Our services organization has long stood the test of time, with the triangular organization of the Army, Marines, and to some extent, the Air Force working pretty well for about 70 years. When you start getting above the BDE/DIV (or Wing) level, things get funky. The Navy isn’t triangular, but task organization has worked pretty well from WWII on.

One reason the IAF shows well in comparison to the US air forces is that they have a much smaller scope of operations to master. They know who the enemy is, what the order of battle is, exactly what the war plan to execute is. This allows them to focus on their key missions in a way we don’t.

I once was part of an organization that became very management heavy and during a period of painful winnowing became “organizationally flat”. They basically removed 4 (FOUR!) levels of management so the organization went to 5 levels from 9! The ostentious reason being that the top was so isolated from the bottom the top had no idea what the h3ll was going on out where the customer met the force. (I think 5 was even too much.)

Digital Equipment Corporation turned layers of management into an art form where there were people managers with no direct reports and dotted line reporting charts that look like a two year old’s scribble. Sounds like any staff heavy organizations we seem to have been part of or represented?

I guess the point of this screed is: good for the Israelis. Maybe they found the management nirvana where what happens out there is reported unfiltered by multiple layers of politics and * covering. Where the dude in charge can make a decision and have it implemented without 8 juniors mucking it up with unneeded fluff. Where an organization is nimble and responsive. I wish them more success.

That question to the Apache pilot on whether or not he considers himself a “killer” was laughable. It’s called self-defense. Imagine that.

God help us. And Israel. They are going to be doing one of the jobs Americans won’t do.