Sublime

Barack Obama came to see it as an alternative to the messy, costly wars that topple governments and require years of American occupation. In the words of John Brennan, one of President Obama’s closest advisers whom Obama eventually tapped to run the CIA, instead of the “hammer” America now relies on the “scalpel.”

As they had been trained, the senior leader of each SEAL sniper overwatch element made their decisions based on the underlying commander’s guidance that drove our overwatch operations: 1. Cover as many possible enemy ingress and egress routes as possible. 2. Set up positions that mutually support each other. 3. Pick solid fighting positions that

All of us are human and we like to be favorably noticed by those above us and even by the public. An Allied Commander-in-Chief, among all others practicing the art of war, must more sternly than any other individual repress such notions. He must be self-effacing, quick to give credit, ready to meet the other fellow more than half way, must seek and

community. That same year William McRaven, who eventually rose to command USSOCOM, published his landmark study on SOF direct-action missions (McRaven 1995). McRaven turned his master’s thesis into one of the best theoretical treatments available on how SOF direct action can exploit enemy weaknesses. He distinguishes between catching the enemy

In 1903 Secretary of War Elihu Root brought the Army, which had a similar structure, reluctantly into the twentieth century. The power of independent branch chiefs such as the adjutant general and the chief of engineers was broken, a general staff system established, and the entire uniformed service brought under the command of a single military