A.M. Gray - Warfighting

A C URRENCY P APERBACK
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036

C URRENCY and D OUBLEDAY are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Warfighting was originally published in hardcover by Currency Doubleday in 1994.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Currency hardcover edition as follows:
Warfighting/the United States Marine Corps.1st ed.
p. cm.
A Currency book.
Originally published: Washington, D.C.: U.S. Marine Corps, 1989.
1. United States. Marine CorpsHandbooks, manuals, etc.
2. Military doctrineUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc.
3. Maneuver warfareHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. United States
Marine Corps.
[VE153.W37 1994]
355.00202dc20 94-1651

eISBN: 978-0-307-82330-4
Copyright 1989 by The United States Marine Corps
Editors foreword copyright 1994 by Currency Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

v3.1

In 1989 U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General A. M. Gray distributed a remarkable 77-page document to every officer in the Corps. Authentically written and brilliantly articulate, Warfighting, the official doctrine of the U.S. Marine Corps, calls to mind other classics of strategy such as Sun Tzus The Art of War, Carl von Clausewitzs On War, and Miyamoto Musashis The Book of Five Rings.

Like those books, which were written as philosophical guides for military officers, Warfighting can be put to use by people in all fields, in virtually every endeavor. Mark B. Fuller, cofounder and CEO of Michael Porters strategic consulting firm, Monitor Company, put it succinctly: Replace the word combat with competition, officer with What competitive edge do Marines bring to tough business situations? To find out, the editors of Currency Doubleday asked this question of a group of former Marines:

F. L EE B AILEY , attorney

E D M C M AHON , TV personality

D ONALD R EGAN , former chairman of Merrill Lynch and White House Chief of Staff under President Ronald Reagan

T OM M ONAGHAN , CEO of Dominos Pizza

J AMES A. B AKER III, 61st Secretary of State and 67th Secretary of the Treasury.

These men, who have lived the ideas this book sets forth, emphasize the Marine Corps skills of preparedness, flexibility, boldness, and moral courage. Here they are in their own words:

F. L EE B AILEY : The remarkable thing about Warfighting is that it is laid out so simply, like a primer. Even if you dont intend to rush out and start your own military branch or commence warfighting, the analogiesthe tactics, feints, flanks, attacksall apply in other walks of life.

I use my military training every day. Trials are miniwars. People are under stress: some are cowards, some brave. Lives are often on the line. In the courtroom, circumstances change from moment to moment, and so do legal strategies. Flexibility is essential. A bad lawyer walks in with a list of questions. A good one walks in with a head stuffed full of facts. Hes ready and he wins. There are strategic questions as well. How do I go in? Do I commit at the beginning, or hang back and see how the affray is going?

A lawyer must use any legitimate weapon to achieve his objective. Deception and intimidationunder the tight collar of professional ethicsare tools of lawyers as well as soldiers. I will keep a prosecutor guessing. I will use everything I can to get someone to say what I need them to say. In one instance, I wanted to encourage a powerful executive to settle out of court. I went out and memorized thirty speeches the man had made and fed his own words back to him, adding here, deleting there, until finally I had him agreeing to some very damaging things. He settled. If I had not been prepared, hed have won. Preparation that is thorough enough to achieve the state that Warfighting calls readiness is critical in court as well as in battle. When I asked my friend and mentor, Edward Bennett Williams, how to pull a rabbit out of a hat in court, he said, Bring fifty rabbits and fifty hats.

E D M C M AHON : I have learned two important lessons from my association with the Marine Corps: always be on time and always be ready to do what is required when you get there. Be ready is a key component in the life of a Marine. In my business that includes an infinite amount of preparation: knowing ones lines, having the correct wardrobe, being ready in every way to tackle the job assigned. Being a good Marine transfers easily to being successful in your chosen field.

D ONALD R EGAN : In Warfighting General Gray says: Whoever can make and implement his decisions consistently faster gains a tremendous, often decisive advantage.new product to market years before the competition, as was the case with Merrill Lynchs Cash Management Account [CMA]. We invented CMAan account that combines checking, securities trading, and charge cardin the seventies when I was chairman. Half my staff thought this was the best idea theyd ever heard, the other half thought it was bound to be illegal. I decided to go ahead, state by state, and set the precedent for a whole new way of banking. By 1980, when asked what the future held for banking, a well-respected competitor of ours said, Look at Merrill Lynch, thats the future.

General Gray says, We must have the moral courage necessary to make bold decisions and accept the necessary degree of risk when the natural inclination is to choose a less ambitious tack, for in audacity and obstinacy will be found safety. days global competitions demand quick decision making and bold implementation. Those that cant rise to this standard will surely be left at the starting gate.

T OM M ONAGHAN : I didnt go to college. The Marine Corps taught me to be a leader. Part of being a Marine is understanding that at any moment you may be called upon to lead. You must always be prepared to assume complete responsibility. When words get coarse and tempers flare, its good to have the kind of self-confidence instilled by the Marines. A Marine is never intimidated. Once when I was a young Marine, I was confronted by an ex-Golden Glove boxer. I stood up to himand took a beating as you would expect. But that man treated me with respect from then on. The same is true in business: people respect people who stand up for themselves. There is no better school of confidence than the U.S. Marine Corps and there is no one better qualified to present the Marine Corps doctrine than General (ret.) A. M. Gray. Hes every bit the caliber of Chesty Puller, the most decorated Marine in history.

J AMES A. B AKER III: I joined the Corps when I graduated from college in 1952, during a time when we were concerned with the Red Army in Europe, Red China in Asia, and a bloody conflict on the Korean Peninsula. The world was very different then, but my experience in the Corps transcended that particular time, maturing me personally and professionally and preparing me for work in public service and the private sector.

The two years I spent in the Marine Corps were an important turning point in my life. My military service showed me the value of love of God and country, the importance of duty, and the sanctity of honor. It taught me the value of the security that so many Americans, then as now, take for granted. And it gave me a sense of the costthe human costof defending that security.