COMMITTEE FOR THE REPUBLIC
Col. Douglas Macgregor
Thursday, February 9th, 2017
6:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Club
1700 H Street NW
Grill Room on 1st Floor
(Coat & tie for gentlemen
Business or cocktail attire for women)
RSVP:
James@CommitteefortheRepublic.org
Col. Douglas Macgregor is one of the most innovative thinkers in contemporary America military affairs. He is a former salon speaker and a member of the Committee for the Republic’s Board of Directors since 2004.
Since WWII, Macgregor argues, Washington has engaged in a series of self-defeating military interventions that have eroded American economic and military strength. As Obama hands over nine undeclared presidential wars to Trump, the Pentagon hemorrhages money on weapon systems and platforms of questionable military value in “politically engineering” jobs in fifty states. Our Armed Services spend borrowed money. Moreover, the ratio of spending between the services has been remarkably constant for three generations despite dramatic changes in technology and the international system.
In his new book Margin of Victory, Macgregor analyzes five large 20th Century battles and draws lessons for a new U.S. military strategy. Rather than stay on autopilot and refight WWII, Macgregor calls for a clean break that embraces new technology, prizes human capital, institutionalizes innovative thinking and integrates the four services into a warfighting force under a joint military command.
The Committee welcomes a second Macgregor salon. The U.S. military fiercely resists his reforms. Open-ended funding and weak leadership enable the U.S. military to live in the past and cling to outworn assumptions. Before any military strategy can be sensibly fashioned, the war power must be restored to Congress and America’s relations with other nations must be debated consistent with constitutional imperatives. This has not happened for at least seventy years.
Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, author of five books, a PhD and executive VP of Burke-Macgregor Group LLC, a defense and foreign policy consulting firm in Reston, VA. Macgregor is best known for his personal leadership under fire of the Cavalry Troops in the Battle of 73 Easting in 1991, the U.S. Army’s largest tank battle since WW II. In 28 years of service, Macgregor taught at West Point, commanded armored forces, and served as the Director of the Joint Operations Center at SHAPE in 1999 during the Kosovo Air Campaign. In 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arranged for Macgregor to meet with General “Tommy” Franks to explain his concept for the attack to Baghdad. Though Macgregor assumed rapid restoration of control to the Iraqi Army and no occupation, his offensive scheme was largely adopted. Since leaving the Army, Macgregor has advised a host of individuals and organizations including the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Joint Staff, Bell Laboratories and Raytheon Corporation.
The Committee for the Republic is a citizen-based, non-partisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2003. The Committee sponsors speakers monthly on challenges to the American Republic, including the military-industrial complex, too-big-to-fail banks, campaign finance, and U.S. competitiveness. For questions or requests email James@Committeefortherepublic.org
Mail donations to:
The Committee for the Republic
c/o William A. Nitze
816 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20006
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