4GW: The Spectrum of Cyber Risks...

CyberSpace is indeed a "Strategic National Asset” and protected by our United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM).

OPS Risk Managers across the private sector of the USA are dealing with transnational non-state actors (in some cases funded by nation states) that are robbing our private sector and government agencies blind. Stealing Personal Identifiable Information (PII), Corporate Intellectual Property, Defense R & D and classified State secrets. 

The commander of our US Cyber Command has an even bigger job; protecting and defending our country's vital Digital Infrastructure. This nexus of criminal, terrorist and irregular warfare is being waged on a 24/7 basis here in our homeland.

So how do you go about fighting this 4th Generation (4GW) war comprised of well organized, decentralized, clandestine subjects operating in the cyber shadows?

This begins with creating an effective Information Sharing Environment (ISE), a fusion of who, what, when, how, where and maybe why. Defending the nation against the physical attacks of the likes of Al-Qaida or the virtual attacks from nation states has some very interesting similarities.

If the USCYBERCOM is going to take the fight to those who wish to copy, delete, probe, scan, flood, bypass, steal, modify and spoof their way across our Digital Infrastructure, it shall be charged with pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergies and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the information security environment.

Whether our troops are fast roping out of helicopters or behind the flat screen detecting and analyzing the stealth cyber attack, the approach to defeating the adversaries is much the same.

Infiltrating the "cells" and collecting valuable INTEL on the global enemy is what gives us the "Ground Truth." The commander for USCYBERCOM is already educated on the private sectors role in achieving this continuous and lofty goal of creating more decentralized and clandestine citizen soldiers.

As the private sector battles the non-state actors for preservation and protection of valuable intellectual property and customer data, corporations are simultaneously being attacked by adversarial plaintiff lawyers.

The private sector would enjoy having our government involved in more proactive efforts to seek out and stop these criminal and terrorist entities that prey on organizations that remain vulnerable.

The Operational Risks associated with litigation in the corporate enterprise are here to stay.

If the public and private sector can once and for all coordinate, collaborate and "Share Information", we can disrupt, capture, prosecute and defeat our cyber adversaries…

Memorial Day 2026: The Risk of Service is Understood...

 It is Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. and on this final Monday of May 2026, we shall reflect on years past.

In order to put it all in context, we looked back to our 2013 memories.  It was only a few weeks since a fellow colleague from Team Rubicon had ended his battle at home, after several tours of duty with AFSOC.  Neil had joined the ranks of those fallen heroes who survive deployment tagging and tracking the enemy in the Hindu Kush.  He was just one that day in early May that could not defeat the legacy of demons, that he fought each night as he fell deep asleep.

On Memorial Day 2026, we honor Neil again in Section 60 at Arlington Memorial Cemetery and all those other military members who have defended our freedoms for 250 years.

Simultaneously, we do the same for the "Stars" on the wall at Langley, VA for the officers who have done the same.

Whether you are on the front lines or inside the wire at the FOB.  Whether you are in Tampa, FL, Stuttgart, Germany or Arlington, VA.

Whether you are on your beat cruising the streets of a major metro USA city.  Whether you are watching a monitor at IAD, DEN or ORD.

Whether you are deep in AI analysis of Internet malware metadata or reviewing the latest GEOINT from an UAS.  We are all the same, in that the mission that gets each one of us out of bed each day.  Our countries "Operational Risk Management (ORM)."

The Operational Risk Management mission of the U.S. Homeland is vast and encompasses a spectrum of activity, both passive and kinetic.  Digital and physical.

It requires manpower and resources far beyond the capital that many developed countries of the world could to this day comprehend.  There are only a few places across the globe, where a normal citizen would say that the mission and the capital expenditures are worth every dollar and every drop of blood.

Memorial Day in the United States is exactly this:

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May.^[1] Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.^[2] Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service^[3].

So this weekend as you walk among the headstones, reflect on our colleagues who gave their service and their own lives, we will stand proud.

We understand the risks.  We know why we serve.  In the spotlight or in the shadows.  The tradition and the mission continues...

Independence Day 2025: Service Wisdom...

Who among mortal men are you, good friend? Since never before have I seen you in the fighting where men win glory, yet now you have come striding far out in front of all others in your great heart… —Homer, The Iliad

It was December 21, 2009 boarding a Delta flight with a newly published book in hand on a 10 day Christmas vacation in another country.

“Where Men Win Glory” The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer is a tragic story worth remembering as we contemplate our country the USA and all those brave men and women who have defended our freedom and our way of life.

As we approach our next July 4th weekend, this book caught my eye on the shelf as the thoughts of celebrating our United States of America birthday in 2025 came to mind.

Before you were wise, you as an American can’t truly know or understand it all, until you leave it. Until you travel far away across our globe to other countries and cities to see and feel the differences.

Most recently traveling on a Boeing 787 for 14 hours then another 7 hours to another place near the equator, this first gives you the real context of how enormous our Earth really is.

Secondly, spending weeks time in other countries that are foreign to you, provides you the vivid context on our United States in so many ways.

You learn why America included specific language in its “Constitution” as a new country and you can better understand what influence the United States has had on other parts of the world since it’s 1st birthday.

In early June 2002, Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin appeared at the Military Processing Station in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Later in the day, they signed away their freedom and recited the oath of enlistment, and received their orders to appear at Fort Benning Georgia on July, 8 2002.

Two years later Pat Tillman died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan after leaving behind a $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army.

How will you work in your own years ahead in America or OCONUS, to defend our freedoms and to help defeat evil across our small towns, our cities and vast metropolitan areas?

This 4th of July Independence Day weekend, think about how you will contribute to our great nation.

Maybe it begins by leaving it for a week or two, just to reveal what you will miss.

What you will feel. What you will better understand about the “How and “Why” we were founded as the United States of America.

"We as a nation have so much to learn from others across the world, and yet if you never travel outside your state or even your own country, how will you ever say you truly understand."

When you feel the same calling as Pat Tillman and his brother did about serving your country, figure out how you too will contribute.

How might you make a difference in fighting evil and making our country even better?

Get out there! How will you serve…

Memorial Day 2025: Remember Them...

On Memorial Day 2025 what do you think about and remember in memory of our fallen.

Those brave men and women in the USA who have defended our Flag and our Freedom for almost 250 years.

Walking through Arlington Cemetery anytime, or to a Funeral in Section 60 there, provides context on how much we value our country, our way of life and the people who call themselves true “Americans’.

“As we seek to shrink what remains of the Gap over the next several decades, we will rarely find societies adequately prepared—either intellectually or emotionally—for the travails that lie ahead. Instead, the elements most prepared will be the most willing to wage bloody resistance against this process: educated, worldly young men who are familiar with the future we offer and have already decided that it is corrupting beyond all reason. These revolutionaries and terrorists will wage wars of extreme perversity against both us and their own peoples, convinced as they are of their moral superiority in rooting out hypocrisy and heresy.”

The Pentagon’s New Map - BLUEPRINT For ACTION - A Future Worth Creating - Page 281- Thomas P.M. Barnett 2005

Over twenty years after reading this book, we are still at war. Memorial Day each year and many years ahead of us will be about our American citizens, who have served in our U.S. Military and lost their lives.

This Memorial Day weekend as you see the military ceremonies, or hear the fighter jets flying in formation over your city...now think about all those who have served behind the front lines, Visible and Invisible.

The “Quiet Professionals” in the United States who provide a spectrum of services, supplies and continuous information in support of securing our valuable freedom.

As you reread chapters of "BLUEPRINT FOR ACTION" while you watch our Flag waving in the wind, Remember Them…Never Forget, Always Be Ready!

Future Risk: What is True...

On the dawn before the next large public gathering across the world, Operational Risk Management (ORM) professionals are on edge.  Readiness and contingencies are at their highest level in anticipation of any globally televised event.

The same crisis management environment exists four or more times a year within the confines of the Board Room and Executive suite.

Operating at the "Speed of Business" and effectively managing daily, weekly, and quarterly risk management tasks requires an adaptive and resilient culture.  A culture that has been born and evolved from its Genesis to a daily run rate based upon two main components.

• Trust is the first one and to many a given in any high performing environment.  To be able to trust the person to your left and to your right requires many tests.  It builds over time yet it must start with the right elements and be nurtured for it to flourish.

• The second component is far more complex.  It requires you to embark on a continuous discipline with yourself and the people to your left and right, to know "What is True."

"What is True" means one set of reality for you and perhaps something different for those around you.  Your mission is to get to a single version and reality of what is true faster than your competition, your adversary or your partner.  Survival will be a factor of your speed to understanding as a team, "What is True" and then your adaptive nature to the consequences of your actions.

Are you accountable for your outcomes?  Have you accepted the consequences of your behavior?  So what does all of this have to do with Operational Risk Management?  It has everything to do with it. The most high consequence event to any risk matrix, is the fact that people do not see themselves or others in a "True" perspective.  They are not operating in reality.

What is your willingness to bring current problems to everyone to dissect, understand and solve?  Those who continue to operate without a proactive problem-solving environment are headed towards disaster.  Surprises.  Being blind-sided.  Never saw it coming.

When you hear people saying these things.  You have someone who has not been proactive in the continuous identification of problems and communicating those problems to the team to be solved.

You see, leadership is about continuously testing, designing and improving the process or the product.  The thinkers and the doers, the blueprint and the construction, the designers and the operators must be in a synchronous harmony together.

Ask yourself; how is this movie unfolding compared to the script that was written?  How has the change and the rate of change had consequences?  What have I and my team done to adapt, by changing the design or the people to achieve the mission? 

The "Speed of Business" is the environment and the successful outcome we all seek and is captured in three words.  "What is True."

Veterans Day 2024: Our Father U.S. Marine...

 Growing up as the first son of a U.S. Marine officer, you learn much of what it means to be a Veteran.

Loyalty. Dedication. Perseverance. Discipline. Trust. Integrity. Valor.

On this November 11, 2024 it is Veterans Day in the United States of America. A day in America to pause and to acknowledge those who made the decision to serve, in a branch of our Armed Forces.

As a young man approaching graduation of high school the Vietnam War was in full swing and conscription was a weekly discussion around the dinner table. Will your number be called?

The defense of an entire country requires a tremendous number of people to operate at home and across the entire globe.

Some veterans had the opportunity to travel across continents and were stationed in foreign countries. Our men and women were sailing across oceans on the surface and others deep undersea. They were flying whenever and wherever needed to go head-to-head with the evil people and forces in our world.

Veterans from around the USA put their lives in the hands of our country to protect our loved ones and our way of life here.

Veterans who have served our nation honorably have a real understanding of what it means to sacrifice, to work beyond exhaustion, to feel proud of becoming an expert in skills, knowledge and special activities experience.

In years past, as our colleagues waited for the hospital van to arrive on the shore of the Potomac River inside Ft. Belvoir, we prepared for the weekend warriors who wanted to go fishing.

The 501c3 we volunteered to assist would come each weekend over the summer to teach Ft. Belvoir veterans to fly fish or just try and catch a fish on that day. In the sunshine, outdoors and outside the hospital.

Years later, on one weekend when Dad was in his mid 80’s, we drove down I-95 to Quantico VA to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

He could not believe all of the memories coming back to him. 90 Minutes later, as we pulled out of the parking lot to Fuller Road, we looked to the right and saw the entrance to the base where he had attended Officer Candidate School (OCS).

“Let’s go in there he commanded”. So as we approached the gate and pulled up to the Guard, then we said: “This U.S. Marine would like to enter and to drive through the base where he learned to become a First Lieutenant.

The guard asked, “Let me see your Drivers Licenses”. “OK, go ahead he said as we then drove through the gate.”

This is when it really started to sink in. Where and why our Dad learned all about being a leader of U.S. Marines and soon thereafter a devoted Father.

"On this Veterans Day in America, we say thank you."

For all that you have done to protect the American people and our United States to keep us safe…and to learn to serve with pride...

November 11: Serving the United States by the Other 99%...

 The United States Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year on November 11th at Arlington National Cemetery.

Standing there with family and as the son of a U.S. Marine in 2015, the ceremony commences precisely at 11:00 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans' organizations and remarks from dignitaries.

The ceremony is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces. This represents less than 1% of Americans.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”  -John F. Kennedy-

How many Soldiers will be on active duty around the globe on November 11 working in their current role, task or assignment, to keep America safe and secure?  So those of us who call the United States their home, may exercise their freedoms and the citizens rights that our nations architects designed for us.

How may Airman will be walking the streets in parades remembering their flights over the Pacific, Vietnam, the Atlantic, Europe, South America, North Africa or the Middle East?  What about all those pilots that have flown at such a high altitude; never to be detected over Russia, North Korea or China?

How many Sailors and Marines will be cruising on, over or under our vast oceans to be present and ready, for our next mission to help others?  How many Submariners will never be detected on their 24 x 7 watch; or with SOF waiting patiently below deck for their next clandestine operation, anywhere in the world?

So on Saturday, November 11, what will you be doing, John or Mary Q. Citizen, in Anytown U.S.A.?

For some Veterans who experience this day of recognition, it is not easy.  It could be a day that is simultaneously bitter sweet.  There is certainly great pride, yet some within the 1% who are Veterans, look around the country and wonder why the other 99% are not serving their nation, in their full capacity as a U.S. citizen.

Service to your nation doesn't begin or end with a job in the military.  Service to your nation begins for everybody who becomes an American.  What does that mean?

It means that we stand up and believe in the U.S. Constitution.  We defend and negotiate all that it says and what it enables for us to accomplish for ourselves, our families and our fellow believers.  You see, the freedoms and the opportunity to prosper in the United States is there for anybody to grasp.  For anybody to achieve.

To honor and thank those who have served in the Military on Veterans Day, requires so much more:

• Will you "sleep in" on your day off or volunteer with the local church or non-profit to teach Veterans how to be more effective in the transition to a civilian private sector job?
• Will you design and code the next iPhone App to locate other Vets in your local town or city to assist each other and your community?
• Will you meet with local business owners to plan, raise funds and deploy vital programs for families of Veterans?
• Will you vote to fund and allocate adequate resources for the operations necessary and requested, by those forward deployed on the front lines, in uniform and also in the shadows?

The opportunities to serve our country and all of our Veterans November 11, requires a continuous cycle of thinking beyond just the Soldier, Airman, Sailor or Marine.

It also requires more proof, that a majority of the other 99%, are also serving their country and all that the United States stands for in the world.

So this November 11, listen to John F. Kennedy...

Memorial Day: A Prosperous Journey…

On this Memorial Day 2022 in the United States, we mourn all those brave and patriotic American men and women who have served our country and are now on watch in heaven.

Raising our Red, White and Blue American flag today brings tears to our eyes. It reminds us of all that have raised their hand to volunteer and all those who we have lost, to insure our flag is a beacon to the rest of the world.

If you have ever attended a funeral in Arlington National Cemetery...you know what feeling comes over you.

Standing there, when you read the birth dates in Section 60 and you realize how young they were and all those before them. 

Defending our own country and all those others who are unable to defend themselves, from perpetual evil forces.

You see, only people who have served and perhaps even their own close family members, truly understand.

Standing there, on a glorious sunny afternoon in Virginia, watching a tearful Mother as she is handed the U.S. Flag carefully folded into a triangle, is an image one shall never forget.

You see, until you have been there, how could you understand what our Memorial Day is truly about.

The Dedication. The Service. The Sweat and Tears. The Courage. The Pride. The Ultimate Sacrifice.

Godspeed…

Noun: a prosperous journey

Fortitude: Presidents to U.S. First Responders...

On the 3rd Monday of February in the United States, our country takes a day to reflect. To remember, and acknowledge and to honor our American Presidents.

It is a federal holiday specifically honoring George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was the first president of the United States.

Teachers in schools may focus on student projects around our US Presidents and the dawn of our Republic. A form of government in which “supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives”.

This day of pause, celebration or study of history shall also include a tribute to all of our “First Responders” across our great nation. Those men and women on the front lines of our democracy that are always on watch. Those who are in action each day, to defend our freedom and our Republic from disasters and evil.

As the pace of the economy across the globe includes new inventions, new technology and new laws; our governments must work in synchronized step with all of our First Responders.

Those individuals who are consistently scanning the horizon, analyzing dashboards of continuous streams of new sensor data, researching the changes in our respective environments and Areas of Responsibility (AOR) to better understand.

Yet these individuals require more. The First Responders who 24 hours x 365 days are continuously Understanding, Making Decisions and Acting in order to address the continuous integrity and constant peace of our great nation, require more.

"Our U.S. First Responders require a continuous set of resources, innovative new tools and training to apply the leading solutions for the United States security, response and resilience. From Liberty Crossing to NORAD. From Pennsylvania Ave to Pacific Coast Highway.

How might a small group of First Responders gather in a particular geographic area of our country to research, develop and deliver new valuable innovations to protect our Republic?"

How might we include industry and academia in an acceleration of information exchange and testing of new prototypes?

One good example is the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) that is again taking place primarily in Southern California over the next six months. Activities will focus on the examination of capabilities by public and private sector stakeholders in the following areas:

• 
Critical infrastructure security, threat mitigation, and incident response
• 
In-service engineering, maintenance, and sustainment of surface fleet and expeditionary combat systems
• Port and maritime domain awareness, data fusion, and decision support
• 
Augmented and virtual reality modeling, simulation, and digital engineering
• 
Unmanned systems applications, implementation, and countermeasures

Yet whether we are creating new learning environments for our First Responders on Land, Sea, Space and Cyber domains, we shall always remember.

On this Presidents Day 2022, Americans who are true First Responders will continuously seek out new opportunities to learn more.

They will collaborate to test and innovate their own new ideas and inventions to preserve our Republic. To make their own neighborhood even more safe and secure.

They will act with bravery and their own fortitude, just as George Washington did and all those who have followed him…

USA: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…

As the United States celebrates our July 4th weekend, 245 years of what it means to be a true American is ever more present.

Our nation’s Flag, which shows 50 White stars on a Blue background and 13 Red & White stripes, is a symbolic reminder of what America stands for and where our journey began almost two and a half centuries ago.

How might we continuously improve and defend our Nation, as new global opportunities emerge and new challenges are understood?

What is certain, are the words written in our Declaration of Independence in 1776. As the world views and listens to the “United States of America”, what does it see and hear?

If you asked ten people at a 4th of July parade in “Anytown, USA” on Sunday:

What is Independence Day and what does it mean? How many people asked would know the correct answer?

When the author of the Declaration of Independence became our third President, he knew the country was in for tremendous challenges ahead. What was his name?

Did you get the question correct?

Thomas Jefferson, was a Lawyer and a Christian. He was just 33 year old and our Revolutionary War had just started, when his famous words were written for a formal declaration of independence.

Our U.S. Constitution was not signed until 11 years later in 1787.

As you celebrate this unique American Holiday, think deeply about our history…

Think about all those Americans who have died, in their allegiance to our Flag and the Constitution of the United States.

Americans who have died so you too, could truly experience freedom…

Memorial Day 2021: We the People...

On this Memorial Day weekend 2021, we remember those who have given us their Military service, their dedication and their time, and their own life. To help ensure our U.S. citizens, with a lifetime of “Liberty”.

Definition of liberty

1 : the quality or state of being free:

The men and women of the United States, who are buried in Arlington Memorial Cemetery or some other place in America, today we thank you again.

“From Sea to Shining Sea, this land we fight to preserve and the actions we take to “Protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States” is in our hearts, and in our minds every day.”

So it is the true dedication, discipline and the real work of these great Americans, that we recognize, on holidays such as this annual Memorial Day.

Who will you remember today? What is their name? How did you know them? When did they serve? Where did they serve? Why were they so dedicated to their mission?

You see, beneath every headstone there is a person, who has their own personal reasons and their particular story.

On this day we shall also recognize all those “First Responders” with courage, who uphold and defend our chosen way of life in America.

Never forget those “Quiet Professionals” who run towards danger, or who devote their time to truly Understand, Decide and Act.

Yet what shall you “Do” today to make a difference in America?

How about if we all start with a prayer in our our own place of worship, the day before Memorial Day?

A prayer for our fellow “American Citizens” to be kind. To pray that Mothers and Fathers here, will teach our children about our history and why so many have died.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

4th of July: Celebrate the Feeling...

As the wind caught the United States Flag in the early evening light, the Pacific Ocean was in the air.  Stepping back and looking up, a prayer was repeated, for our great Nation.

On this eve of the 4th of July birth of our American Republic, we stand proud.  As an American, you really never understand what that really means, until you leave it; for weeks, months or years for travel somewhere else in this world.

You see, it is a feeling that comes over you.  It is real.  And you can only feel it, if you leave our great country and travel to other places.  Many Americans have no idea what this feeling really is.  Yet, for those of us who have been to Africa, or Australia or Europe or the Middle East, or Asia or South America, or the Moon, you understand.

What is this feeling?  You start to feel it when you touch down on the tarmac and your plane pulls up to the terminal at IAD, LAX, DEN, DFW, ORD, or JFK.  As you walk into Border Control and Customs and you pull out that beautiful Dark Blue Passport, with the Golden Eagle on the cover, it starts to grow inside you.

You say to yourself.  It is good to be home...

For the millions of Americans who have served in our Armed Forces, or other government service overseas this feeling is overwhelming.

The millions of Americans that travel abroad for business or vacations will also feel it.  If they are gone long enough, or depending on where their geographic destinations happened to be, while they were gone.

Yet the feeling goes even a step further.  Especially, if you are an "American Patriot".

When you truly understand American history and what it truly means, in our vast world of Nations, looking at our "Stars & Stripes" alone, makes you shed a tear.

This Independence Day, celebrate the feeling...

National Security: LC-39A and Beyond...

As SpaceX launched two U.S. NASA Astronauts into orbit on Saturday from LC-39A, many of us were joyful.  We are experiencing the outcomes from a long journey back to true collaboration, between government agencies and the private sector industrial complex.

The new problem-sets ahead of us and the continuous ability for dual-use technologies to span both the government sector and the commerial markets will be challenging.  One thing is certain.

We will persevere in this "Infinite Game" and the U.S. will utilize the best and the brightest methods of innovation to achieve our ambitions for space travel ahead.  Our imagination will carry us far beyond any horizon we can visualize, especially in creating more effective public-private partnerships.

How might a "Moonshot and Beyond" way of thinking across America, accelerate us towards a new future state?  What will we do to utilize the way our brightest minds think and do almost everything different today?

The combination of decades of experience with "Baby Boomers" integrating with the ingenuity and "Will Do" aspirations of our new Generations that are just getting their wings, is our real opportunity.

The opportunity to forge substantial break throughs in engineering, software development and a variety of autonomous vehicles.  The opportunity to develop expendable sensors and low cost tools, to continuously protect our nation.  The chance to put a man on Mars and beyond.

Legacy platforms of the past, that have kept us from a true technological revolution, must finally go to the grave.  Our National Security and livelihood now depends on it.

Open minds and investment capital in the hands of the right organizations, will propel us into a future we all know is possible.  Academia fusion with venture mind-sets builds the stage for innovation.  Yet what real-world problems from government and industry can be solved?

The emerging use-cases are vast and requires only our continuous imagination...

Memorial Day 2020: Understand | Decide | Act...

Walking through Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend is a stark reminder of the Operational Risk Management challenges we have faced these past 19+ years.  One example can be found in the budget at the Pentagon, on how to defeat the IED.

Billions of dollars are devoted to the strategies and tactics to keep U.S. "boots on the ground" on foreign lands from becoming KIA, an amputee or another invisible wound such as Traumatic Brain Injury or Post Traumatic Stress.

Regardless of the dollars devoted, many grave markers in Section 60 have birth dates in the 1980's and 1990's.  Standing there remembering Neil, a tear rolled down a cheek and the wind quickly blew it away...

"Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May.^[1] Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.^[2] Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service^[3]."

If you are currently in the military we will thank you for your courage of service on Veterans Day, as we have before.  This day however, is for those in the U.S. forces who have died while serving.

Simultaneously, we must thank all of the other "Operational Risk Management" subject matter experts.  The "Quiet Professionals" who operate everyday in the shadows.  We hope that their decisions will continue to be the right ones.  They live each day with the burden of managing risk decisions, that could send another U.S. patriot on their way to Section 60 or a remembrance "Star" on the wall at Langley.

Whether you are a Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Family or Friend, this Federal Holiday is your day of memorial to your loved one(s).

Some would say that our country is currently at a degree of War.  Even though there is no official written declaration, that has been written and published to the world.

Yet, these three words, in this order, and in that continuous "Chain," means everything to those who have served and will serve our United States. 

    > Understand.

    > Decide.

    > Act.

Until the day, that all our military and all of our true "First Responders" decide, that America is no longer worth fighting for, these three words will consume them.

Thank you for being there...

Old to New: Accelerating the Velocity of Decision Advantage...

Trust Decisions in the innovation environment requires entrepreneurs, who are willing to risk their reputation and to build new cognitive bridges.

The vulnerability of solving new found problem-sets outside of your organizational safe zone, with a new set of people, is just the beginning.

As your new TEAM works side-by-side, through hours, weeks and months of tame dialogue, heated arguments and little sleep, the level of cultural trust quickly rises.

It does not matter if this occurs in a new business unit within the private sector, or out on the frontier in an austere world at the Forward Operating Base (FOB).

This place on the edge was created to be a strategic unit with tactical objectives.  Call it a "Skunkworks", an "Outpost" or some other clever xxWERX name.  It really does not matter.  Yet everyone knows that the core mission is still relatively unknown.

The reward becomes, that someone of significant rank, or a vital customer, who recognizes that the new idea, new prototype or new invention is truely a game changer.  An outlier.  A true "Decision Advantage".

Walking across that virtual bridge from the "Old" to the "New," from the normal to the abnormal or from the design of a market copy cat to a disruption market leader, is what this initiative is really all about.

So how do you do it?  In order to set the stage, you might start here:

Col. John Cogbill, chief of staff of the Joint Special Operations Command, discusses how to leverage Silicon Valley's "secret sauce" to encourage the MacGyvers in your ranks.

The methods and the process are constantly evolving.  Yet the core thinking and the integration of the various cultures that synchronize together, in a proven innovation journey is the real mission.

A few months before Col. Cogbill's podcast, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published the 120+ page Independent Task Force Report #77, "Innovation and National Security - Keeping Our Edge.

What happens when you put a Task Force together with a combination of Special Operations Commanders, Venture Capitalists, Private Sector Leaders and Management Consultants?

"A new U.S. innovation strategy should be based on four pillars: funding, talent, technology adoption, and technology alliances and ecosystems. Action is required over the next five years." (TFR Innovation Strategy P. 17).

You will have to read the report in it's entirety to form your own thoughts and conclusions on what needs to happen in your own local ecosystem of innovation.

Yet, suffice it to say, the people on the "Task Force" understand the real challenges.  They know first hand the National Security threats.  They realize we all have to accelerate and simultaneously collaborate.

So how might you build some bridges this month from the "Old" to the "New"?

Why will your mission create a foundation to increase the velocity of your TrustDecisions to gain Decision Advantage...

ORM: Pervasive Risk Across Disciplines...

What is the origin of the "Operational Risk Management" (ORM) discipline? Was it derived from the work within the financial services industry from the Basel II initiatives?

The definitions and the actual work towards creating standards of conduct and rule-based design has been evolving for the past few decades.

Operational Risk and the approach to risk that is not otherwise considered to be market or credit risk, is one mind set. The other mind set considers the hazards associated with the threat to our valuable assets.

Either point of view depends on the environment that you operate in and the risks associated with that environment.

To give a quick example, here are a few views into Operational Risk in the United States:

"It didn’t take long—the first attack on a U.S. government website hit on Saturday, a day after the killing of Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad. The fact there was an attack is not a surprise—speculation has been rife. And the style of the attack is consistent with the nature of the primary cyber threat we now face. Hackers claiming to be linked to Iran targeted a low-level domain—the website of the Federal Depository Library Program—defacing its home page, echoing Teheran’s threats of vengeance alongside imagery of President Trump, Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian flag" Forbes

"Boeing will still burn more than $1 billion a month even after halting 737 Max production, according to J.P. Morgan.  Boeing’s decision to stop suspend production of the troubled aircraft was made in light of months of cash-draining groundings worldwide, but the company’s internal overhead and labor expenses will remain and will increase cash burn, analyst Seth Seifman wrote to clients."  CNBC

These examples encompass a U.S. government agency and a private sector U.S.-based global aerospace company.  Both are operational risk scenarios that could contribute to losses that will also impact the reputation of the entity involved.

That aspect alone, could be the major factor in why Operational Risk Management is such a growing discipline in our 2020 global landscape.

Some of the earliest origins of the Operational Risk concerns come from the military. The U.S. Navy is one of the branches who has embraced it fully:

• Purpose. To establish policy, guidelines, procedures, and responsibilities per reference (a), standardize the operational risk management (ORM) process across the Navy, and establish the ORM training continuum.
• Scope. This instruction applies to all Navy activities, commands, personnel, and contractors under the direct supervision of government personnel.
• Discussion. Risk is inherent in all tasks, training, missions, operations, and in personal activities no matter how routine. The most common cause of task degradation or mission failure is human error, specifically the inability to consistently manage risk. ORM reduces or offsets risks by systematically identifying hazards and assessing and controlling the associated risks allowing decisions to be made that weigh risks against mission or task benefits. As professionals, Navy personnel are responsible for managing risk in all tasks while leaders at all levels are responsible for ensuring proper procedures are in place and that appropriate resources are available for their personnel to perform assigned tasks. The Navy vision is to develop an environment in which every officer, enlisted, or civilian person is trained and motivated to personally manage risk in everything they do.

If only our major business entities would would fully encompass the following steps with all employees and processes then more lives would be saved, corporate assets would be protected and the enterprise would be ever more resilient:

(1) Identify the hazards;

(2) Assess the hazards;

(3) Make risk decisions;

(4) Implement controls; and

(5) Supervise.

Yet the losses and the potential for loss continues across the organizations who are well equipped to make Operational Risk Management a part of every person and operating divisions daily mind set:

The places change, the numbers change, but the choice of weapon remains the same. In the United States, people who want to kill a lot of other people most often do it with guns.

The number of U.S. mass shootings depends on how you count

Public mass shootings account for a tiny fraction of the country’s gun deaths, but they are uniquely terrifying because they occur without warning in the most mundane places. Most of the victims are chosen not for what they have done but simply for where they happen to be.

There is no universally accepted definition of a public mass shooting, and this piece defines it narrowly. It looks at the 172 shootings in which four or more people were killed by a lone shooter (two shooters in a few cases). It does not include shootings tied to robberies that went awry, and it does not include domestic shootings that took place exclusively in private homes. A broader definition would yield much higher numbers.

Whether it is on the deck of an aircraft carrier or within any organizations business facility, operational risk is pervasive. It is up to you and your organization to begin to make a difference...

Veterans Day 2019: A Spectrum of American Service...

What do we all have in common on this Veterans Day 2019?  Walking through the atrium of the U.S. National Museum of the Marine Corps, reminds us what this day is really all about, in our history and as a whole of nation.

Yet those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms and our country, know first hand what being part of the 1% really means.

The average American walking down Main street watching the parades today, may not have the same context, experienced the same fear, nor truly understands what it means to protect the person to the right or left of you, or on the invisible front lines of this United States of America.

Our highly trained military "First Responders" deployed to foreign lands have many of the same experiences with our own Domestic "First Responders" in keeping our citizens, families and our governments safe and resilient.

Walking through the cafeteria at dinner time and witnessing the young and eager faces, at any of our "National Academies" across America, is an inspiring experience and an emotional reminder to each of us.

These young and eager Americans being trained in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnissance, hope they never will have to use the other lethal tools they may be learning about and training with, to become experts.

Others know that the new skills and experience they are gaining in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, Logistics and Navigating, Operating or Flying sophisticated new platforms, makes a vital difference each day.

Whether you have worked on many missions overseas, or in the metro areas of Washington, DC, Chicago or Los Angeles on a daily basis, you wake up each morning with a mutual purpose.  A thought pattern that drives you to improve the safety and the security of your collective team each minute, of each day.

Veterans Day in America celebrates the service of all U.S. military roles, whether they be on the front lines of the battle in the air, space or on the ground and continuously in our growing digital domains.

God Bless you all and Godspeed!