Mehmed Ali’s Post

in my latest episode, I share a concern related to the issue of the Space National Guard....the push by its opponents for a Federal only, single component service is a push for the consolidation of military power from the Constitutional, State-Federal balanced model to one alien to our system. Are the American people and their representatives in the States wanting to see their influence and checks on military power go away? National Institute for Deterrence Studies https://lnkd.in/eWb-dwh6

While future conflicts will undoubtedly be fought over oil, there are many strategic resources that may result in conflicts over new and emerging strategic resources, such as rare earth minerals, lithium, semiconductors, and other strategic resources such as AI development and drones. What can the U.S., allied, and partner nations do to ensure these resources are not weaponized by adversaries as oil and natural gas have been used by Russia. Increasingly, the strategic resource of semiconductor competition by the U.S. and China has become an emerging threat. Join this important discussion by submitting to the Journal of Advanced Military Studies—we welcome submissions from allied and partner nations, officers from all U.S. services, and academics from all fields that touch on this topic. See the call for papers here: https://lnkd.in/eeYbhTne (Due 31 December 2024) - #strategicresources #departmentofdefense #marinecorps #army #airforce #marinecorpsuniversity #NATO #China #semiconductors #Iran #drones

Upcoming deadline for the spring 2025 issue of the Journal of Advanced Military Studies on strategic resources and national security. The deadline for submissions is 31 December 2024. For more information, including submission guidelines, see https://lnkd.in/eybBWCyF. #nationalsecurity #strategicresources #Russia #China #greatpowercompetition #departmentofdefense #MarineCorps #NATO

What is everyone's thoughts on a monthly Q&A panel with folks who have separated and/or retired from the military. It would be a way for anyone that's still serving to get insight. Thoughts?!

Between 1995 and 2015, not a single US Defense Secretary set foot in Silicon Valley, showing the misalignment of the world's most dynamic technology sector and the world's most powerful military. Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War by Raj M. Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff

So insightful. The best plans really are forged in simplicity.

Just this. Keep it simple folks. All comms, as simple as it can be. Especially comms plans. I never even used to write comms plans - now I do them for two reasons: 1) Because I’ve become extremely forgetful and with a huge workload, spinning multiple plates, am likely to forget what needs doing if it’s not written down and planned in to the forward look/grid/schedule, then it might not happen. 2) because non-comms people sometimes just need to see it written down. We’re still a “new” profession. A profession that often everyone thinks that can just do. So writing it down, breaking it down, explaining the dos and don’ts, the why, the why not etc, can sometimes just be enough to remind those not in the comms profession that they’re in a safe pair of hands 🤲

Now that I'm "out" I finally feel the freedom to confidently say if you want to increase military retention, you have to start with military families. I heard a prominent military spouse share the anecdote that service members are beautiful flowers, and military spouses are the, ahem, fertilizer they need to grow (keeping it profesh for the LinkedIn crowd). Frankly, that's exactly how it feels most days as a military spouse - and I'm one of the lucky ones with a remote career, who is not underemployed, and currently loves where we live. Think about it: in what world would you, at most, want to be second-best to your spouse? You cannot plan anything from vacations to five-year plans with any certainty, much less where you might live. You give up everything you know: friends, family, support, hair stylists (this one is tough), doctors, etc., to follow someone else around and support their career - one that often leaves you on your own. And yet, we do it. I did it for 18 years, and it was hard, and I had to fight for silver linings. I know the military has much, much bigger issues than caring about spouses, but here's an idea: don't move folks around so much. In the civilian world, it's rare to ship you off to different locations every two-to-three years - especially when you have to travel so much for work, anyway. Also, it would save the military precious dollars. It's not that simple of a solution, but taking care of families will go a long way with military retention.

REAIMSummit day one is already one of the best topic expert group I have ever heard from. From real military generals, head of defense ministries of all countries, AI decision and policy makers - much needed open discussion on how we must take AI forward especially in the military domain. Looking forward to my plenary session tomorrow. https://lnkd.in/gMx426QS

In honor of Veteran's Day, our facilitator of the employee resource group Coalition Veterans, Blake Feldman, shared his experience transitioning from the military to a civilian workforce. "While the imagery of home, family, and friends can be joyous, there’s also a sense of deep loss as a veteran learns to deal with the fact that their military service is only a chapter in the book of their whole life." Read the full Q&A to learn how employers can improve the transition for veterans and how we can overcome challenges that result from unconscious bias: https://bit.ly/4emneJO