@ae_rollinson: Indeed, it is my “can opener”, my “hook”, and hopefully it’s interesting enough to get people to think.

And yes, these are short versions of my notes. Definitely guilty of not fleshing out the entire argument. For instance, “commanders brief red” was essentially the main point of an OPD I received a while back (likely BOLC) which basically stated a commander should never brief “green” or “full mission accomplishment” on all tasks/initiatives/missions/etc to a higher command. If you did brief “green” on everything, you’re either lying to make a pretty slide, or not challenging your unit with lofty enough goals.

I’m also guilty of not doing enough research before posting. I have a nice stack of unread books at the house, which very well might not contain any of the answers I’m looking for, but it seems silly to buy more books without reading the ones I have. Additionally, I was hoping some here on this forum would chime in with Joint experiences, but looking back I didn’t even ask that question. I’ve been told the Marines manage their officers with an almost exclusive focus on command – any position that isn’t command is preparing you for command, whether that be schools or broadening or whatever. From what I’m told, the Battalion staff in the Marines doesn’t have an officer for S1, S2, S4, etc. I don’t have a quotable source for this though, which is why it’s on my list of things to research and verify.