Midrats

Episode 353: Best of Disruption, Disfunction & Leadership with Peter Munson


Listen Later

What is a "crisis in leadership?

In an organization that prizes the Type-A personality that takes risk combined with a strong intellect - yet at the same times asks from it silence and order - what happens when each end loses faith and trust in the other?

Our guest for the full hour will be Peter Munson, Marine officer, KC-130 aircraft commander, Middle East specialist, author, and editor of Small Wars Journal.

As a starting point, we will use his article in SWJ, Disruptive Thinkers: Defining the Problem.

"Today’s military is facing a significant crisis.  ... The rank and file of the military who have made or witnessed the massive efforts and sacrifices of the past decade, and who have seen so very little in the way of satisfying results in return,  ... They are disappointed by the failures of leadership and imagination that have yielded toxic commands, a rash of firings in some services, and a breach of trust with our most vulnerable servicemembers.  They wonder about the future of the weapons systems that support and defend them as they read tales of acquisition woe.  They question the growing focus on bureaucratic minutiae.  They question how they can be trusted so completely in a combat environment, but are treated as children in garrison.  They wonder how a military system that prides itself on justice will reward the generals that have presided over failure, ...  while at the same time eroding the autonomy and discretion of junior commanders with a creeping campaign of bureaucratic centralization.

These are symptoms of a malaise facing the military, of an ossified and decadent institutional culture and a bloated bureaucracy that has grown a profusion of power centers that jealously guard their territory and their budget."

This show first aired in June 2012.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

MidratsBy Midrats

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

86 ratings


More shows like Midrats

View all
War on the Rocks by Ryan Evans

War on the Rocks

1,073 Listeners

Angry Planet by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields

Angry Planet

799 Listeners

City Journal Audio by Manhattan Institute

City Journal Audio

629 Listeners

Modern War Institute by Modern War Institute at West Point

Modern War Institute

779 Listeners

Power Line by Ricochet

Power Line

484 Listeners

Defense & Aerospace Report by Defense & Aerospace Report, sponsored by Bell

Defense & Aerospace Report

140 Listeners

Defense One Radio by Defense One staff

Defense One Radio

141 Listeners

Net Assessment by War on the Rocks

Net Assessment

414 Listeners

The American Mind Podcast by The Claremont Institute

The American Mind Podcast

1,232 Listeners

The Red Line by The Red Line

The Red Line

350 Listeners

Urban Warfare Project by John Spencer

Urban Warfare Project

223 Listeners

Irregular Warfare Podcast by Irregular Warfare Initiative

Irregular Warfare Podcast

406 Listeners

School of War by Nebulous Media

School of War

447 Listeners

Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch by Silverado Policy Accelerator

Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch

150 Listeners

NatSec Matters by Beacon Global Strategies LLC

NatSec Matters

255 Listeners