President-Elect Obama has just announced that he has picked Democrat Leon Panetta for Director of the CIA. Leon served as White House Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, and before that was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 1993. Panetta took part in the 2006 Iraq Study Group. –Matt
Wikipedia for Leon Panetta here.
This really grabbed my attention, because it touched upon a technological reality of today’s work force, to include even our workforce. This is an idea that seeks to work with the mindset of today’s younger generation, and certainly enhances a learning organization capabilities. Did you hear that? Yes, learning organizations is the theme for any company and it’s culture or even today’s military and it’s culture if they want to be successful. And constant feedback is essential for the health of that learning organization. It is not good enough to do a yearly review, or a monthly review. Today’s youth, and I would argue even our older work force (once familiar) would want more feedback about how they are doing, if there was a technology available to them to make that an easy process. Emails and forums are ok, but they are not specifically designed for feedback generation, so what next?
Enter Rypple. This is still in the Beta, and only a handful of companies are using this, but it is some radical stuff. It is a evolving program, that is free to sign up with, that has created a tool for the free flow of feedback, back and forth between bosses, mentors, and employees. I challenge today’s security contracting community to take a hard look at this kind of thing, and see if this is something they could use. Your older workers might be intimidated by this, but your younger workers might really appreciate this tool.
Imagine, you feel really bad about your performance at the range or on a mission, and you want to get some feedback about how you did or what you could have done differently from some of your cherished mentors or instructors or team leaders. But scheduling time or circumstance just couldn’t allow that to happen. Using a system like Rypple, where you ask the question of your network, and they answer back(or at least a few of them) so that you can get that feedback could be the answer. I guess you could use an email or forum, or you could use something that is actually designed to facilitate this feedback network. And for bosses and employees that hate doing evaluations every year or every month, something like this would be cheap and easy to do as a form of evaluations. Every company should be using evaluations, so that everyone knows where they stand in the company and how they are doing. Rypple would be a very easy program to initiate.
I just finished watching this and it was very interesting. The parts that I really clued in on were the activities in the prisons and on the streets of Gaza, and how Hamas has been treating the people. The use of torture and murder by Hamas, to find and eliminate informants, has really disgusted many in Gaza–to include this son of a Hamas leader. Some call the fighting between Fatah and Hamas and others–the Intrafada, or Palestinian killing Palestinian. It is a problem in Gaza, and because of these power grabs, the Israelis are able to get informants that want to eliminate their competitors.
So to follow up on how significant informants have been in this war, and over the years, this is proof positive of their impact. Check it out, and with the link I provided below, just keep following each part at the end of the video. It is like six parts, with up to 8 minutes per part.
Also, Mosab has certainly created a stir within Hamas and throughout the muslim world. He has numerous death threats against him, and I really feel for the guy. It took a lot of courage to choose a path that millions of people completely disagree with. So what made him convert? The paranoia mixed with torture and murder that Hamas used against the people, and one little idea out of the bible that really struck him. Love thy enemy… It’s hard to imagine that an idea like this could have such an impact, but if this guy came from a highly religious and spiritual family anyways, then that makes sense. –Matt
——————————————————————
Escape from Hamas
Escape from Hamas airs Saturday January 3 at 9 p.m., with repeats at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. EST, and Sunday January 4 at 9 p.m., with repeats at 12 midnight, 2 a.m., EST.
“As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders try to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, one former member of the militant Islamic organization said there will never be lasting peace between the two groups.
Well, here we go. Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of Techno War. This is the reality of today’s wars, and I think it is smart to take a serious look at what is being used. Just like with politics, and how instrumental social networking was for Obama in his fundraising and campaign endeavors, the internet and social networking will be used for information war.
Below I have posted all of the stories I could find about how Israel is using these technologies. Wired’s Danger Room has done a great job in reporting on these technologies, and I will try to expand on that a little. So let me touch on a few of the interesting ones for the sake of conversation.
First and foremost, the one tactic that has helped Israel the most in this war, is informants. And specifically, informants that hate Hamas, which would mean Fatah party members. Or they get informants through money or leverage, but either way, informants are the ones that help the most in this war. Informants identify leaders and munitions, and report on any actions of the enemy–all extremely useful for the war. Hamas knows this too, and they are extremely paranoid about informants. They are so paranoid, that they use torture and murder to find out who the informants are, and this is a little reported fact of life in Gaza. Fox News did a great story about how Hamas dealt with informants using torture and murder, and how that only helped to drive Palestinians away. (please see the Escape from Hamas story)
This story is about a year old, and came out before I started this blog. I want to thank Scott for sending me this, so I could post it here for everyone to check out. Most would be surprised how often contractors have come to the aid of the military in the war, and vice versa. It comes from a mutual respect and a sense of helping out one another as best we can. The military has saved numerous contractor lives through medevac operations in this war or coming to our defense during some bad deals, and contractors always remember how important that relationship with the military is. The military are the ones with the big guns and air support as well, and there is no competition with them–they are king in this war. So this myth that some how contractors and military don’t get along out there, or we are a threat to the military, is just stupid. Besides that, most of us are all prior military anyways, and we understand the military mindset and culture very well. Semper Fi. –Matt
——————————————————————-
Somewhere out in western Anbar.
Quick response by munitions clearance team in Iraq helps stranded Marines
Jan 24, 2008
BY Kim Gillespie, USACE
Huntsville Center’s Coalition Munitions Clearance program personnel assist at the scene of a Marine Corps tank accident in Western Iraq. The accident left the Marines’ communication equipment and main guns inoperative. CMC personnel secured the area and called a Medical Evacuation helicopter for one seriously injured Marine. Photo by Tim Bohannon (USACE)
The Soldier’s Creed states, “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” Army Civilian and contractor employees feel the same way.
Powered by WordPress