Anyone who’s done any household emergency planning has come across the advice to keep in the house at least one telephone which doesn’t have extra features which require additional current, usually (perhaps always) through a black or gray AC to DC adapter – one of the cubes or boxes that have forced us all to buy power strips. Trouble is, they’re hard to find – and those that are currently

My friend Jon recently honored me by asking if I would occasionally contribute to this forum.  I have never blogged before, so as I peck away I feel a bit like the Moliere character who was pleased to learn that he was speaking prose.

For my maiden entry, I offer up some thoughts on training, based upon 25 years of active duty military service–things that I have seen, heard, read, or done.  It occurs to me that, with some modification, what follows might be applicable to training in many other fields as well.   This hardly represents  the last word on the subject and I don’t necessarily expect everyone to agree with everything here, but I hope people might think about this and even attempt to capture their own thoughts on the subject.

1. The best form of welfare for the troops is first class training–Rommel

2. All training must be assessment-based.

3.  It thus follows that evaluation is a critical step in training management.  Unevaluated or poorly evaluated training is worthless–a waste of time at best and positively harmful at worst if it reinforces bad habits.

4. Hard work and enthusiasm don’t automatically equal great training.  They are necessary but not sufficient conditions.  Trainers must know their stuff.

5.  Leader training should be an organization’s top training priority.  Good leaders can carry less than well-trained organizations; weak leaders will bring down the best units.

6.  Senior leaders must be prepared to underwrite mistakes in order to encourage prudent risk taking; however, never send unprepared leaders out to practice on live subordinates.  Rule of thumb–four days of trainer prep and one day of good training is better than five days of lousy training where unprepared trainers flounder.

7.  In other words, quality over quantity.

8. Good after action reviews/critiques are essential.  However, no organization ever improved simply because it conducted a good critique.  Go back and do it over.

9. Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.

10.  Build progressivity into training: Crawl, Walk, Run.  No football team scrimmages on the first day of practice.

11.  Safety and realistic training are not antithetical.  There is nothing safe about going into combat untrained.  Train realistically and safely.

12.  Most soldiers/students/people forget what they hear, remember what they see, and know what they do.  Try to make your training “hands-on.”

Henry David Thoreau, an American Transcendentalist writer, philosopher, and activist, 1817 to 1862, lived his ideals of simplicity, self-reliance, and individualism. He lived for 2 years and 2 months on a cabin on the edge of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. He built the cabin himself on the estate of his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, using recycled materials. After leaving Walden Pond, he worked against slavery as an abolitionist and on the underground railroad. In the book, he describes his philosophy and his life, and asks two questions, which resonate today.

1. How much is enough?
2. How do I know what I want?

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From the NOAA operationally significant event imagery (OSEI) archive:

The Lawrence Journal-World has been providing exceptionally detailed coverage of the George Tiller assassination; links follow to some of their outstanding work:

• Staff and Wire Reports, 51-Year-Old Man Arrested In Murder Of George Tiller Outside His Church;
• Link to photo of the blue Ford Taurus

after apprehension;

• (video links) Wichita Residents React To Tiller’s Death

;

• Wichita Residents Hold Vigils for Tiller

;

• Roeder bomb possession conviction overturned on “technicality”

Last night I passed the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Signs outside said – “last 3 days – fixtures for sale.” And did what I often do – watch and observe. I can’t say much about what was happening with the regular stock – but started watching worker traffic and the flow of fixtures.
From what I could see, the regular workers were working very hard, answering every question they could, leaving no customers hanging for long, and making it clear they were coming back. For workers who have been limited to part-time and rarely make overtime rates, and aren’t getting placement help, this isn’t necessarily the behavior one might predict.

Jesse Bien, (pronounced “bean” like the legume, not “bi-en” like the Frecnh word for “good”) The person in charge of the fixtures liquidation – apparently with the help of no more than a handful of his own help (although they may have been selected Virgin employees). In the midst of a chaotic environment, he’s working hard, funny, calm, and very quietly and clearly in charge. Knowing enough about the value of everything that he was no pushover in negotiations – but pricing things low enough that my guess is that he’ll empty the place before whatever his deadline is. (There are a lot of wall units in a very nicely finished grade of what I think is 3/4 plywood Baltic Birch, ideal for retail display, and beautiful in other uses).

There’s always pain (human) and loss (economic) in a business failure – but if people like Jesse Bien are available – and used – to reallocate goods –

1. the environmental impact of the business closing is limited, perhaps approaching zero;
2. other businesses – existing and startup – who are lucky enough to know about it and make wise choices – reduce their startup costs and thus be more competitive.

The Greeks didn’t define “chaos” as the absence of order – they defined chaos as a state which contained the potential for order to emerge.

Our recovery from this economic crisis – indeed, from any disaster – depends on versatile, resilient people like this Jesse Bien. If he’d been in World War II, he would have been running logistics for General Omar Bradley; in a non-military disaster – what those of us who study them call  “hastily formed networks” – he’d be the guy who could see the biggest available picture, and who other people would naturally think ought to be in charge.

And yes, I bought some things; no he had (and at this writing still has) no idea about this blog. I’m used to negotiating prison sentences – among other things. I anticipated that the volume and noise would work for me, but I’m not in his league. Maybe not even playing the same game. But I think I got a deal that was fair to me and good for his client.

Maybe when he’s done with Virgin we need to hire him to straighten out the mortgage situation. My money says says he can get the best outcome possible.

It’s people like Jesse Bien that make the American economy dynamic and vital in good times, and pull us out of the mud in bad times.

Today marks the second anniversary of Bob Levinson’s disappearance. Tomorrow will be his 61st birthday.

From his wife Christine’s statement to the Sun-Sentinel Newspapers:

Today marks two years that my husband, Robert “Bob” Levinson, has been missing in Iran. Two years since our seven children and I last heard his voice, saw his warm, loving smile, and since we last hugged him hello or kissed him goodbye. After two years of constantly praying for his return, we continue to anxiously await word of his whereabouts. Bob disappeared on March 9, 2007, while on a business trip to Kish Island, Iran.Since that day, our family has been living a nightmare.

This has brought much darkness to our lives.

Our children and I have done everything possible to find out what happened to Bob and bring him home, but we still have no information.

The people and government of Iran have the power to help us find Bob and bring him home, and once again I ask, in the name of our seven children, son-in-law and two grandchildren, for their help.

Despite the lack of any information, we still believe Bob is alive and will someday be home with us. We will never stop looking for him, and we will continue to reach out to anyone who may be able to help us.

Tomorrow, March 10th, is Bob’s 61st birthday.

Today we are releasing a computer enhanced photograph showing what we think Bob may look like now, two years after he disappeared.

We hope that the media will publish this image of Bob, so people who have come into contact with Bob or seen him will recognize him and contact us.

We ask anyone who recognizes Bob or has any information to e-mail our website, info@helpboblevinson.com, or contact any U.S. Embassy or Swiss Embassy anywhere in the world.

In the past two years, our family’s grief has grown to despair. Bob has diabetes and a number of other ailments, including high blood pressure, hypertension, and gout, all of which require daily medication.

We greatly worry for his health and hope he is getting the proper care for his medical conditions, wherever he is.

Please remember Bob Levinson.

For more information – and what you can do to help, go to HelpBobLevinson.com

Agence France Press reports that NPR Reporter Roxana Saberi – an American Citizen (and former Miss North Dakota) has been arrested on flimsy charges (purchasing alcohol) in Iran.

NPR, as of this writing (1040 Monday morning), doesn’t feature her arrest on its front page. Here’s a link to their Saturday coverage, including Scott Simon’s interview with her father.

From the Agence-France Press piece:

The journalist, a former Miss North Dakota, is a US national who also holds an Iranian passport because her father was born in Iran.

Saberi, who has reported for NPR, BBC and Fox News, has been living in Iran for six years, both working as a journalist and pursuing a master’s degree in Iranian studies and international relations.

She was also writing a book about Iran, NPR reported, adding that her father said she was planning to move back to the United States later this year.

Iran, which does not recognise dual nationality, has detained several US-Iranians in recent years.

In May 2007, US-Iranian academicians Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh along with California-based peace activist Ali Shakeri were arrested and held for more than 100 days, on suspicion of causing harm to national security.

US-Iranian journalist Parnaz Azima had her passport confiscated in January 2007 for eight months after she arrived in Iran on a private visit. She avoided jail by paying bail of around 550,000 dollars after which she left the country.

Azima worked for the Persian-language service of Radio-Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is considered a “counter-revolutionary radio” by the Iranian authorities.

She was later sentenced in absentia to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime.”

American former FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing for nearly two years since vanishing on the Iranian island of Kish in the Gulf.

The judiciary has denied holding Levinson, whose disappearance is a further strain in relations between arch-foes the United States and Iran.

Further:

New York Times coverage here.

Kelly Smith –  coverage at InForum (North Dakota)