Council of Colonels with Col Clearfield & Col Debish

In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Kyle and Rich talk to special guests Col. Joseph R. Clearfield, chief of staff of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and Col. Ed Debish, commander of Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group, about their leadership experiences in command of premiere warfighting and cyberspace organizations. They discuss leading a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), their experiences with full-spectrum cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum operations and the importance of being a lifelong learner. Stay tuned until the end to hear what each colonel is most proud of so far in their career.

Quotables:

• “Anybody who’s listening who has ever been on a flight where they clap when you land… try that on a postage stamp in the middle of nowhere on something that’s moving left to right, forward and backward at a steady pace with wind… it’s complicated right! It’s math!”
• “You can make a machine continue to do something over and over again, relentlessly, non-stop, that can impose a cost on someone.”
• “The dirty little secret about PME… there’s really three legs of the stool. There’s what the institution provides you in terms of formal schools. There’s what the command provides you in terms of training and education. And then there’s what the individual cares to take on for themselves. And I would say the most important of those three legs is what the individual does.”
• “The only way you gain trust with people is getting to know people.”

Books Mentioned:

• Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal 
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Meltdown by Chris Clearfield
• The General by C.S. Forester 

Addendum: Col. Clearfield was nominated in early March 2021 for appointment to the rank of brigadier general.

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