his sister’s starving children.  The moral dilemma presented is an easy one to empathize with – taking some food from another, causing minimal harm – to feed several very hungry children, enabling maximum human benefit.  I don’t know of anyone that would disagree with such an action done in the spirit of the “greater good.” So why does Jean Valjean matter?

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Too Important To Fail: Why innovation matters more to the military than in business – by Major Matt Cavanaugh

Too Important To Fail: Why innovation matters more to the military than in business – by Major Matt Cavanaugh

| 01.28.14 | Commentary & Analysis

I watched Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos the other night on 60 Minutes – and, at the end of the interview, he said something that caught my attention.  Maybe even more so than the tiny flying drones that he’s interested in using to deliver a significant portion of his inventory to us in 2015.  Actually, this comment pertained to the long term viability of his company. He said this to his interviewer, Charlie Rose: 

“Companies have short life spans, Charlie, and Amazon will be disrupted one day.”

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Reader Riposte: The Death of the U.S. Air Force & The Rise of the U.S. Air Machine Force

Reader Riposte: The Death of the U.S. Air Force & The Rise of the U.S. Air Machine Force

| 01.21.14 | Commentary & Analysis

Note: What follows is a very thoughtful email, in response to my essay, “The Death of the U.S. Air Force & The Rise of the U.S. Air Machine Force.”  Due to the specific nature of the writer’s role in piloting unmanned aircraft, the Air Force has asked him not to divulge his name (only initials). I wonder if the organization would ask the same for an A-10, F-15, or F-35 pilot?

 

Dear Major Cavanaugh,

I read your recent post about the future of the Air Force and the related role that Remotely Pilot Aircraft (Merriam-Webster be damned) have to play. While the article is in many ways compelling, I believe that it broadly misinterprets the effects of RPAs on the future of strategic thinking in the Air Force and beyond. Instead, I believe that RPAs have a valuable role to play in achieving strategic ends instead of tactical goals.

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