Thread by @johnkonrad

I don’t know half of what’s being said in the thread but I do know enough to realize the future of warfare is changing before our eyes.

https://twitter.com/wdmills1992/status/1634020981789589504

One thing about the US Military that continually shocks & surprises me is their willingness to share ideas openly in full view of the public.

Sure lots of secrets about weapon capabilities & such are classified but our crown jewels are not hightech weapons its our warriors minds

And that is open for all to see. If you follow the right people here on Twitter you will see where military strategy is moving and @CIMSEC @USNIProceedings USMC Gazette will fill in most gaps.

The ability for any potential adversary to read and comprehend this information is a feature of national security, not a bug.

Why? Because the real influencers (not the twitter influencers but the strategic influencers) must remain aware, war game strategy & change course

Diversity of thought and adaptability is the US military’s #1 force multiplier and if an adversary selects the wrong open opinions they will get themselves in trouble quick.

This thread contains a cacophony of voices? As an enemy which one do you defend against, which one will kill you?

And that’s the trap.

Let’s say a USMC thoughleader like @WDMills1992 or @tgheck1 or @BA_Friedman or many some younger smart mind like @zach_ota comes up with a killer - and I literally mean killer - new idea that gets the Commandants attention.

Lets take it further and say the idea is so obviously good that a new training school is created around it, a new weapon is produced to execute it and ships are built to deliver it.

Huge amounts of funding and inertia and planning are devoted to this one idea born on Twitter

Doesn’t that put our nation at risk? Doesn’t that show our hand? Does that not give the enemy the opportunity to create a way to destroy any advantage gained by investing in that idea?

Yes it certain does.

And in certain slower moving, less thought provoking areas of the service this is an Achilles heel.

But what makes the USMC so very lethal is that no Marine gives two shits who someone like @WDMills1992 is or how brilliant he is. To them he is just a marine.

And being just a marine makes Mills simultaneously the most important person in the world and nobody remotely special. He is a marine. That is all.

What this means in practice is they will follow his plan when it works and abandon the plan when it does not.

Execution trumps planning and adaptability equals strength.

But it’s not just adaptability on the battlefield. Ideas like those in this thread are ripped apart, repaired, reconstructed in a process military strategist John Boyd called Destructive And Creation

This process starts with intensive war gaming by Marines like @SebastianBae who are always on the lookout for new strategies and plans to add to the incredible depth and breadth of wargames he (and gamers like him) manage.

And as a Marine, no better or worse than any other, Bae won’t hold back on bad ideas or opportunities for improvement.

He won’t hold back because his is a brotherhood but also because he is not the man sitting in a Washington classroom administering a game.

He is a man with hidden scars and vivid memory mud, violence and the of fear of a close fight.

And “once a marine always a marine” means if he gundeck games or lets politics prevent him from honest feedback it may be him and will be his brothers and sisters who suffer.

This thread is not to praise anyone mentioned. That’s not the point. That’s the opposite of the point. They are just examples.

And while, IMHO, marines do this better than anyone, it’s not just them, it’s US Military culture.

Now some of you may be think… but John, you have so many complaints, what about pentagon bureaucracy? What about sealift failures? What about all that is wrong with the military?

Doesn’t that expose weakness that can be exploited?

They sure can. Using just what @mercoglianos and Steve Carmel have posted would not be difficult to cripple supply lines and choke off American forces from fuel supplies.

gcaptain.com/the-us-navy-ne…

Highlighting the Achilles heal gives adversaries opportunity to attack at our weakest point.

That is certainly true but any worthy adversary already knows our weaknesses snd our failures and our utter inability to fix major problems like #sealift.

And while that enemy develops plans to exploit it people like @supbrow @mercoglianos @maphumanintent @HunterStires @BDHerzinger @cdrsalamander @CreggeKyle are educating our own sailors and leaders to the problem.

Do you know that Churchill saying “America always does the right thing after trying everything else”?

Well - and this might sound like American arrogance - USA vast natural resources, 4,000+ colleges, wealth vast protective oceans and military values -

lets us war game and adapt and think and scratch our heads and argue and make little progress.

I’m not saying this is a good thing (we DO need to build more ships now), it’s just a fact.

But remember adaptability. By sharing things like the DoD’s absolutely, mind boggling dumb, lack of concern about sealift tankers that are 💯needed to fuel our troops.

By sharing our frustrations - even if @mercoglianos know we are wasting our time and nobody gonna build ships -

The people who are reshaping the military (remember this is all pointing to Mill’s thread where new doctrin is being created before your eyes) are learning and are considering solutions.

These people may not be able to overcome the great bureaucratic hurdles today…

But they sure as hell will be prepared with ideas when bullets start flying.

And not just one ideas. Dozens of ideas and thoughts and opportunities that can be adapted and molded and strengthened in battle.

So pick up a chair. Grab some popcorn and watch the course of the next war being made before your very eyes.

Just keep an open mind and remember that these plans will adapt and grow and change and be pulled apart, glued back together (sometimes duck-taped, sometimes welded)

Because that’s what the American military do best.

And don’t worry about enemies reading this. Let them. They do not have the system or the cultural needed to process this.

In fact the more shares the better. Even civilians are welcome to debate and submit articles to @USNINews

Hell, if your contribution is good, like one civilian insurance salesman named Tom Clancy, your thoughts and ideas might even change the course of the world conflict we just entered: Cold War II

And don’t worry if they tear your ideas apart. That’s the whole point.

(Just be sure you’re adding value to the debate. Negative feedback on your ideas is a sign of success but negative feedback on your attitude is not)

So jump in because you too can help 🇺🇸 be ready to fight

@UnrollHelper