Posted on May 11, 2015
General McChrystal here on RallyPoint - What questions do you have?
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A message from the General: “Thank you each for your service. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions and I hope you’ll enjoy Team of Teams.”
From the RallyPoint Team:
This May, General McChrystal is releasing his new book: "Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World"
In the book, "McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relevant to countless businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. The world is changing faster than ever, and the smartest response for those in charge is to give small groups the freedom to experiment while driving everyone to share what they learn across the entire organization."
You can learn more about the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Team-Teams-Rules-Engagement-Complex/dp/ [login to see]
From the RallyPoint Team:
This May, General McChrystal is releasing his new book: "Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World"
In the book, "McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relevant to countless businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. The world is changing faster than ever, and the smartest response for those in charge is to give small groups the freedom to experiment while driving everyone to share what they learn across the entire organization."
You can learn more about the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Team-Teams-Rules-Engagement-Complex/dp/ [login to see]
Leadership
GEN
Q&A
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 128
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GEN Stanley McChrystal Sir, One of the big missions for us here at RallyPoint is to assist in networking our currently serving military members with those that have served. I know there is a significant advantage for us in being a part of such a close military family. I think this allows us the ability to form some common ground and incredible friendships with other veterans in the business world. What is your strongest piece of advice for our members who are seeking to build out a successful professional network and influence both their military & civilian career paths?
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If we (the NCO) are the backbone of the army, why are NCOs so poorly represented in the realm of capability development? Once certain levels of leaders are involved, there are little to no NCO voices relaying user information.
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Is there any chance we could move away from the wear of berets, and back to the garrison cap. Or could we use the older style garrison cap with "pipping" that matches specific MOS. I realy think this would realy bring pride back to our Soldiers?
Thanks Sir!
Thanks Sir!
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GEN Stanley McChrystal , thank you for indulging the members with this Q & A session. My question is if you have changed your position or have more to add to your position on the ownership of firearms by civilians.
Sir, you made comments about the M16 and the M4 Carbine and their civilian AR counterparts.
"I personally don’t think there’s any need for that kind of weaponry on the streets and particularly around the schools in America. I believe that we’ve got to take a serious look — I understand everybody’s desire to have whatever they want — we have to protect our children and our police and we have to protect our population. And I think we have to take a very mature look at that.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/mcchrystal-backs-gun-restrictions-85888.html#ixzz3ZwIonvbo
The police are armed for THEIR protection, not yours and mine. They have no duty to protect (Castle Rock v. Gonzales; Warren v. District of Columbia).
I am trying to understand how you could support something that is clearly against the 2nd Amendment when you have seen (over and over again) the devastating effects a few armed people can have on a disarmed population. Above all else, it comes down to people- not any one particular weapon or one particular caliber. It is the person, not the weapon.
Please do not take this the wrong way- I would truly like to understand your position on this. The .223 and 5.56x45 are nowhere near as devastating as some of the more popular hunting rounds available (7mm, .223 WSSM, .270, .243 Win..........). It is a slippery slope when we judge "should have" and "should not have" based on the round it fires.
Thank you so much for your time today and I hope to see another session like this with you- Strength and Honor.
Sir, you made comments about the M16 and the M4 Carbine and their civilian AR counterparts.
"I personally don’t think there’s any need for that kind of weaponry on the streets and particularly around the schools in America. I believe that we’ve got to take a serious look — I understand everybody’s desire to have whatever they want — we have to protect our children and our police and we have to protect our population. And I think we have to take a very mature look at that.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/mcchrystal-backs-gun-restrictions-85888.html#ixzz3ZwIonvbo
The police are armed for THEIR protection, not yours and mine. They have no duty to protect (Castle Rock v. Gonzales; Warren v. District of Columbia).
I am trying to understand how you could support something that is clearly against the 2nd Amendment when you have seen (over and over again) the devastating effects a few armed people can have on a disarmed population. Above all else, it comes down to people- not any one particular weapon or one particular caliber. It is the person, not the weapon.
Please do not take this the wrong way- I would truly like to understand your position on this. The .223 and 5.56x45 are nowhere near as devastating as some of the more popular hunting rounds available (7mm, .223 WSSM, .270, .243 Win..........). It is a slippery slope when we judge "should have" and "should not have" based on the round it fires.
Thank you so much for your time today and I hope to see another session like this with you- Strength and Honor.
McChrystal backs gun restrictions
He says weapons like the M4 and M16 belong in the hands of soldiers, not on the streets.
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Sir: Douglas Porch writes in "Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War" about the shortcomings of counterinsurgency, both historically and in contemporary use (mostly by the United States, in Iraq and Afghanistan). Although quite early historically to categorize either counterinsurgency campaign as a success or failure, most indicators would suggest that our COIN-focused strategy was, at best, not a great success. How do you characterize the U.S. pursuit of counterinsurgency as a strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan? Success? Failure? Somewhere in between?
Also, now that the incident is a few years removed, how do you feel about the Rolling Stone article and the events that led to your retirement, and what leadership lessons can be learned from this experience? Was it a "teachable" moment?
Also, now that the incident is a few years removed, how do you feel about the Rolling Stone article and the events that led to your retirement, and what leadership lessons can be learned from this experience? Was it a "teachable" moment?
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MAJ (Join to see)
GEN Stanley McChrystal answered a total of 22 of the 101 questions posed on this forum. He answered 15 of the 20 questions with the most votes. As expected (and we saw this with Dana Perino, as well), most of the questions asked were softball questions, and most of the questions answered were softball questions. He did take on one or two hard questions, which was nice to see. I didn't expect him to answer either of my questions directly; he did answer the first one, though, in other responses in which he expressed complete support for the application of counterinsurgency tactics as strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. One expects this sort of reply from someone like him so heavily invested in the process; I had hoped though, and still do at some point, that our generals would start to take responsibility for pushing a tactic as a strategy that any detailed study would suggest had zero chance of success in the atmosphere of a 24-hour news cycle and US election cycles; as all the COINdanistas will tell you, COIN takes years and years and years to work (in the extremely rare circumstances where it has actually "worked"), and our system of politics demands instantaneous results, not incremental, decades-long work.
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Hooah General and thank you for your service to our country Hooah my friend!!! May God continue to bless you b
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Sir,
This has been one of the most discussed topics on our forum as you can see from the engagement. From the comments our members are generally torn. What are your thoughts on the disparity between Enlisted and Officer pay?
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/the-microcosm-of-the-us-that-is-the-military-is-the-disparity-between-enlisted-and-officer-pay-just-or-unjust
This has been one of the most discussed topics on our forum as you can see from the engagement. From the comments our members are generally torn. What are your thoughts on the disparity between Enlisted and Officer pay?
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/the-microcosm-of-the-us-that-is-the-military-is-the-disparity-between-enlisted-and-officer-pay-just-or-unjust
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Sir,
As a fellow White Devil in Baggy Pants, I would like to thank you for your years of dedication to this Country, and to your leadership and compassion during The Pope Air Force Base incident. I was member of 2-504 recon PLT and lost many good friends and comrades that fateful day. Till this day I can still remember you observing and critiquing our funeral detail skills as we prepared to bury our fallen comrades. You are one of the Best Sir, and back then within our recon PLT were respectively referred to as "Stan The Man."
STRIKE HOLD SIR!
Sorry no question, I was just never able to Thank you personally then.
As a fellow White Devil in Baggy Pants, I would like to thank you for your years of dedication to this Country, and to your leadership and compassion during The Pope Air Force Base incident. I was member of 2-504 recon PLT and lost many good friends and comrades that fateful day. Till this day I can still remember you observing and critiquing our funeral detail skills as we prepared to bury our fallen comrades. You are one of the Best Sir, and back then within our recon PLT were respectively referred to as "Stan The Man."
STRIKE HOLD SIR!
Sorry no question, I was just never able to Thank you personally then.
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