Podcast

Education of the 21st Century Naval Commander: More with CAPT Moore

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seacontrolemblemWe’re looking for YOUR questions and input!

CAPT Moore (USN Ret), CEO of Small Unit Aviation LLC, is joining us for a regular installments on Sea Control based on his “Breakout Naval Leadership” talk at the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. We’re calling it “More with CAPT Moore”.

His talks will first center around the foundations, content, and process of decision-making. Our first installment will be “The Training and Education of the 21st Century Naval Commander.”

The podcast will start with an opening definition on methods of internal control: operational and tactical.

It will be followed by a discussion on leadership traits of successful mission commanders. CAPT Moore initially suggested the examples of Nelson, the Battle of Jutland, LT Sims, and Gen Mattis but is open to more suggestions and questions from online

We will close out by considering integrity, trust, appreciation, and Leadership.

CAPT Daniel Moore, USN (Ret) spent 29 Years Active Duty as a naval aviator, including VFA squadron command. He has spent 7 years in the aerospace industry. He holds a BA in History from Northwestern University and is a former Professor of Naval Science.

CAPT Moore has kindly provided a list of readings that have informed his perspective on this topic. As we’re always looking for new reading at CIMSEC:
Naval Doctrine Publication 6 — Naval Command and Control
Andrew Gordon’s The Rules of the Game
John R. Boyd’s Organic Design for Command & Control
George Gilder’s Knowledge and Power

Send us your comments and ideas for this podcast! We’ll go through questions sent to nextwar@cimsec.org and those posted in the comment section below.

New Initiatives, Podcast, Strategic Outlook, The Lighter Side

Sea Control 15 – Auld Lang Syne

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seacontrolnewyearThe global system doesn’t stop just because we’re all staying up late to drink Champagne… which means Sea Control doesn’t stop either. Matt and Scott discuss the last and next year of CIMSEC in this New Year’s mini-edition of Sea Control. Yeah, 30 minutes isn’t really “mini”, but we do it up big here at CIMSEC. Download last week’s fantastic episode and this week’s for your trip back home! Enjoy our 15th episode of Sea Control, Auld Lang Syn (download)!

Strategic Outlook

East Asian Geopolitics: Not on Holiday

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No Rest for the Wary

MCAS Futenma
Rough Landing: MCAS Futenma

While many look to the year’s end as a time of respite, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have looked to the end of this year as a time to maneuver. On December 26th, Abe visited the Yasukuni Shinto shrine, honoring the spirits of 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including over a dozen class-A war criminals. The Economist’s Banyan blog details the sharply negative regional reaction (notably from China, South Korea, and somewhat unprecedentedly, the United States), and also points to the speculation that this visit not coincidentally occurred on the same day as the announcement that Okinawa’s governor had tentatively agreed to an internal relocation of the USMC Air Station (MCAS) Futenma – a long-sought U.S. goal.

So who are the winners and losers of these moves?

Winners:

Shinzo Abe: In buying bilateral political capital with the U.S. through the Futenma deal, Abe was able to visit the Yasukuni shrine to shore up support among his conservative and far-right supporter base. Although he still provoked a public rebuke from the U.S., it is unlikely to cause any lasting damage to the relationship. The same cannot be said for those with the PRC and ROK. The moves to watch are whether Abe tries to mend these relationships, or continues to revisit the shrine on an annual basis. Although there are indications Abe is attempting to “normalize” the visits as akin to a trip to Arlington National Cemetery by a U.S. president, without a (highly unlikely) large-scale war apology PR effort by the Japanese government such visits will always send the wrong signal regionally.

China: Roughly a month ago China committed the unforced error of including Socotra Island in its ADIZ declaration. Since the “island” (really a submerged rock) is disputed with South Korea, the move thereby nipped the burgeoning PRC-ROK ties in the bud and caused South Korea to make common cause with Japan. With yesterday’s moves, Japan has given China the diplomatic advantage by displacing it as the more worrisome neighbor.

Losers:

Regional Cooperation: As my colleague Kyle Mizokami says, Abe is now “radioactive.” Even before the shrine visit, the South Sudan ammo cooperation fiasco highlighted the difficulty of boosting the Japanese-ROK ties. But whether Abe has killed all hopes of progress for the duration of his time in office is largely contingent on his moves in the coming year(s) – whether he makes sincere efforts at damage control or instead unapologetically continues to visit the shrine. The smart money is on the latter, but the former is not impossible.

United States: While the MCAS Futenma deal is a nominal victory, forestalling the need to relocate the Marines to another Asian facility, the setback to Japanese-ROK ties outweighs the win. Much of the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy relies on leveraging its key regional allies, and there is little that would shore up U.S. grand strategy more than robust cooperation between Japan and South Korea. While greater ties can appear quixotic at the best of times, Abe’s visit has ensured that the most wonderful time of the year this is not.

The Lighter Side

Holiday Reading List

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Red-Christmas-Tree-made-froDear CIMSEC Readers,

It’s Christmas, and the time of gifting is here.  Although we try to provide our readers with the best naval and maritime security articles, we are also providing a Holiday Reading list put together by various CIMSEC members.  Great ways to use your Amazon and Barnes & Noble gift cards. Additions to this list are welcome via the comments section:

Annie George
The Cleanest Race:  How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters
–By B.R. Meyers
A psychological look into the why and the what of North Korea.  Gets past the propaganda machine – a great read for folks interested in navigating the “but why?” of DPRK regime decisions.
Les Miserables
–By Victor Hugo
I’m a lit major by heart, and I believe that every once in a while, reading should be a labored endeavor.  Hence Les Beautiful read.
Thank You For Your Service
–By David Finkel
Going past the horrors of war, he delves into the horrors of the post-war reduction to “normality.”  I’m not finished with this one yet.

Bret Perry
Brave New War:  The Next Stage of Terrorism and End of Globalization
–By John Robb
Although I may have picked up this one a little late, John Robb forces the read to think about conflict differently.
Four Ball, One Tracer:  Commanding Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone
–By Roelf van Heerden and Andrew Hudson
A recap of Executive Outcome’s operations from a tactical perspective shedding light on the mentality of those training the Puntland Maritime Police Force.
The New Machiavelli:  How to Wield Power in the Modern World
–By Jonathan Powell
Tony Blair’s Chief of Staff (who is a Machiavelli scholar) explores this philosopher’s misinterpreted concepts and demonstrates their applicability in today’s world with his experiences.

Dan De Wit
The Terrorist’s Dilemma:  Managing Violent Covert Organizations
–By Jacob N. Shapiro

Drew Perciballi
The Battle for the Falklands
–By Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins
Victory at Sea:  World War II in the Pacific
–By James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi

Lucas Schleusener
Pakistan:  A Hard Country
–By Anatol Lieven
21st Century Mahan:  Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era
–By Benjamin Armstrong

Matt Hipple
Spymaster:  My Thirty-two Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West
–Oleg Kalugin
We rarely see intelligence operations from the other side, especially in such fine and personal detail. Oleg Kalugin’s book is not only the story of the KGB, but a stalwart Soviet slowly realizing how flawed the communist system truly was.
Brown Water, Black Berets:  Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam
–By Thomas J. Cutler
Three years ago, I found this to be a formative book. In a world where excel sheets can cause people around you to panic, reading about the leadership, dander, heroism, and suffering of real sailors at war put life into perspective.
Great Naval Blunders
–By Geoffrey Regan
A collection of humorous and horrible anecdotes about the absolute worst ideas and executions in naval history.

Michael Junge
Second-Party Counterinsurgency
–By Mark O’Neill

Miha Hribernik
The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire
–By Edward N. Luttwak

Scott Cheney-Peters
War and Peace
–By Leo Tolstoy
I’m halfway through War and Peace by Tolstoy-not because I’m pretentious, but because I am a slow reader.  The great Pevear and Volokhonsky translation makes fresh the insights on the nature of human relationships and war.
Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation
–By Joseph S. Wholey, Harry P. Hatry, and Kathryn E. Newcomer
So that I have some idea what I’m doing as CIMSEC’s Director and your elected VP.

I am also looking forward to some sci-fi, The Economist, and CNA/CMSI pleasure reading. I will not be reading the nutrition labels of everything I eat over the holidays.

Sebastian Bruns
Navies and Foreign Policy
–By Ken Booth
The point of departure for anyone who wants to understand the use (and limitations) for navies in foreign affairs of any state.
Seapower:  A Guide for the Twenty-First Century
–By Geoffrey Till
The masterwork textbook on seapower and what it can do in this century.
Maritime Sicherheit –By Sebastian Bruns, Kerstin Petretto, and David Petrovic

William Yale:
Forgotten Ally:  China’s World War II:  1937-1945
–By Rana Mitter
Shanghai 1937:  Stalingrad on the Yangtze
–By Peter Harmsen
Eisenhower:  In War and Peace
–By Jean Edward Smith

 

 

Fostering the Discussion on Securing the Seas.