COMBAT CONCEPTS: Col Tony Zinni, USMC (Pt 2/4)

THE SINGLE BEST professional military education experience I ever had happened in July of 1989 while teaching “Tactics” at The Basic School in Quantico, VA. Col Tony Zinni, USMC (who had just finished being the CO of 9th Marine Regiment on Okinawa) gave his “Combat Concepts” pitch at an event that the Marine Corps University sponsored at The Basic School.

Major John Kelly (Group Chief of the Infantry Officers Course at the time, destined to be a General Officer and currently the White House Chief of Staff) told me I should attend… so I went. I had never heard of Col Zinni at that point in my life. That night Col Zinni was funny, insightful and had a ton of experiences in his career — he was for me a great example of what a professional warrior/scholar ought to be.

This PME changed my professional life and I reproduced the audio of this presentation for years for students at IOC.