Steely Dan is my all-time favorite band. Alive in America is one of the best live albums in the history of music. So what does that have to do with Intelligence?
Well, I had absolutely no idea that a founding member of the band is now a defense analyst in US missile defense. Color me surprised. Frank Pinelander sent me this video of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who also played guitar for the Doobie Brothers, giving a speech on the “Revolution in Intelligence”.
To be honest, at first I was asking myself what the heck this guy knew about Intelligence, but listening to him speak gives you the impression that he “gets it.” (By the way, for those who watch the whole thing — especially the HUMINTers out there — does anyone else notice how a few times through he speech he leans on the podium a clasps his hands? The reason why is pretty blatant.)
It’s worth a listen, so I’ll provide some highlights in case you’d like to skip around.
~09:00: 2007 wargame in which asymmetrical warfare was applied to beat the US Navy.
~19:00: improvisation in Intelligence collection and analysis.
~23:00: jazz and expertise as an analogy to Intelligence analysis.
~29:00: adaptation and survival for civilizations
~32:00: OODA Loop (Observer, Orient, Decide, and Act) and “soft power”
