Category: Military

DOTMLPF-P Analysis for War and Peace

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A comprehensive and highly useful military model for analyzing and addressing problems that does well in non-military settings as well. From medicine to business to non-profit work, DOTMLPF-P covers all aspects of common difficulties. 

By Mark D. Harris

My staff and I were meeting at the end of a long day. As representatives of the regional headquarters they had been working with their counterparts at our subordinate medical facilities on an important project with a tight suspense, and they had met resistance. One exasperated lady at a hospital said, “Tell your boss that we have full time jobs already!” Another one said, “This regional initiative just isn’t my top priority right now”, and one of my staff said “Sir, there just aren’t enough hours in the day.” Everyone who has worked long in leadership and management has heard these complaints time and again.

There is always a temptation to ignore such concerns and keep pushing, but that is rarely the right thing to do. One concern from my staff is that they did not feel as though their counterparts in the clinics and hospitals considered them value added. They wanted cooperation on these vital projects but did not perceive that they had much to give in return. This is a perpetual problem and when I worked in a hospital, I felt the same way about the regional staff.

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Getting People to Answer

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What do you do when people in the workplace ignore you, even though you need them for work? How can you use influence when you don’t have raw power, to get answers?

A Navy Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) came into my office recently. “Sir, I have emailed Lt. Col X several times and she hasn’t answered yet. All I get is radio silence. Could you help?” This young officer was voicing a concern that I hear frequently; someone that they are trying to work with, or get something from, wasn’t answering. Or at least they weren’t answering fast enough to suit us at higher headquarters. When faced with such a problem, many junior staffers go to the Boss, hoping that he or she will contact the person and get immediate results. Sometimes if the issue is urgent that is the right approach. Sometimes even going directly to the boss of Lt. Col X is the best approach. Often, however, it is better for the junior staffer to get the information themselves, and there are many ways to do that. I have been faced with similar problems in the past and have learned the hard way that, unless the issue is urgent, I need to exhaust my options for resolving problems, such as radio silence from someone I am supposed to work with, before going further up the chain.

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Gettysburg Sesquicentennial 2013

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Photographs of the re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War, Sesquicentennial June

2013

Useful Quotations on World War 2

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Pithy Prose for Politicians, Preachers, Professors, Pundits, and Public Speakers.

Many Japanese believed the United States to be a hollow shell, it’s people divided politically, softened by luxurious living and decadent morals, no match for the tough, disciplined men of Japan. Gordon Prange, author of At Dawn We Slept

Japan has faced many worthy opponents in her glorious history – Mongols, Chinese, Russians – but in this operation we will meet the strongest and most resourceful opponent of all. Isoroku Yamamoto, CINC of Japanese combined fleet prior to Pearl Harbor

It is the custom of bushido to select an equal or stronger opponent.  On this score you have nothing to complain about – the American navy is a good match for the Japanese navy. Isoroku Yamamoto, CINC of Japanese combined fleet prior to Pearl Harbor

What a strange position I find myself in – having to pursue with full determination a course of action which is diametrically opposed to my best judgement and firmest conviction. That too, perhaps, is fate.  Isoroku Yamamoto, CINC of Japanese combined fleet prior to Pearl Harbor

Since even one or two reshuffles in the high ranking posts would influence the morale of the whole fleet, I do not want to see any change at this moment.  Isoroku Yamamoto, CINC of Japanese combined fleet prior to Pearl Harbor

Too many steersmen will send the ship climbing the mountain. Japanese proverb

Even a rabbit will bite if it is fooled three times. Japanese proverb

Living History at Gettysburg on the Sesquicentennial

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A once-in-a-lifetime chance to revisit one of the most important battles in American history. 

Some families enjoy history. Mine has reconnoitered the fields at Saratoga, examined the batteries at Fort McHenry, walked the decks of the USS Wisconsin, and explored the beaches at Normandy.  On Independence Day weekend my oldest son David, my oldest daughter Anna, and I enjoyed another famous battlefield, Gettysburg.

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The Future of the Military Health System

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What will the Military Health System look like in the future? The operational forces will be more military, and the CONUS facilities will be more civilian. 

In the book Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-1945, Max Hastings described how ships’ crews took on the characteristics of their commanders. One captain was not well liked but was respected because “he had a mind like a slide rule.” Most good commanders took care of their sailors.

One characteristic of all effective commanders was that they communicated all that they knew about the strategic situation to their crews. In December 1944 the US Navy had 1100 warships and 5000 support ships. Most sailors never saw the big battles and instead spent the war shipping cargo between ports. For example, it is 5100 nautical miles from Honolulu, Hawaii to Darwin, Australia. Cargo ships took 21 days each way to make the trip. Temperatures in these all-metal ships reached 110 degrees, the odor of fuel and sweat was ubiquitous, and the noise was deafening. Men swabbed, repaired, ate, slept and repeated the process endlessly. They saw nothing but the sea, the sky, their ship, and each other. Few knew how their part, no matter how small, fit into the overall plan for victory.

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