#2--Dale Alford

In this episode, we discuss:

--Alford’s experiences as a platoon commander in Operation Just Cause

--His experiences in Desert Storm, including seeing the effects of Allied airpower and artillery on Iraqi forces

--The organization of Task Force Tarawa in Operation Iraqi Freedom I

--The virtues of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force

--Alford’s experiences with commanding a light armored infantry platoon

--How Alford and a cobra detachment commander worked together to create an air-ground cavalry team while on a MEU

--Alford’s experiences afloat

--The strategic value of port calls

--How to keep Marines engaged during sea deployments

--Alford’s role in Operation Assured Response in Libera

--The experience of watching a horrific civil war unfold in the Liberian capital of Monrovia

--The traits that Alford looked for and sought to develop in his squad leaders and platoon commanders

--The benefits of having Marines live in squad bays

--The Gunfighter Gym and the need to invest substantial funds into the individual infantry Marine

--The rigors of Marine Corps recruiting duty

--Alford’s experiences as a battalion executive officer during the March Up to Baghdad

--Fighting the Fedayeen

--Alford’s deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq as a rifle battalion commander and the differences between them

--The origins of how the Marines ended up concentrated in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

--Alford’s time as General David McKiernan’s counterinsurgency advisor

--Some of the US Army officers that Alford has worked for and his high praise for them

--Alford’s thoughts on Marine Corps Recruit Training and its transformative effects

--The cult of the Marine Corps

--What Alford learned from spending time with different NATO forces in Afghanistan

--The counterinsurgency books and thinkers that most influenced Alford

--The role that Alford’s counterinsurgency reading had on his decisions as a battalion commander

--How Alford expects the Chinese to fight the US

--The focus on Western warfare in US PME institutions and why we should study more Chinese military history and warfare

--Alford’s stance that the Marine Corps needs to be ready to do “anything, anytime, anywhere, today”

--The deployment that influenced Alford most

--The sacrifices of command and the toll they take on one’s family life

--What it was like serving during the ‘maneuver warfare years’

--Alford’s interactions with Bill Lind

--How faithfully the Marine Corps adheres to its capstone doctrinal publication, Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication Warfighting 1

--What maneuver warfare in garrison looks like and Alford’s surprising response

"Underground PME: The Warfighting" Society by Damien O'Connell: https://innovatedefense.net/kcic/customObject/viewCustomObject/8f0088d3356d 

Some of the books mentioned by MajGen Alford

The Village by Bing West: https://www.amazon.com/Village-Bing-West/dp/0743457579

Invisible Armies by Max Boot: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Armies-History-Guerrilla-Warfare/dp/0871406888

The Bear Went Over the Mountain edited by Lester Grau: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a316729.pdf

Everything Under the Sun by Howard F. French: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Under-Heavens-Chinas-Global/dp/0385353324