Compass Points - New Direction

Time to cast our nets widely

Compass Points - New Direction

Time to cast our nets widely

July 27, 2024

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John Boyd, the great military theorist and thinker, was fond of telling military officers to "cast your nets widely." In other words, do not focus too narrowly on the military task in front of you. Look up. Look around. Make sure your thinking is continually refreshed and expanded. Explore, seek, study, and experience the richness of human life. Immerse yourself in the creativity of the world. Get to know people, challenges, practices, beliefs, businesses, theories, and solutions far beyond the miliary. Then bring that richness of exploration and understanding back to all military duties. Now, is the time for the whole Marine Corps community to "cast your nets widely."

There is no perfect Marine Corps. There never has been. The Marine Corps is never stationary and never content. The Marine Corps is always in the process of becoming more. Marines are those rare warriors who continually seek the next challenge so they can do more and become more. Marines are always advancing, always taking the next hill, and always breaching the next door. Life for Marines is a continual hot wash-up. How did we do? What went well? What could be done better? How can we improve for next time? Mistakes are expected and mistakes are made. When they happen, mistakes are not ignored. Mistakes are identified so they can be corrected.

The mistake of Force Design has been well identified over the last several years. Now is the time to move forward. Now is the time to go beyond identifying the mistake, to move toward correction.

The Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico is tasked with creating the next Marine Corps. The MCCDC casts their nets widely by using the acronym, DOTMLPF - P which stands for doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy (DOTMLPF-P).

Compass Points will begin a series of new initiatives next week to help cast the nets widely. This will include several new initiatives. One example is we will cast the nets out and take in books from the past and from today on a wide variety of subjects. Paul Van Riper will contribute his own review next week of one of the books that most influenced him as a young officer and still influences him today.

Some of the books reviewed will directly relate to the military. Some will not. Consider three examples:

1. “The Alignment Problem” by Brian Christian

2. “The Truth About Crypto” by Ric Edelman

3. “The Drone Age: How Drone Technology Will Change War and Peace” by Michael J. Boyle

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“The Alignment Problem”

by Brian Christian

If you’re going to read one book on artificial intelligence, this is the one. Though it was published in 2020, which in terms of A.I. is practically prehistory, I still think it’s fairer and more illuminating than almost anything published since. Its chief value is its close examination of the computer scientists, cognitive psychologists and philosophers who were present at its birth. You just can’t beat dense reporting.

The problem with A.I. isn’t that it’s going to end the world, Christian says. The problem is determining how to “align” machine behavior with human values, a conundrum we have been trying and mostly failing to solve since the invention of the cotton gin. “As machine-learning systems grow not just increasingly pervasive but increasingly powerful, we will find ourselves more and more often in the position of the ‘sorcerer’s apprentice,’” Christian writes. “We conjure a force, autonomous but totally compliant, give it a set of instructions, then scramble like mad to stop it once we realize our instructions are imprecise or incomplete — lest we get, in some clever, horrible way, precisely what we asked for.”

Christian, the author of two previous books about the intersection of humans and computers, is admirably clear: The trouble isn’t only the machines; it’s the people. To align machines with human values, we have to know what human values are, and that knowledge is hazy at best. We cling to theories of fairness and transparency, which grow vaguer and vaguer when we try to put them into practice. While Christian is hopeful — this is a book that celebrates A.I. as a victory for scientific progress and doubles as a manifesto for A.I. safety — he is also realistic. “Alignment will be messy,” he concludes. “How could it be otherwise?”

-- New York Times, Stephen Marche

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“The Truth About Crypto”

by Ric Edelman

A TOP FINANCE BOOK OF 2022 by THE NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB A SABEW BEST IN BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS FINALIST A straightforward, practical guide to the newest frontier in investment strategy—crypto—from #1 New York Times bestselling author and personal finance expert Ric Edelman. Blockchain and bitcoin are here to stay—and as the Bank of England stated, this new technology could “transform the global financial system.” No wonder PWC says blockchain technology will add $2 trillion to the world’s $80 trillion economy by 2030. Indeed, blockchain technology and the digital assets it makes possible are revolutionary, the most profound innovation for commerce since the invention of the internet.

-- Goodreads

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“The Drone Age: How Drone Technology Will Change War and Peace”

by Michael J. Boyle

In The Drone Age, Michael J. Boyle addresses some of the biggest questions surrounding the impact of drones on our world today and the risks that we might face tomorrow. Will drones produce a safer world because they reduce risk to pilots, or will the prospect of clean, remote warfare lead governments to engage in more conflicts? Will drones begin to replace humans on the battlefield? Will they empower soldiers and peacekeepers to act more precisely and humanely in crisis zones? How will terrorist organizations turn this technology back on the governments that fight them? And how are drones enhancing surveillance capabilities, both at war and at home?

-- Amazon

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Comprehensive 269 List

With the help of readers, Compass Points will also begin to compile the official Comprehensive 269 List. The 269 List is named after HMLA 269 that was brought back after being deactivated. What the Marine Corps and the Combat Development Command need now is a Comprehensive 269 List that identifies all the units, equipment, and capabilities that need to be brought back, along with ideas of how to bring them back.

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269 List examples:

1. The First X Armor Battalion should be established immediately at 29 Palms to provide a way to experiment with new armor alternatives.

2. Each infantry regiment should have one battalion designated "heavy." The heavy battalion would contain more than 900 Marines. This would allow regiments to experiment with battalions with varying numbers of Marines.

3. One bridging company should stand up in each MEF to investigate and experiment with new bridging options.

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In the same way that the next battle is on the way, the next Marine Corps is also on the way.

The process of widely casting nets on Compass Points will include examples, experiences, analysis, quotations, famous battles, movies, inventions, campaigns, reverses, and comebacks. It will need tremendous input from readers about the events they have experienced and the events they have studied.

There is no perfect Marine Corps. There never has been. The Marine Corps of today is in the exact same position it has always been, it is struggling to get better. It is time to cast our nets widely and compile a Comprehensive 269 List that describes not only what needs to be brought back, but how it can be brought back step by step. Working together, the entire Marine community, including friends of the Corps in Congress, can help the Marine Corps to continue to advance in the attack, take the next hill, and breach the next door.