Oh no, not another Clausewitz quote

  • Published
  • By Maj. Richard Mench
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing USAF Band of the Golden West
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "A prince or a general," wrote Carl von Clausewitz, "can best show his genius by managing a campaign exactly to suit his resources, doing neither too much nor too little."

It is hard to have a career in the military and not run across a quote by this late 18th century, early 19th century military theoretician. We often see quotes like, "War is the continuation of policy (politics) by other means," or "Given the same amount of intelligence, timidity will do a thousand times more damage than audacity," or even "War is the realm of danger; therefore courage is the soldier's first requirement." Quotes like these tend to show up in our leader's speeches both to the general public and to rally the corps. The quote above reached out to me this month as I and many other leaders are about to depart Travis for future assignments this summer.

As I begin my own transition off Travis, I've forced myself to look back and ask what I've really done here as a commander. I'm filled with thoughts of, 'if I only had more of this I could have done that' or 'did we do enough for the mission for which we were charged?' or even, 'except for that beach gig in Santa Barbara (inside joke), did I ever push my people beyond their own resources?' I think these look-backs are healthy and can contribute to an arsenal of tools one brings with them to future campaigns. I am neither a prince or a general, but I do want to give a brief look into why this quote grabbed me and why I think it is worth keeping in our minds as individual members of a squadron, members of a wing, members of the Air Force and finally Americans.

Of course Clausewitz wrote of 'princes and generals' and of presidents and kings, but he was also speaking to the youngest Airmen today. What are your campaigns and what are your resources? Mind, body, spirit and financial are only four campaigns Mike Mench struggles with every day. None of us can afford to do 'too little' and be successful, but what about "too much?"

My mind is only as good as it is on any given day. I won't survive in situations beyond my mental abilities. I constantly struggle with time to read and grow with history, current events and job knowledge. Today I rely on a team of brilliant people to help me command, tomorrow I hope I have the knowledge to add one more. Our bodies suffer if not shaped to do what is demanded. A healthy body is a key success in any campaign. Spirit is what drives us. How strong is your spirit? What is spiritual to you, and how can you feed it? Without a spiritual influence in our lives we lose ambition and inner energy to do things for a greater cause. Our mind and body alone will only get us so far. Finally, not to be capitalistic, but finances are taking a huge hit for many of us today. Gas prices, mortgage issues, college costs, food ... the list is endless. What are you doing to manage your needs against your current financial resources?

We should always strive to increase our own resources to offer more to our campaigns while never settling to do too little for the cause. Know what your limits are, but always strive to stretch them. Self, family, squadron, service or country will certainly fail if we do too little, or do too much.