November 11: Serving the United States by the Other 99%...

The United States Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year on November 11th at Arlington National Cemetery.

Standing there with family and as the son of a U.S. Marine in 2015, the ceremony commences precisely at 11:00 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans' organizations and remarks from dignitaries.

The ceremony is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces. This represents less than 1% of Americans.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”  -John F. Kennedy-

How many Soldiers will be on active duty around the globe on November 11 working in their current role, task or assignment, to keep America safe and secure?  So those of us who call the United States their home, may exercise their freedoms and the citizens rights that our nations architects designed for us.

How may Airman will be walking the streets in parades remembering their flights over the Pacific, Vietnam, the Atlantic, Europe, South America, North Africa or the Middle East?  What about all those pilots that have flown at such a high altitude; never to be detected over Russia, North Korea or China?

How many Sailors and Marines will be cruising on, over or under our vast oceans to be present and ready, for our next mission to help others?  How many Submariners will never be detected on their 24 x 7 watch; or with SOF waiting patiently below deck for their next clandestine operation, anywhere in the world?

So on Saturday, November 11, what will you be doing, John or Mary Q. Citizen, in Anytown U.S.A.?

For some Veterans who experience this day of recognition, it is not easy.  It could be a day that is simultaneously bitter sweet.  There is certainly great pride, yet some within the 1% who are Veterans, look around the country and wonder why the other 99% are not serving their nation, in their full capacity as a U.S. citizen.

Service to your nation doesn't begin or end with a job in the military.  Service to your nation begins for everybody who becomes an American.  What does that mean?

It means that we stand up and believe in the U.S. Constitution.  We defend and negotiate all that it says and what it enables for us to accomplish for ourselves, our families and our fellow believers.  You see, the freedoms and the opportunity to prosper in the United States is there for anybody to grasp.  For anybody to achieve.

To honor and thank those who have served in the Military on Veterans Day, requires so much more:

• Will you "sleep in" on your day off or volunteer with the local church or non-profit to teach Veterans how to be more effective in the transition to a civilian private sector job?
• Will you design and code the next iPhone App to locate other Vets in your local town or city to assist each other and your community?
• Will you meet with local business owners to plan, raise funds and deploy vital programs for families of Veterans?
• Will you vote to fund and allocate adequate resources for the operations necessary and requested, by those forward deployed on the front lines, in uniform and also in the shadows?

The opportunities to serve our country and all of our Veterans November 11, requires a continuous cycle of thinking beyond just the Soldier, Airman, Sailor or Marine.

It also requires more proof, that a majority of the other 99%, are also serving their country and all that the United States stands for in the world.

So this November 11, listen to John F. Kennedy...

Pulpit Rock: "The Right Stuff" and Beyond...

Walking up the path to Pulpit Rock soon after dawn in Colorado Springs just before the “Value of Space Summit” (VOSS) this week, was a time for thinking. It is a time for reflection and where our future human exploration shall take us.

The value of exploration and our innovative curiosity to learn more, is a human trait that will never leave us.

Before an ambitious set of people in the United States made the decision to travel to Earths single Moon, our human exploration was across oceans and mountains.

Imagine a quiet Michigan summer evening July 20th, 1969 sitting in front of a 21” Zenith color television with family watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11 walk on the Moon. It was truly epic.

After 24 brave and talented people from our nation have traveled to the Moon, our last mission was in 1972.

Why?

Astronaut Eugene Cernan and Astronaut Harrison Schmitt (88), spent 3 days 3 hours on the Moons surface between December 11-14 1972. This Apollo 17 will not be the last manned journey to our Moon.

After a team of dedicated people find their own “Just Cause” and purpose, there is nothing that will stand in their way to achieve it.

After 51 years, we have been taking many steps to perpetuate our journey. 

Humans have been back and forth from our Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Space Station and we have sent the James Webb and other telescopes to explore other stars and planets light years away.

The “Just Cause” of space exploration is still ahead of us and the race is on.

Our human journey to places outside (LEO) will encounter new challenges, new discoveries and even create greater learning.

Before a most favorite movie “The Right Stuff” was released in 1983, all we had were slight views into our “Just Cause”.

Once you see this movie, then you too might understand the mission ahead from a different perspective. At least you will have greater context on our “Why”…

Godspeed!

Infinite: Game Strategy & Mission...

As our uncertain world becomes more turbulent with hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, regional wars, asymmetric ransomware hacks and the increased number of horrific crimes or terrorist plots, we must remain resilient.

The “Infinite Game” we are living and operating in each day, truly requires enlightened thinking.

Before you changed, your thoughts about the game were “Finite”. There was a clock counting down or there was only so many innings or golf holes remaining in the round.

The score was not quite tabulated or finished yet to determine the winner and the loser of the game.

Unfortunately for many in that current competition, it is always about the number on the scoreboard. The Wins and Losses. The number of "Followers". The number of locations. The number of employees. The number of dollars in the bank.

As our turbulent environments at home, at work and in our small towns to our major cities become more extreme and less certain, it requires a new mindset.

An “Infinite Mindset” as defined by Simon Sinek or James P. Carse puts your senses on the longevity of staying in the game longer than the others.

Those who live each day always behaving and acting only to win, shall continue their war, perpetuate the competition until they win.

In between losses and defeats they continue to think that they shall win at all cost or else. That this will enhance their well being.

Yet, after you changed your mindset and thinking, the game has now become “Infinite”.

"To stay in the game and to operate longer than others in our so uncertain times, requires you to adapt, to innovate, to change, to always remain RESILIENT."

It does not require you to anxiously and continuously aspire to win. The conversation, the contest, the relationship. By the end of the day, the month, the quarter or the year.

It requires you to continue, to never quit and to think about performing at your best, again tomorrow. How many smiles, how many hugs, how many kind words.

Your new mindset is positive and peaceful, you observe, you listen and you continuously change to adapt to the infinite environment you are now operating in.

Whether your mission is “Winning” or “Operating the Longest” makes a difference in life...

Large Language Model: Friend or Foe…

Trade Secrets are the Intellectual Property which the owner has taken reasonable measures to protect, and derives independent economic value of keeping it secret.

Since this is a public dataset, therefore it is probable the algorithms will search, digest and store these words for eternity.

Generative, pre-trained or transformer algorithms are a 24 x 7 x 365 operation by millions of entities across the globe. Whether they are operating in the dark Internet or within the public datasets is by the originators design.

It depends on the goal or the mission.

Whether you and your enterprise are enabling conditional access policies or continuously monitoring for anomalous activities does not matter.

“Adversarial or Malicious AI will continue to plague our digital world with weaponized artificial intelligence (AI).”

Whether it is designed with proxy servers for defeating “Multi-Factor Authentication” (MFA) or creating very convincing phishing e-mails is for certain.

Synthetic voice/video generation and cloning are also on the rise to add to the syndicates and certain nation states waging our global asymmetric warfare.

There is a point in every humans journey in life that the technology, the volume of information and the pace of change will seem like it is overcoming you.

At a young persons age, they are taught “Stranger Danger” and other early life lessons about the evil that exists in our world.

In addition, the continuous education of our children about the digital evil that exists must also become a priority.

Every human has a point in their life when an event or incident becomes their wake-up call. A learning point is reached on information received or the live accident is unfolding before your eyes.

Learning new lessons each day is the way we have survived and are still the master species on our Earth.

Whether you are a child learning about something named “Fire” or you are an adult learning about something titled “Large Language Model” (LLM) does not matter.

You must continue to test, damage, fail, learn, test, damage, succeed, learn.

Once you decide as a person that you will strive to not be burned, you will drive defensively and follow the rules, you will always tell the truth and you will protect your loved ones then you are on your way to even more vital learning.

The lesson of “AI Resilience” will always be the mission.

Whether October is “Cybersecurity Awareness” month in the United States or around the globe you shall always remember.

Never Forget.

Be Resilient.