In his first public presentation as Under Secretary of the Army, Brad R.
Carson spoke to Army War College students about seeing the Army's future in
a different way at Bliss Hall April 8 as part of Army Leader Day.
Sworn in less than two weeks ago, Carson's discourse demonstrated that he
was already deep into analyzing fiscal constraints against the Army's future
missions. Focusing on the future, he said what we need more of today is
creativity, and asked the students to consider, "Does our culture run
counter to innovation and creativity?" He urged the military's next senior
leaders to think about how the future will develop.
Through an exhaustive by-the-numbers review of the Army, Carson guided the
students to confront the magnitude of the Army's people, organizations,
weapon systems, and costs, and to think differently about what they
considered to be the core Army competencies and to focus on the Army's
obligation to its "customers."
For example, he told the story of Polaroid. The company developed digital
photography at a standard that far outpaced the competition but didn't
pursue the new business, thinking that it was not the company's core
competency. Carson urged leaders in the class to avoid the competency trap.
The combat power in the Army is a great deterrent, he noted, but that the
Army must be more engaged in strategic discussions. Carson recommended that Army leaders talk about solutions, seek improvement and "protect and promote those with ideas."
Carson previously served as the Army's 20th General Counsel: legal advisor
to the Secretary of the Army and Chief Legal Officer for the U.S. Army. In
2000, Mr. Carson represented the 2nd District of Oklahoma in the United
States House of Representatives. After leaving office in 2004, he was a
fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and,
later, Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses, L.L.C. From
2009 to 2010, Mr. Carson served on active military duty as a United States
Navy officer deployed to Iraq, embedded with the United States Army's 84th
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Battalion. Mr. Carson was awarded the
Bronze Star for his service as an intelligence officer working with EOD
teams.
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