Dr. Barnett, As a young Armor officer training at Ft. Knox, our schedule this week consists of attending the many briefings of this year's Armor symposium. This has been a great opportunity for me not only to learn about the modernization of my branch, but also current line of thinking on the future of the Army as a whole. After hearing briefings from both the Sergeant Major of the Army and the TRADOC Commander I was able to gather a better understanding of how the Army sees its role in this "era of persistent conflict". One thing in particular, I wanted to share with you: In the absence of a System Administrator, our military over the foreseeable future appears to be evolving system administrator-like capabilities out of necessity. The coming editions of field manuals and training programs take a noticeable shift from Counterinsurgency to priorities like communication and connectivity. There was talk of a future emphasis on language training and sending officers into internships with civilian companies and foreign embassies. It reminds me of Jeff Goldblum's quote from Jurassic Park - "Life finds a way". Regards,