They were waiting for him when he arrived. They had never met him before but despite their difference in service, he was unquestionably their Brother.
They were six US Navy SEAL Officers. One, an O-6 US Navy Captain, the Commander. A second, the operations officer, a Lieutenant Commander and the other four were brand new BUDS graduates… all on their first deployment. All 1st LTs or JGs.
As he arrived, they met him at the ramp to the emergency room door. They moved silently, three to a side, and they, not the medical team, carried him into the ER where they surrounded him as the Chaplain read him his last rights.
When the Chaplin was done the Operations Officer ordered a hand salute… then for the next sixteen hours in 120-degree heat the young, brand new BUDS graduates, on their first deployment, stood the watch over him until the C-130 came to bring him home to his Family for the final time… their lives changed forever.
There are no words to express how the Brotherhood of War really works. As a Nation, we could not be more lucky to have American’s who selfless leave their families to go to war to protect us all… and give it all… and the Brotherhood and Sisterhood that serves alongside them every step of the way.
God Bless you and your Family… and thank you all beyond words.
I’m overseas right now and the schedule is a 24/7 work schedule. The hours are insane but we try hard to keep our schedule lite on Sundays to give the team (and us) time to think, reset, and grab a few extra hours of sleep.
As I reflected on my horrible performance as a writer and blogger over the last few months, I found myself this morning thinking about my Mom. (We lost her to cancer two years ago.) She taught my Sister and me so much… and would often shut us both down when we were misbehaving with a single question…
“Who is the owner of this problem?”
My mom first asked me this when I was 10 years old. I still remember where I was in our house in Alamogordo, NM. I was whining about some issue… when BOOM.. she laid it on me.
“Dan, who is the owner of this problem?” I was stopped dead in my tracks.
I have no idea where she pulled this most perfect question from… but it was clear to her, and more importantly to me, that I had no way out. It was and still is, one of the single biggest questions that has helped shape my life. She used it on me many times to my dismay.. and I use it today to help lead great teams.
Great leaders, and their teams, own problems. They work and think hard to understand the environment, the problem, the potential solutions, and they get at solving them – in business, the military, and life.
Mom, I own not blogging very much over the past few months. I will do better.
I admit it. I can’t help it. I love airports and air travel – most of the time.
Have you ever walked through a commercial airport and wondered, “Where did that person come from? Where are in the world are they going? I know I do all the time.
HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
Air travel used to be an incredible experience. People dressed up. Passengers could not wait to get to the airport. They were excited for the chance to fly across the country in a single day or night, and when they were on board they were treated like Queens and Kings.
Now people cannot stand to fly. From the moment they leave their house the stress levels explode. They loathe the long lines at security, the delays, the lost luggage, the angry and frustrated Staff, not to mention the overall crummy onboard experience including small seats, terrible food, and incredibly expensive and slow wifi. (I know… I know… I should remember that we are talking about a tube moving through the sky at 400MPH and at 30,000ft getting internet). The list goes on and on.
It’s sad to me. I look at old photographs from the days of PanAm, Eastern and other great carriers, all gone, and I realize that we’ve lost something. We’ve lost the passion, the excitement, and the anticipation that once was all around air travel and airports.
Of course, I know all too well that airlines are companies that have to make a profit. They are highly capitally intensive entities with multiple cost components that are very hard to predict, much less control. It is an incredibly tough space to make money in. I get it very well given my various experiences in the aviation industry.
Copyright – Shutterstock
But… with all that said, someday, I’d sure love to see the excitement, anticipation, and glamour return to airports and air travel around the world.
Sound investing is all about digesting large quantities of macro and micro information and synthesizing that information into a view of a particular company or market.
One of my daily morning reads is the Strategic Stimulus newsletter. Authored by some brilliant US military Veterans I find it a very insightful way to start my morning. It gives me a timely and accurate view of the macroeconomic forces acting on the market for the day.
The team there also makes recommendations. While my individual approach is generally long-term buy and hold, I find their work to be a compelling and thoughtful read – especially for the part of my portfolio that I trade more actively.
If you are an active daily or weekly trader I think you will find their recommendations simple, understandable, and easy to execute.
They offer a free 14-day trial which you can sign up for here.
Successful international leaders in the private-sector, public-sector, and non-profit sector must fully understand the environment they and their organization operate in. This is hard work and requires consistent dedicated study and focus – especially in the Middle East.
Leaders in the region need to understand the synergistic effects of the political environment, the business environment, the social dynamics, and the religious and tribal dynamics – just to name a few. All of these elements are critical to understanding context – perhaps none so much as the religious and tribal elements together.
PBSs’ Frontline recently did a two-part piece entitled “Bitter Rivals”. This outstanding series lays out for the viewer the dynamics between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran. At its core, the series unpacks the centuries-long dynamics between Shia and Sunni Muslims. I found it a must watch for anyone working in that region or wanting too.
The link to this program can be found here. PBS FrontLine
We live in an incredibly saturating world now. Technology is wonderful, but at times can be overwhelming.
Literally, by the second we are faced with smartphones, cable TV, the internet, tablets etc. The onslaught of available inputs is out of control. It is impossible now to actually be bored – as long as you have a signal and battery life.
One of the things I’m working on now is trying to cut away from these things. To turn off my cell phone, step away from the internet… and simply and purely find the time to think, focus, and concentrate. To focus on the essential and the vital, and to understand what is really essential, and equally important what is not. I’m blocking time each day to do this.
Time is the most valuable thing in life… and for me, I certainly need to constantly remind myself to concentrate and focus on the most vital and essential things. I have a lot of room for improvement!
Book recommendation: Greg McKeown’s book “Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”.
There has been a lot of talk lately about tariffs and the impact that they will have on global trade and our economy.
CEOs and business leaders are starting to come out with their opinions. The discussion is fascinating to listen too as leaders debate important policy decisions that directly impact their stock price and the bottom line.
Yesterday legendary FedEx CEO, Mr. Fred Smith, opined on the impact of the President’s proposed tariffs during FedEx’s Q3 results conference call. It’s safe to say that Mr. Smith supports free trade.
The specific discussion is at 27:30 into the webcast where Mr. Smith shares his views on free trade and a few suggestions that the US Govt should consider. He has the listener type “Tariff” into google and then shares his thoughts on free trade.
One thing is for sure. The issue is going to continue to be interesting.
The dictionary defines a “legend” an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field.
I’ve never met anyone who better deserves this title than LtCol Robert “Muck” Brown – A-10 Attack Pilot, Husband, Father, Brother, Coach, Teacher, Mentor, Savior, Leader, and Friend.
LtCol Robert “Muck” Brown, legendary Attack Pilot, Husband, Father, Brother, Drummer, Artist, Leader, Warrior, Brother, Savior, and Friend
No one can forget the first time they had the honor and privilege of meeting Muck. For me, it was walking down the hallway at the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, NV where he greeted me (a lowly F-16 student) with a kind smile and a look that said: “all will be ok young Jedi… just keep your head up and keep going”.
We talk a lot about Muck.
We talk about how unassuming he was. How people often mistook him at first glance. How he quietly approached the most complex situations and always quickly brought clarity and wisdom to some incredibly complex issues – in life, warfighting, and combat.
We talk about how his perfect way of communicating with people and how he could bring disparate opinions together against a common set of goals and objectives – perfectly.
We talk about him as a young A-10 pilot forging forward to improve combat capability throughout the entire joint community, and his lifelong commitment to protecting the guys on the ground.
We talk about how after the attacks on 9/11 he left a high paying airline job to come back in the military and take a non-flying staff job so that someone else could stay in the cockpit and take the fight to the enemy.
We talk about his time in Iraq in 2002 and 2003 when he was the link between the pilots in the air and the special forces warriors on the ground – and how both parties were so blessed to have him there.
We talk about how he was as a Husband and Father – showing those in his life what true love meant through some really tough times.
We talk about how he loved teaching: kids and warfighters, and his amazing way of adapting a lesson perfectly every time to the listener.
We talk about how he saved the A-10, working to inform policymakers and along the way saved countless American and coalition lives because of his work – all while fighting cancer.
We talk about his love for aviation art, and his incredible gifts with a #2 pencil, and how you can look back at his notes today and find pictures of P-40 Flying Tiger Warhawks in the margins.
We talk about what it was like to be in the room when Muck sat down behind a drum set… Perfect, complete, magic.
And… we talk about how absolutely wonderful it was to be a Brother and friend of Mucks.
Muck passed away on this day a few years ago after bravely fighting cancer. We all miss you like crazy Muck – but the truth is that you are still here with us through the many gifts you gave us all and the incredible life you lived. Tonight we will raise a glass, smile a bit, laugh, and most importantly remember you and the legend you are.
We all read yesterday of the incredibly tragic loss of not one but two military aircraft.
The first loss was an F-18F Super Hornet crew recovering from an in-flight emergency in Florida. The jet was a part of VFA-213, “The Black Lions”, out of NAS Oceana, Virginia.
The second loss was in Iraq when an HH-60G PaveHawk of the US Air Force crashed near the Syria/Iraq border tragically killing all seven crew members on board.
I’m saddened that the majority of Americans are disconnected with our nations’ warfighters. They are more concerned about what is on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram versus what is going on in the many dangerous corners of the world where our nation is decisively engaged and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsman, and Civilians are defending our freedoms.
I think it’s important for my non-miliary friends and colleagues to understand something. Please understand, that even after 17 years since 2001, these losses hurt all of us – a lot.
The losses are tragic, whether they are safety or combat-related, and we all feel the pain to the core – no more so than their families, their loved ones, or their unit members.
For many of us with a lot of deployed time, we feel the soul-crushing sadness and heartache that these families feel. To a person, we wish we could make it all go away for the families. We wish we could carry the burden for them. We wish we could bring back their loved ones.
And I wish that the Nation would be more connected to our military members.
We all will think of our Fallen this weekend, and every weekend, and the families of the fallen that continue on showing us what true bravery really is… and… we will never ever ever forget.
I spend a lot of time talking with military service members and veterans about what they might do after their time in the service.
Generally speaking, the conversations all have similar themes.
They want to do something important with a mission. They want to do something that takes advantage of their leadership skills, they want to grow something, and oftentimes they are tired of working for somebody else.
Veterans bring incredible talents to startups. They are hard-working, smart, driven, determined and armed with just enough naivety (read crazy) that they are not afraid to go start and build a company. The challenge for many is to come up with a good idea (that has real potential and is scalable) and translate that into action. (Keep thinking… you will find it)
I often recommend that they read Jan Collmer’s book, “Go Start Something”. (Link below)
Jan doing what he loved – flying Airshows in his Extra 300.
Jan was a successful Veteran entrepreneur himself – and a spectacular one. He founded several successful businesses in the Dallas area and was the Founding Father of the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field. He also gave thousands of airplane rides to kids inspiring many to go on to a career in STEM.
He wrote his book to help potential entrepreneurs get their mind around starting a company and growing it successfully. I highly recommend the read to anyone thinking about starting something.
