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Call to Action: Strategy Strikes Back

To launch the new Gazette Blog as a “warfighters book club” the Commanding General of Training and Education Command, MajGen William F. Mullen issues the first call to action.

Read and comment on the following book.  Whether you enjoy and endorse the book or not, add your original thoughts to the posts on the Gazette Blog. 

Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict

Edited by Max Brooks, John Amble, ML Cavanaugh, Jaym Gates

U of Nebraska Press, 2018

 Beyond its place as the single most successful film franchise in history, Star Wars has become an integral part of modern popular culture.  The ongoing saga describes a galactic conflict of epic proportions fought across generations of characters and multiple planets and star systems. Strategy Strikes Back is a collection of essays from a diverse group of strategy, policy and warfighting experts including academics, general/flag officers, diplomats, sci-fi authors and “boots on the ground” war correspondents and operators.

The book examines the theory and nature of war, policy and strategy through the lens of Star Wars and provides insights into the most complex issues of ends, ways and means in a relatable and imaginative manner.  As a collection of essays, topics range broadly from failures in nation-building and conflict resolution (“The Case for Planet Building on Endor” by Max Brooks) to the strategic utility of force projection (“Why We Need Space Marines” by Major B. A. Friedman, USMCR) to the importance of controlling the narrative in an insurgency (“Dispatch from Hoth: When the Blood Runs Cold” by August Cole).

Any student of military strategy with a rudimentary understanding of the Star Wars films and narrative – even those who don’t enjoy science fiction and fantasy – will gain new understanding of military conflict and may also learn a new way of communicating war’s complex theory and nature with non-military laymen.

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Strategy Strikes Back Review

By MajGen W.F. Mullen

Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict

Edited by Max Brooks, John Amble, ML Cavanaugh, Jaym Gates

U of Nebraska Press, 2018

There is a never ending debate as to whether fiction can actually be useful for military professionals to spend their valuable and limited time reading.  I do spend some of that time with fiction because it makes you think of things differently and many times I have asked the question, “why can’t we…?” when I come across something really unique in fiction.  The approach taken by Strategy Strikes Back is different from any I have encountered before and if the measure of a good book is how much it makes you think, then I think it is indeed a good one.

The authors have used the popularity of the Star Wars saga to illustrate points with regard to strategy, which, whatever the context of the story, is about using ways and means to reach a given end or ends.  While I found the detailed knowledge that some of the authors have regarding the entire Star Wars saga disturbing (kind of like the Star Trek enthusiasts who take up the study of the Klingon language) and more than a bit strange, their approach to strategic issues did serve to illustrate some of the challenges we have faced as a nation when trying to achieve policy ends.  The difficulties in working with indigenous forces to foster an insurgency against a much great power were well illustrated, but I think I would have preferred to work with Ewoks than some of the folks we have worked with over the years.  I also found the example of “overplaying one’s hand” and totally ignoring the will and determination of one’s opponent very interesting.  I for one would not want to have to explain the loss of not only one, but two Death Stars to higher authority.  Talk about not learning from one’s mistakes!

In all, while I did not find every chapter relevant, with some being unclear to me as to where they were trying to go, the book is interesting enough to take the time to read it.  It makes you think differently and that is always a good thing.  For those who are fans of the Star Wars saga, if the lessons the book imparts sink in and stay embedded in “brain housing groups” because of their association with examples from the saga, so much the better.  

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Corps Voices: Episode 10, MajGen Marion E. Carl

MCA&F MEMBERS

Focus Group Questionnaire:

What about membership is most important to you?

  • Getting the Gazette and/or Leatherneck
  • Discounts/sales at the Marine Shop
  • Belonging to the Professional Association of the Marine Corps

What subjects would you like to read more of in the Gazette?

  • Military Strategy/Defense Policy
  • Operations and Tactics
  • Future War and Innovation
  • Leadership
  • Training and PME
  • Other ____________________________________________________________

What features would you like to see more of in Leatherneck

  • Marine Corps History (up to Vietnam)
  • More recent Marine Operations (1980s to the present)
  • Biographic articles on notable Marines
  • Marine humor
  • Writing and Photo contests

Do you shop at the Marine Shop either in-store or on-line?

  • Yes
  • No

What would you like the association to do that it currently does not?

  • Scholarships for off-duty education
  • Reunions for units or regions
  • Networking for transitioning Marines
  • Employment seminars for spouses

Have you ever attended an MCA&F professional dinner or event?

  • Yes
  • No

Do you belong to any other military associations, or societies?

  • USNI
  • MCAA
  • MOAA
  • Marine Corps League
  • Other_____________________________________________________________

Do you read military related blogs or websites?

War on the Rocks Task & Purpose Strategy Bridge   Other _____________________

Do you listen to audio books?

Do you listen to podcasts?

NON-MEMBERS

Focus Group Questionnaire:

Why are you not (currently) a member of the Marine Corps Associaton?  

  • Not worth it, nothing of relevant value to me
  • Felt like I was forced to join at Bootcamp or sometime in the past
  • Used the discount for my uniform and never renewed

Have you ever received an award for excellence at a formal school or training program?

  • Yes
  • No

Do you read the Gazette and/or Leatherneck?

  • Yes
  • No

If you do, how?

  • Borrow a copy
  • Read the office copy (unit subscription)
  • Read the free content on-line
  • Read local copies (unit PME)

Has your unit ever conducted a battlefield study or staff ride?

  • Yes
  • No

If yes where/what battle?  _______________________________________________________

Have you ever used your unit’s library to read books from the Commandant’s Professional Reading List?

  • Yes
  • No

Have you ever attended an MCA&F professional dinner or event?

  • Yes
  • No

Do you belong to any other military associations, or societies?

  • USNI
  • MCAA
  • MOAA
  • NCOA
  • Marine Corps League
  • Other_____________________________________________________________

Do you read military related blogs or websites?

  • War on the Rocks
  • Task & Purpose
  • Strategy Bridge
  • Other _____________________

Do you listen to audio books?

Do you listen to podcasts?

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