Selling War

Selling War
Author: Steven J. Alvarez
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2016-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 161234819X

In the spring of 2004, army reservist and public affairs officer Steven J. Alvarez waited to be called up as the U.S. military stormed Baghdad and deposed Saddam Hussein. But soon after President Bush’s famous PR stunt in which an aircraft carrier displayed the banner “Mission Accomplished,” the dynamics of the war shifted. Selling War recounts how the U.S. military lost the information war in Iraq by engaging the wrong audiences—that is, the Western media—by ignoring Iraqi citizens and the wider Arab population, and by paying mere lip service to the directive to “Put an Iraqi face on everything.” In the absence of effective communication from the U.S. military, the information void was swiftly filled by Al Qaeda and, eventually, ISIS. As a result, efforts to create and maintain a successful, stable country were complicated and eventually frustrated. Alvarez couples his experiences as a public affairs officer in Iraq with extensive research on communication and government relations to expose why communications failed and led to the breakdown on the ground. A revealing glimpse into the inner workings of the military’s PR machine, where personnel become stewards of presidential legacies and keepers of flawed policies, Selling War provides a critical review of the outdated communication strategies executed in Iraq. Alvarez’s candid account demonstrates how a fundamental lack of understanding about how to wage an information war has led to the conditions we face now: the rise of ISIS and the return of U.S. forces to Iraq.

Selling to the Military

Selling to the Military
Author: United States. Department of Defense
Publisher:
Total Pages: 40
Release: 1963
Genre: Armed Forces, United States
ISBN:

Buying Military Transformation

Buying Military Transformation
Author: Peter J. Dombrowski
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2006
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 023113570X

In Buying Military Transformation, Peter Dombrowski and Eugene Gholz analyze the United States military's ongoing effort to capitalize on information technology. New ideas about military doctrine derived from comparisons to Internet Age business practices can be implemented only if the military buys technologically innovative weapons systems. Buying Military Transformation examines how political and military leaders work with the defense industry to develop the small ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced communications equipment, and systems-of-systems integration that will enable the new military format. Dombrowski and Gholz's analysis integrates the political relationship between the defense industry and Congress, the bureaucratic relationship between the firms and the military services, and the technical capabilities of different types of businesses. Many government officials and analysts believe that only entrepreneurial start-up firms or leaders in commercial information technology markets can produce the new, network-oriented military equipment. But Dombrowski and Gholz find that the existing defense industry will be best able to lead military-technology development, even for equipment modeled on the civilian Internet. The U.S. government is already spending billions of dollars each year on its "military transformation" program-money that could be easily misdirected and wasted if policymakers spend it on the wrong projects or work with the wrong firms. In addition to this practical implication, Buying Military Transformation offers key lessons for the theory of "Revolutions in Military Affairs." A series of military analysts have argued that major social and economic changes, like the shift from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age, inherently force related changes in the military. Buying Military Transformation undermines this technologically determinist claim: commercial innovation does not directly determine military innovation; instead, political leadership and military organizations choose the trajectory of defense investment. Militaries should invest in new technology in response to strategic threats and military leaders' professional judgments about the equipment needed to improve military effectiveness. Commercial technological progress by itself does not generate an imperative for military transformation. Clear, cogent, and engaging, Buying Military Transformation is essential reading for journalists, legislators, policymakers, and scholars.

Beyond the Bookstore

Beyond the Bookstore
Author: Brian Jud
Publisher: Reed Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2004
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781594290022

Walk in My Combat Boots

Walk in My Combat Boots
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2021-02-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0316429104

Discover “the stories America needs to hear” (Admiral William H. McRaven, US Navy (Ret.)) with these moving and powerful recollections of war, told by the men and women who lived them. Walk in my Combat Boots is a powerful collection crafted from hundreds of original interviews by James Patterson, the world’s #1 bestselling writer, and First Sergeant US Army (Ret.) Matt Eversmann, part of the Ranger unit portrayed in the movie Black Hawk Down. These are the brutally honest stories usually only shared amongst comrades in arms. Here, in the voices of the men and women who’ve fought overseas from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, is a rare eye-opening look into what wearing the uniform, fighting in combat, losing friends and coming home is really like. Readers who next thank a military member for their service will finally have a true understanding of what that thanks is for.

Fanatical Military Recruiting

Fanatical Military Recruiting
Author: Jeb Blount
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2019-03-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119473632

Military Recruiting is a war. It’s just a different kind of war than what you were prepared and trained to fight for. Recruiting is a war for talent. Smart, competent, and capable people are rare and in high demand. Every organization, from commercial enterprises, healthcare, non-profit, sports, and education, to the military is in an outright battle to recruit and retain these bright and talented people. Rather than bullets and bombs, the war for talent is won through high-impact prospecting activity, time discipline, intellectual agility, emotional intelligence, and human to human relationships. On this highly competitive, ever changing, asymmetrical battlefield, to win, you must operate at a level of excellence beyond anything asked of military recruiters before. Yet, in this new paradigm, many recruiters are struggling, and most recruiting units are staring down the barrel at 50 percent or more of their recruiters consistently missing Mission. It is imperative that we arm military recruiters with the skills they need to win in this challenging environment. The failure to make Mission is an existential threat to the strength and readiness of America’s fighting forces and our democracy. Fanatical Military Recruiting begins where the Recruiting and Retention colleges of the various branches of the military leave off. It is an advanced, master’s level training resource designed specifically for the unique demands of Military Recruiting. In FMR, you’ll learn: The Single Most Important Discipline in Military Recruiting How to Get Out of a Recruiting Slump The 30-Day Rule and Law of Replacement Powerful Time and Territory Management Strategies that Put You in Control of Your Day The 7 Step Telephone Prospecting Framework The 4 Step Email and Direct Messaging Framework The 5 C’s of Social Recruiting The 7 Step Text Message Prospecting Framework How to Leverage a Balanced Prospecting Methodology to Keep the Funnel Full of Qualified Applicants Powerful Human Influence Frameworks that Reduce Resistance and Objections The 3 Step Prospecting Objection Turn-Around Framework Mission Drive and the 5 Disciplines of Ultra-High Performing Military Recruiters In his signature right-to-the-point style that has made him the go-to trainer to a who’s who of the world’s most prestigious organizations, Jeb Blount pulls no punches. He slaps you in the face with the cold, hard truth about what’s really holding you back. Then, he pulls you in with stories, examples, and lessons that teach you exactly what you need to do right now to become an ultra-high performing recruiter. Fanatical Military Recruiting is filled with the high-powered strategies, techniques, and tools you need to keep your funnel packed with qualified applicants. As you dive into these powerful insights, and with each new chapter, you’ll gain greater and greater confidence. And, with this new-found confidence, your performance as a military recruiter will soar and you will Make Mission, Fast.