"Too Busy To Read"

[nhboy]

Link to original article.

"In the run up to Marine Gen. James Mattis' deployment to Iraq in 2004, a colleague wrote to him asking about the "importance of reading and military history for officers," many of whom found themselves "too busy to read."

His response went viral over email.

Security Blog "Strife" out of Kings College in London recently published Mattis' words with a short description from the person who found it in her email. "

 

[Railroad]

Excellent read. And it would be rather disconcerting to find that the officers under which I served weren't similarly prepared. In retrospect, however, I think that some of those officers WERE of the type who didn't study much, if at all, other than the immediate orders from higher echelons. And I know that, at least in some matters (other than electronics) learned by reading, I had learned a lot more than they had.

I understand that there has been a cultural change, at least in the Navy, which promotes reading and studying. Making it a requirement for enlisted personnel is a good idea, but I wonder if the same level of intensity in that area is applied to today's officers. It's hard for me to judge that in the current workplace.