Dateline: hotel, Oak Ridge TN, 25 January 2006

As always, an interesting and whirlwind day at the side of Frank Akers ...

Started off with a fascinating brief/discussion with a staff senior who's working this interesting global network of visioneers through a major defense contractor. You sit through a presentation like that, and you see all that talent and energy being put against the problems presented by our enemies, and you just know we'll win this global war on terrorism.

We get smarter, they get more desperate.

Then another fascinating brief/discussion with a company that works with Oak Ridge on logistical planning, and you see this problem between the force we've been buying (institutional) and the force we've been using (operational): the latter has moved on to the networked realities of today and the horizontal scenarios of the Long War, but the former is still trapped with Cold War (acquisitions, and bureaucratic oversight in general) and even pre-Cold War (personnel) systems. It was an elevating discussion that had me scribbling mental notes rapidly--especially for Vol. III.

My favorite breakthrough: Peace is the ultimate aftermarket.

Then lunch with Frank, always an education in himself. He is a natural mentor. He is a walking history book on special operations and military history in general. He is worth the price of admission.

Then a stop by at the Howard Baker Center at U. Tennessee. Oak Ridge is appointing me a Distinguished Strategist, Baker is appointing me as a Distinguished Scholar. I am, quite naturally, feeling distinguished. I will be participating in a conference at Baker in late March on Churchill and the future of U.S.-UK alliance. Should be cool. We also discussed me giving some briefs at Baker and possibly running a strategy wargame. I will defiinitely resurrect a few tricks with my old colleague Bradd Hayes, late of the Naval War College and now with Enterra Solutions, in pulling that one off.

Final stop is the Knoxville News Sentinel for a sitdown with the editor to discuss a bi-monthly Sunday column. We'll give it a whirl for a while and see how it goes. If it works out, other possibilities emerge.

Then my third swim in a row and a Family Guy episode on the treadmill.

Tonight is the Thought Leadership dinner/meeting. Long day that goes from 0800 to 2200, but energizing across the board.

I am really beginning to love coming here.