From ROK Drop:
By GI Korea on August 31st, 2010 at 6:20 pm
PowerPoints-R-Us Colonel, Lawrence Sellin Sacked From Afghanistan Position
» by GI Korea in: US Military
Chickenhead pointed this out earlier about this story that has been making the rounds:
Col Lawrence Sellin was sent home after generals read an opinion piece he had written revealing “little of substance” was done at the coalition’s joint command in Afghanistan.
He went on to paint a picture of a bloated organisation, swollen by the vanity of commanders, where endless slide show presentations are given to brief “cognitively challenged” generals.
A spokesman for the joint command confirmed Col Sellin, an army reservist with a PhD who was on his second tour of Afghanistan, had lost his job because of his remarks.
“He’s no longer working at the joint command, he has been sent back to his unit.”
Col Sellin’s piece, written for the news agency UPI and called “PowerPoints ‘R’ Us”, was published on Tuesday, but appears to have been born of a long period of frustration.
Beginning by acknowledging the piece may not benefit his career, but explaining it would be therapeutic, he wrote: “I have been assigned as a staff officer to a headquarters in Afghanistan for about two months. During that time, I have not done anything productive. Fortunately little of substance is really done here, but that is a task we do well.”
He said the international coalition’s sprawling joint command, which oversees operations across Afghanistan, was probably founded “to provide some general a three-star command”.
It had grown from a small group of “dedicated and intelligent officers” to “a stove-piped and bloated organisation, top-heavy in rank” where “you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a colonel”. [The Telegraph]
You can read more at the link as well as COL Sellin’s entire article here. He had to have figured he would get canned after writing such an article which leads me to believe he was looking for a way out of Afghanistan and this was a quick way to do it. According to Danger Room COL Sellin is a 61 year old reservist with a Phd who was sacked from his position shortly after his commanding general read the article. He says this was his attempt to change the command culture in the joint command he works after going through the proper channels led no where. I think if true that even if what he claims is true, which I agree there is some truth to what he says, this is a highly unprofessional way to air such grievances. He should have wrote an article for a professional military publication, which his command would have been notified of thus freeing him of getting sacked, which unless of course he just wanted to get sacked in the first place.
And here is the original article:
Outside View: PowerPoints 'R' Us
Aug 24 10:19 AM US/Eastern
Comments (0)Email to a friend Share on Facebook Tweet this
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Throughout my career I have been known to walk that fine line between good taste and unemployment. I see no reason to change that now.
Consider the following therapeutic.
I have been assigned as a staff officer to a headquarters in Afghanistan for about two months. During that time, I have not done anything productive. Fortunately little of substance is really done here, but that is a task we do well.
We are part of the operational arm of the International Security Assistance Force commanded by U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus. It is composed of military representatives from all the NATO countries, several of which I cannot pronounce.
Officially, IJC was founded in late 2009 to coordinate operations among all the regional commands in Afghanistan. More likely it was founded to provide some general a three-star command. Starting with a small group of dedicated and intelligent officers, IJC has successfully grown into a stove-piped and bloated organization, top-heavy in rank. Around here you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a colonel.
For headquarters staff, war consists largely of the endless tinkering with PowerPoint slides to conform with the idiosyncrasies of cognitively challenged generals in order to spoon-feed them information. Even one tiny flaw in a slide can halt a general's thought processes as abruptly as a computer system's blue screen of death.
The ability to brief well is, therefore, a critical skill. It is important to note that skill in briefing resides in how you say it. It doesn't matter so much what you say or even if you are speaking Klingon.
Random motion, ad hoc processes and an in-depth knowledge of Army minutia and acronyms are also key characteristics of a successful staff officer. Harried movement together with furrowed brows and appropriate expressions of concern a la Clint Eastwood will please the generals. Progress in the war is optional.
Each day is guided by the "battle rhythm," which is a series of PowerPoint briefings and meetings with PowerPoint presentations. It doesn't matter how inane or useless the briefing or meeting might be. Once it is part of the battle rhythm, it has the persistence of carbon 14.
And you can't skip these events because they take roll -- just like gym class.
The start and culmination of each day is the commander's update assessment. Please ignore the fact that "update assessment" is redundant. Simply saying commander's update doesn't provide the possibility of creating a three-letter acronym. It also doesn't matter that the commander never attends the CUA.
The CUA consists of a series of PowerPoint slides describing the events of the previous 12 hours. Briefers explain each slide by reading from a written statement in a tone not unlike that of a congressman caught in a tryst with an escort. The CUA slides only change when a new commander arrives or the war ends.
The commander's immediate subordinates, usually one- and two-star generals, listen to the CUA in a semi-comatose state. Each briefer has approximately 1 or 2 minutes to impart either information or misinformation. Usually they don't do either. Fortunately, none of the information provided makes an indelible impact on any of the generals.
One important task of the IJC is to share information to the ISAF commander, his staff and to all the regional commands. This information is delivered as PowerPoint slides in e-mail at the flow rate of a fire hose. Standard operating procedure is to send everything that you have. Volume is considered the equivalent of quality.
Next month IJC will attempt a giant leap for mankind. In a first-of-its-kind effort, IJC will embed a new stovepipe into an already existing stovepipe. The rationale for this bold move resides in the fact that an officer, who is currently without one, needs a staff of 35 people to create a big splash before his promotion board.
Like most military organizations, structure always trumps function.
The ultimate consequences of this reorganization won't be determined until after that officer rotates out of theater.
Nevertheless, the results will be presented by PowerPoint.
--
(Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is currently serving his second deployment to Afghanistan. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army or U.S. government.)
--
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.
No comments:
Post a Comment