This is 30 September, and this morning Secretary Hegseth addressed, in person, about 800 assembled senior U.S. military leaders from all over the world. It was certainly one of, if not THE MOST OUTSTANDING, leader presentations ever. Recommendation, don’t read it, watch it on U-Tube to get the full effect.
If asked to summarize the thrust in a couple words, I would say it was about standards for war fighting and the totality of the culture that can make it happen.
ABOUT “STANDARDS” IN GENERAL (what Pete did not tell you)
“An organization without standards is a failed organization.” Unfortunately, the best and most visible example of this today is the U.S. Congress. And we the people know this because in every type of poll taken about organizations, our Congress is always dead last.
The U.S. military had lost its way in the 1970’s. In the mid 1980’s a small group of general officers in key positions in the U.S. Army decided it must get fixed. First was a herculean effort to identify the applicable war-fighting TASKS for every MOS, military occupational specialty (infantryman, artilleryman, medic, intelligence, aviation etc. etc. etc.). And do it for each grade; junior enlisted, a brand-new sergeant, mid-level sergeants, senior sergeants and all officer grades. It was volumes.
Then they had to identify different CONDITIONS if it impacted the task. The simplest example is a particular task would be significantly impacted in daytime vs night and have a standard for each.
Having all that information on hand, they then set about to establish a STANDARD for each task under an identified condition. We, the U.S. Army, changed everything about how to train and lead by 1990 (the example Pete used) we were without a doubt the most highly trained fighting force in the world. Pete also mentioned The First Gulf War 1992 as a perfect example of what a force that highly trained can accomplish in a very short time.
“TASKS-CONDITIONS-STANDARDS” became the Holy Grail for building an unmatched war-fighting machine.
MORE ON STANDARDS
An organization without standards is a failed organization”; we got that. But take that a step further, “an organization that has compromised its standards is also a failed organization.” That is where we are today and Pete does a perfect job of laying all that out and how to fix it.
CONCLUSION: every American should watch his presentation; breath-taking.
PRESIDENT TRUMP ATTENDED AND MADE TWO MISTAKES
The first mistake was the president arrived by helicopter about the time Pete finished his presentation. President Trump should have been watching from stage-left the entire time.
Second mistake, no one, including the president, could successfully follow a presentation like that one with a second speech. The best follow-on would have been for the president to walk on stage just as Pete finished. Everyone would have stood at attention. The president would say, “take your seats, I have three questions for each of you.
“One, did you, not collectively, did you personally understand everything your leader just told you?
“Two, are you capable of accomplishing everything he wants you to do?’
“And three, are you personally committed to doing it?”
“If the answer to any of these three questions is NO, I want you to retire immediately.”
“There is nothing I have to add to Pete’s fabulous presentation, just know that I have faith in all of you and I have your back. Get out there and make it happen; be all you can be.”
BOTTOM LINE
It’s worth your time to watch it!