What Do We Really Mean by “Veterans Day”?

November 12, 2007

Here in the US, there are two days during the year where we specifically honor and remember those men and women who served in the Armed Forces.  Memorial Day is for paying tribute those who are no longer with us: those who lost their lives in active service, particularly those who died in battle or […]

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Navy and Notre Dame: Football and Leadership

November 5, 2007

This has been some weekend!  On Saturday I was at the home of a good friend of mine – a group of six of us got together to watch the Naval Academy football team beat the University of Notre Dame.  The last time Navy did that was 1963, with Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach at […]

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Master and Commander

November 3, 2007

If you saw the movie “Master and Commander” with Russell Crowe, you got a fairly representative peek into the world of commanding a British Man-of-War in the early 19th Century.  I recently had the opportunity to interview a modern “master and commander”.  Before this gentleman retired from the US Navy, he was the commanding officer […]

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Lessons from a “Grandfather”

November 3, 2007

Earlier I wrote about heading up to Annapolis to watch a Naval Academy football game.  While I was there, I spent a few minutes touring the stadium which has recently been renovated.  As someone who has a passion history – especially military history – I always enjoy wandering around the facility and looking at its […]

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Tailgate Conversations on Leadership

November 2, 2007

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with about a dozen current and former military leaders.  We had all attended a college football game, and had met together afterwards to socialize and spend time with old friends.  We weren’t talking shop or anything serious – just having a good time and reliving […]

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Role Models and Leadership

October 30, 2007

One topic that always seems to come up in discussions involving leadership is the idea of having a role model.  People that I talk with generally think role models are important, especially for children growing up and trying to make sense of the world.  The general concern, it seems, is finding the “right” role model.  […]

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Dealing with the Unexpected

October 27, 2007

If you were to write down a list of the top 10 qualities that an “ideal” leader would possess, and then rank them in order of importance, where would you put “able to deal with the unexpected”?  Would it be in the top 5?  Would it even be on your list? I got into a […]

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“Patriotism” is a Good Thing . . . Isn’t It?

October 25, 2007

  I received some feedback about a speech I had given, where I was talking about the value of serving one’s country. I don’t mean just in the military, but in any capacity which directly benefits one’s country as a whole.In my speech I referred to this as “patriotism”.   Well, at least one person […]

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The “Fortunate Accident” During the Battle of Britain (WWII)

October 17, 2007

Without a doubt, one of the “shining moments” in Great Britain’s long and distinguished history was the performance of her Royal Air Force in 1940.  For at the Battle of Britain, a battered and bruised RAF was able to do what no other military force had been able to do – stop Adolf Hitler’s “blitzkrieg”, […]

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