FOOTNOTES
Somebody asked me the other day … What did you do in the army Jim? I awoke today thinking about it. It goes something like this:
note: some people have asked for this ...send them here:

As a young officer I had five rifle platoons in five different kinds of terrain. I worked to create a silent language system of sounds and signals to move by stealth in combat. I also chose psychic soldiers to lead us into danger zones in a more aware way. I brought all but one man home in my year of search and destroy combat. I also introduced the army to a type of pictorial history book that became the common way for soldiers to explain Vietnam to their families once home. (The first three years) 173d airborne brigade.
As a young operations officer I introduced templating as a quick way to load aircraft for airland battle and began to create an advanced visual language that would aid army strategic planning for the remainder of my time in service. As a young intelligence officer I created a handbook for indigenous scouts/agents to report on enemy positions using only small graphic maps. These were given to bomber pilots who claimed they were critical.
Later as an instructor and educational technologist I created and promoted a way to teach battlefield dynamics using war games, simulators, and force on force instrumented lanes of action which helped created the national training center model in Barstow California and a 50 million dollar industry that made simulations and lane based training designs a fixture in the army. (like today’s JRTC) No more talking heads teaching war. I broke down the other military classrooms into mixed versions of syndicate (small group) and individual study models. I then introduced the prototype of the technological guerrilla archetype for future use against terrorists (1981). This helped special forces and special operations remain a mainstay.
As a Task force Delta thought leader (Think Tank for Readiness) and advisor to many army projects, I introduced and promoted a proto-mythology (The First Earth Battalion) that advocated the use of future military forces to work for the planet and fight using the principles of combat of the collective conscience (public ethical awareness). I translated this into a field manual called (evolutionary Tactics) and it has become an international mainstay for military creative thinkers. The field of non-lethal weapons also sprang from this work.
Later as a project officer at the Army’s high tech test bed I introduced ultralights (aircraft) and dune buggies ($3500 a copy) into the light infantry deep strike model and they outperformed XM 1 tanks in an instrumented stand off 23-3.
During the last ten years of the army I was an occasional speaker at large army functions about the future. In most cases I performed in costume with highly designed sets and music much like today’s stand-up, spoken word performers using an installation approach for the setting.
Many traditional leaders in the army thought I was a pain in the ass and rewarded me in that manner. The record of innovations and performance in combat is my reward. They called me the lightening rod! I am proud of that and having had the chance to serve in the most effective and selfless organization in the world …the United States Army! It was a grand playground for the creative mind and feisty change agent ! I have the fondest memories of the army community and its close and supportive style where my family and I spent twenty years of very important time together amongst loyal friends.

Jim / Jan 2010