Feral Jundi

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

History: Sun Tzu and His Army of 360 Concubines

Filed under: History,Leadership — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:59 PM

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu and His Army of 360 Concubines

     The king of Wu tested Sun’s skills by commanding him to train a harem of 360 concubines into soldiers. Sun divided them into two companies, appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as the company commanders. When Sun first ordered the concubines to face right, they giggled. In response, Sun said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun then ordered the execution of the king’s two favored concubines, to the king’s protests. He explained that if the general’s soldiers understood their commands but did not obey, it was the fault of the officers. Sun also said that once a general was appointed, it was their duty to carry out their mission, even if the king protested. After both concubines were killed, new officers were chosen to replace them. Afterward, both companies performed their maneuvers flawlessly.

   Sima’s biography claims that Sun later proved on the battlefield that his theories were effective, that he had a successful military career, and that he wrote The Art of War based on his tested expertise. His descendant, Sun Bin, also became a famous scholar of the military arts.

Link Here.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Building Snowmobiles: The Attack By Fire and the Super-empowered Individual

“It’s a schemer who put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. Look where it got you. I just did what I do best-I took your plan and turned it on itself. Look what I have done to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple bullets. Nobody panics when the expected people get killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plans are horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will get blown up, nobody panics. But when I say one little old mayor will die, everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey? It’s fair. “-The Joker, from the movie Dark Knight

     This is a building snowmobiles post for the simple reason that no one else is covering this arsonist story or fire in this way (minus maybe War Nerd), or really getting into the concepts of the ‘attack by fire’.  Oyler, the arsonist, is the ultimate definition of the super-empowered individual, and truly symbolizes a modern day Joker.  Fortunately, he will be meeting the same fate as that character.

   Now of course I will not give a DIY class about using the attack by fire, but I do want to give a hint to the reader that this is stuff we need to be thinking about.  Lets just say it should be in your toolbox of ideas, so you know how to defend against it. But according to the Geneva Convention, fire as an offensive weapon has been ruled out, hence why flame throwers are not used anymore. (I posted the protocol below)  But if you read through it, it lists everything a terrorist or an insurgent wouldn’t mind doing to achieve a goal.  So learning how to defend against it, is key.

     But back to the attack by fire and the super-empowered individual.  What Oyler did, is exactly what arsonists do, and that is get off on lighting fires.  He had been perfecting his technique all summer in 2006, and the Esperanza Fire was his so called ‘masterpiece of chaos’.  So what can we learn from this tragic event? I will attempt to answer that question, both from a smokejumper/forest fire fighter position, and from a security professional position, and also delve into the attack by fire from a warfighter and strategist point of view.  

     As a smokejumper, I fought many forest fires throughout the west.  We would fight the small fires, and we would fight the big fires, it didn’t matter.  We would fight naturally started fires(lightening started) and we would fight man made fires (trash fires, thrown cigarettes, etc.).  But the most disheartening and frightening fires, are the ones set by arsonists.  Especially arsonists that know what they are doing.

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