Call Sign Chaos

Jim Mattis, “Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead,” Penguin Random House, 2019, 271 pp.

When I first saw the title of this book, I suspected “Chaos” had something to do with the operation of Trump’s White House during General Mattis’s short tenure as Secretary of Defense.  Not so:..This is a book tracing Mattis’s four decades as a Marine from enlistment through Obama’s reliving him of his command and his recall as Secretary of Defense.  Mattis began this book long before he even knew Trump.  Any criticism of Trump is oblique unless you think references to integrity, courage, dedication to country and duty and NATO, reading hundreds of books, etc., are criticisms.  

Additionally, the only reference to Mattis’s time as Secretary of Defense is the reproduction of his letter of resignation in the appendix.  And, the only public criticism of Trump that Mattis makes is after publication of this book when Trump said Mattis, as a General was very overrated.  Mattis responded that Trump had said the same thing about Meryl Streep, he then went on to say “I earned my spurs in war, not from a Dr.” However the book is more direct in expressing disagreements with Trump’s Oval Office predecessors, especially Obama.

James Mattis was Donald Trump’s defense secretary for less than two years, resigning in December 2018. The general’s departure came with headlines but little surprise. His resignation letter omitted any praise for the commander-in-chief. “Because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours,” he wrote, “I believe it is right for me to step down.”

My Notes:

Pg. 11:  Mattis states that leadership fundamentals can be summed up in the three Cs: The first is competence, be brilliant in the basics.  Don’t dabble in your job; you must master it…Second, caring.  To quote Teddy Roosevelt, ‘Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.’…Third, conviction.  Your subordinates must know what you will stand for and what you won’t.  State your flat-ass rules and stick to them…  Also, recruit for attitude, train for skill. (Chapter 2 title).

Pg. 13:  Much of the security challenges we deal with today grew out of 1979.  That year, a radical Sunni splinter group seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest site.  Hundreds were killed before the group was eradicated.  Also, in that year, Khomeini overthrew the Shah and the Soviet Union was pouring troops into Afghanistan to prop up a pro-Russian government that was opposed by Sunni Islamist fundamentalists and tribal factions.  Additionally, within a year, Saddam Hussein launched an eight-year war on Iran that would claim nearly a million lives. 

Pg. 42:  “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.” 

Pg. 46:  Mattis walked into a conference of his subordinates and saw CHAOS written on the blackboard.  When he asked what it stood for he was informed:  Does the “Colonel Have Another Outstanding Solution.”  This became his call sign from then on and is part of this book’s title.

Pg. 177:  Mattis believes that NATO is absolutely necessary for geopolitical and cultural solidarity among Western Democracies (I have a problem reconciling Turkey relative to "cultural solidarity" in this statement).  Friends who share enduring historical values are needed as much today as when we stood united against fascism and communism.  Those values are foundational to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.  If we didn’t have NATO today we would have to create it in order to hold on to our founding Father's vision of freedom and rights for all.  We must remember we are engaged in an experiment called democracy and experiments can fail in a world still largely hostile to freedom.  The idea of American democracy as inspiring as it is, cannot stand without the support of like-minded nations.

Pg. 179:  Culture is a way of life shared by a group of people—how they act, what they believe, how they treat one another, and what they value.  Peter Drucker, the business guru, criticized business executives for devoting too much time to planning, rather than understanding the nature of the corporation itself.  The output of any organization, driven by its culture, must reflect the leadership's values in order to be effective.

Pg. 195:  No one contributes money to a presidential campaign to be assigned ambassador to a Middle East country.  Consequentially in these areas, we have the best, the most proven, and the most experienced, Ambassadors in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen.

Pg. 203:  Wherever Mattis went during his tenure at CENTCOM*, he heard blunt questions about the US’s reliability as a security partner.  The impression of many Arab leaders was that we might abandon them.  The lack of constancy in American foreign policy left them unsettled.  Many were now openly doubting our word.  

*CENTCOM:  the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, to support U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Pg. 209f:  In October 2011, Prime Minister Maliki and President Obama agreed that all US forces would leave Iraq at the end of the year.  Obama declared ‘we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq.”  Supporting a sectarian Iraqi prime minister and withdrawing all US troops were catastrophic decisions, based on the conditions at the time.  After the fact, some political leaders called it an intelligence failure; that was scapegoating because we had been warned that an Al Qaeda—aligned terror group would come again.  That assessment was ignored (and ISIS resulted).

Pg. 218:  Of all the countries Mattis dealt with he considers Pakistan to be the most dangerous, because of the radicalization of its society and the availability of nuclear weapons.  The tragedy for the Pakistani people is that they don’t have leaders who care about their future.

Pg. 228:  To prevent Assad from using chemical weapons on his populace, President Obama issued a firm warning.  “That’s a red line for us,” he said.  “There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons.”  A short time later, Assad did employ chemical weapons, killing hundreds of civilians.  Obama decided not to respond militarily, this was the shot not heard around the world.  And America today lives with the consequences of emboldened adversaries and shaken allies.

Pg. 230:  On October 11, 2011, the FBI announced the arrest of two Iranians who were plotting to bomb the Café Milano, an upscale restaurant in Washington D.C.  They intended to assassinate the ambassador from Saudi Arabia.  Iran had intended to commit an act of war.  It would have been the worst attack on the US since 9/11.  But instead, this incident was treated as a law enforcement violation. 

Pg. 233:  Mattis felt his traction inside the White House was eroding.  While he fully endorses civilian control of the military, he also would not surrender his independent judgment.  Such as his belief that the military is not a petri dish for social experimentation.  In 2010 he argued against pulling all our troops out of Iraq.  In 2011 he urged retaliation against Iran for plotting to blow up a restaurant in our nation’s capital.  In 2012 he argued for retaining a small but capable contingent of troops in Afghanistan.  In each step along the way he argued for political clarity.  In December 2012 he was relieved of his command.

Pg. 244:  History is compelling.  Nations with allies thrive, and those without wither.  Alone, America cannot provide protection for our people and our economy.  By drawing like-minded nations into trusted networks and promoting a climate of victory that bolsters allied morale, we can best promote the values we hold dear and protect our nation at the lowest cost.

Addenda:

While reading this book, it occurred to me that our current lack of a financially supported, credible, non-partisan press, willing and able to go into dangerous international areas, is one of the greatest dangers this country faces.  Leaving the field to ne’er-do-wells was lately exemplified by Al-Jazeera’s erroneous reporting of the US military attacking a wedding party in Afghanistan.  This story was picked up by America's mainstream press and reported as fact.  Six months later retractions were printed with little notice.  We now infrequently have a press presence in dangerous places.

I’m confident the leadership skills and practices outlined in this book would work in most civilian environments, but I would have to think more about that in each individual case.  However, Mattis sure makes a convincing case for following his advice and example when leading any military unit at any level.

Mattis’s explicit motive for writing was to “attempt to pass to young leaders” the lessons of “over four decades of naval service.” One important model is George Washington, whose philosophy Mattis summarizes as “listen, learn, and help, then lead.” Mattis’s core principles serve as worthwhile information for many young officers: Learn the culture, define the problem, encourage audacity and initiative, underwrite mistakes, protect mavericks, communicate intent clearly.

My favorite Mattis quote:  “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you. Any commander who claims he is ‘too busy to read’ is going to fill body bags with his troops.”

Mattis saw action in Afghanistan and Iraq. He blames Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command and an army general, for Osama bin Laden’s escape from Tora Bora, his refusal to deploy the marines a key cause of that debacle. As Mattis frames things: “We in the military missed the opportunity, not the president, who properly deferred to his senior military commander on how to carry out the mission.”

But Iraq was a different story, and there Mattis places blame squarely on George W Bush for getting the US into the mess, and on Barack Obama and Joe Biden for the mode of the eventual pullback. As for going to war, Mattis observes: “Invading Iraq stunned me. Why were we fighting them again?”

 For Mattis, Iran was an implacable foe. He also believes Tehran came to view the Obama administration as 'impotent.'