Some Luck: Back to Fort Leavenworth and the Security Assistance Conference

I'm a big believer in what Branch Rickey, the fabled General Manager of the Dodgers, Cardinals, and Pirates, said about luck: "Things worthwhile generally don't just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best." Of course, I don't know how to reconcile that with the fact that I seem to have atrocious "luck" when it comes to flights. Two months ago, I made it to West Point's Senior Conference-- a rather humbling experience when one counts the number of generals and Ambassadors who were in attendance-- but because of flight problems, I arrived in shorts, tennis shoes, sunglasses, and a Blackhorse polo shirt, while my luggage somehow went to Pittsburgh and Charlotte before getting to New York. Luckily for me, of course, Major Jon Byrom-- my old commander at Fort Irwin-- is teaching Economics at USMA, and he was able to lend me a suit and tie, and all the accessories so that while I spent the first day and a half in borrowed clothing, at least it wasn't that noticeable.

As I type, I'm blogging from Dallas / Fort Worth International, because American Airlines cancelled my connection flight to Kansas City and I wait-- hoping-- that I'll get called as a standby for a later flight (one that itself has been delayed by an hour) tonight. I'm flying to Kansas City because, as the title of my post suggests, I'm going back to Fort Leavenworth, once again to present a concept sketch before the Combat Studies Institute's annual symposium. Last year, if you've been suffering as a Bobby's World reader from that far back, you may remember that I presented my much-criticized "Legion of Lions" paper-- the Case for Building an Afghan Auxiliary Corps in the US Army (a concept, by the way, that is getting some renewed attention).

This year, CSI's symposium centers on Security Assistance: US and International Historical Perspectives. And since I figured that most of the proposals would be semi-biographical experiences of advisors in various capacities (Vietnam, El Salvador, et. al.), I thought it would be a great opportunity to put together a panel focusing on non-traditional methods of security assistance that might catch the eye of the conference organizers. Apparently, they agreed, and so my panel-- "Breaking Out of the Box"-- is going to feature four papers on various non-traditional aspects of security assistance, nation-building, and stabilization operations. Captain Kris Alexander, a fellow blogger whose Alexander the Average is one of the few blogs I really enjoy, is presenting a concept entitled "Fixing Phase IV," in which he argues that the Army should build a corps of civilians with highly-specialized technical skills that could serve as a "first-in" capability in transitioning from humanitarian to reconstruction/stabilization type operations. Tom Berner, the Katten Muchin Roseman LLP Manhattan partner who served in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 as Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's senior legal advisor in the Afghan Reconstruction Group, is going to talk about his experience with that organization, and its possibility as a model for future capacity-building organization. My old friend and Blackhorse colleague, Major Al Tabarez, is presenting his experience as an embedded advisor with Task Force Phoenix in Afghanistan and a recommendation on how to employ such organizations (which, like the Military Transition Teams [MiTT] are purely ad hoc right now) on a permanent basis. And my own contribution, aside from putting together the panel, is a concept centering on Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and how they can better be utlized in future nation-building and reconstruction operations (rather fitting, actually, given my next career move).

But aside from our panel, it really looks like it's going to be very a interesting conference. Lieutenant-General David Petraeus-- who was commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and later the Multi-National Security Transition Command (MNSTC) in Iraq-- is giving the first morning's keynote presentation. Lewis Sorley, author of A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam, speaks first on the morning of the second day, where he will address "Security Assistance in the Vietnam War." Later, Brookings Fellow Michael O'Hanlon, author of Defense Strategy for the Post-Saddam Era and Saving Lives With Force: Military Criteria for Humanitarian Intervention, will speak about "Expanding Global Military Capacity for Humanitarian Intervention" at the end of the second day. And closing the third day (and the conference) is Andrew Krepinevich, author of The Army and Vietnam and the much-discussed Foreign Affairs article "How to Win in Iraq," speaking on "Vietnam and Iraq: Why Everything Old Isn't New Again." In between, there's a number of intriguing panels focusing on security assistance with Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Western Hemispheric perspectives. It looks like it's going to be an outstanding conference.

As with last year, I will eventually convert the slides and talking points from my presentation into a post that everyone can laugh and shoot spitballs at. Until then (and if no one points out that I just ended a sentence with a preposition), then I'm going to have to be thankful that "luck" delivered me a 1 AM arrival to Fort Leavenworth (which really thrilled my panel mates, who waited dutifully at the airport for my belated arrival).

What's the lesson? I guess, be careful when you fly American Airlines.