Jake Chapman with food for the soul for the Virtuous Insurgency and an apt punchline very reminiscent of Scott Mann and his newly released book: Nobody Is Coming to Save You: A Green Beret's Guide to Getting Big Sh*t Done A lot of good in his post - maybe less on the let’s use WMDs part but…. There is indeed a tiny crack force of exceptional doers combating the “Toil” as Alexis B. likes to say. There are raging optimists like Justin Fanelli Brad Halsey Nicholas Vandre Brandon Smart and web weavers like Jer McKoy Adam Hesch Greg Lewis and Jay Long. Champions of optimism like PJ Jackson and thought leaders fusing entrepreneurial prowess with #NatSec institutional shifts like Arun Gupta and NobleReach™️ Raphael Hernandez and Kris Saling with their work with the Marine’s their families and U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC). Despite a small engine that refuses to quite to continuously and relentlessly stir the pot for the change requisite for survival, there are engrained institutional biases and doctrine set against these evolutions. As we continue to see, like with the response to Hurricane Helene, it is the willing individual, the neighbor…. That is there to get things done - now we all just need to learn to play together to bridge the ever growing rift between Government, the #DoD and civil society. One team one fight. What I love about Jake Chapman’s sentiment is the criticality of knowing the right people, of having the map and network to activate when required - for putting in the work left of bang to map the human and organizational terrain, because at the end of the day, irrespective of tech advancements compute power and the like, it’s the right humans knowing the other right humans that gets things done. To those working tirelessly behind the scenes Evanna Hu, Jen Sovada, Nicholas Krohley, Ph.D. Kaj Larsen Matt Evers, CLTD and the small but mighty legion of the rest of you - a hat tip, and to those coming up through the ranks - Juan H. Kelsey Monaghan-Bergson Mary Mitchell and the like - hurry on up your needed! - Jesse Levin NATO Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence (CCOE) Business Executives for National Security (BENS) Irregular Warfare Initiative Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) Tactivate William & Mary
Friday Spicy 🌶️ I have a running list of presentations in case I'm asked to irritate a crowd. I'll drop a summary of one below, but first a taste of the list.. - The Force Structure of Theseus - Nuclear Weapons; we built them, we should use them - The new assassin's mace, why drones aren't WMDs but there are some emerging sectors that could be. - What BRAC teaches about politically sensitive spending and reshaping the government with an axe. - American Empire; 50 states is not enough - Increasing M&A in defense to reduce consolidation. - Fight & Equip; an argument for moving acquisitions to the COCOMs. We're f*&king F*&cked and nobody is coming to save us: One question early founding teams often have is "how do I know when I've canvassed most of the market?" My answer is that at the end of every conversation with an investor, technologist, or war fighter, ask who the 2-3 people are that they should meet. Over time the names will repeat, eventually to the point that it's rare to hear a new name. At this stage they've seen the majority of the market. In fact, if they've kept copious notes they should be able to build a network map of the market identifying key people/nodes. A network map like this can be crucial as they begin building their business. It's also helpful when it comes time to identify who they need to activate in order to succeed. What does this piece of market mapping advice have to do with "We're f*&king F*&cked and nobody is coming to save us?" The answer is that when I first decided I wanted to dedicate my career to the nexus of national security & private capital, I took my own advice and started mapping the market. For us this included anyone who was working at "fixing" national security. What we soon realized was that the number of people involved in this effort is vanishingly small. The US defense apparatus employs millions. Many of them care about the mission but generally keep their heads down** and execute, many of them aren't mission motivated but appreciate the security of a government job. Only A small fraction care deeply about the mission AND are willing to risk personal well being to make things better. That small cohort of people is what really keeps you safe and will form the structure of the U.S. defenses if a nascent WW3 becomes a WW3 in fact. So are we f*&king f*&cked? I don't know. I don't think so because even though the group that's trying to fix things is tiny, it is mighty. Some of the smartest, bravest men and women I've ever met. BUT I do believe that nobody is coming to save you but you. Tiny and mighty only works if this small group can serve as a catalyzing agent, they can't actually do everything themselves. We need more people on the line, more people willing to fill the breach, and more people willing to take career risk to make things better. **The irony is I've met people who are braver under fire than they are working a desk job in the E-Ring. Its a cultural problem.