The Pentagon Purge, Technology's Terrors, and the Unfreedom of the Seas

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First of all, thanks to all of you last week for your kind comments and notes about Shane DiGiovanna. Your kind comments, emails, and donations to his charity mean a lot. As longtime readers know, I wear quite a few hats here at The Bulwark. Among my favorite things, aside from writing profiles, is being in the “meatspace” with our people.

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ICYMI:

The Pentagon Purge and the Moral High Ground

Mark Hertling · Apr 7

LAST FRIDAY, I WAS STANDING on the high ground above the Gettysburg battlefield with a group of MBA students I teach when the lesson we were studying came into focus. Not just for them, but in a powerful way, for me. We were conducting a battle staff ride, walking terrain that has been studied for more than 160 years, learning lessons in leadership and decision-making from events over the course of three days in July 1863. Our battlefield guide, a retired marine with the kind of quiet authority that comes from knowing both history and the realities of war, pointed out to these aspiring business executives what every soldier comes to know: that high ground is decisive terrain because it provides not just a tactical advantage, but perspective. It allowed leaders to see, to anticipate, and to act with clarity when others do not.