"Beyond Gut Instinct" - Data Literacy with Jon Bate, Erik Davis, and Brett Reichert

Twenty years ago, you could get away with saying you're "just not a computer person." Leaders, even senior commanders, took pride in resisting the digital movement in the military and avoided any attempt to learn it or leverage it.

Today, the military's most prolific weapon system is Microsoft Office. We touch it more than any other system, and yet we have little to no instruction on how to maximize it.

Even a few years ago, powerful data tools were exquisite, expensive, and unavailable for leaders at the tactical level. That's no longer the case. Leaders at every level have access to programs and apps that can unlock unthinkable insight. New awareness and insight - potentially lifesaving insight - lies only on the other side of data.

We're going to talk about that in this episode, and how you can leverage data tools to augment your leadership and decision making.

And here are just a few of the questions that you could be answering if you brought some data tools into your unit:

• How efficient are we at processing evaluations, awards, legal packets, and so on?
• What maintenance actions should we focus on to reach the highest readiness rating?
• What is our budget spend rate and are we on track?
• As our vehicle crews train for gunnery, which training step is the most important and the best predictor for crew qualification?
• How many suicide ideations, DUIs, and drug offenses is normal for our unit?
• How much time do our leaders spend reacting to serious incidents and infractions like these?
• And here's one that I guarantee your higher headquarters cares about…how many sexual harassment and sexual assault offenders were we supposed to begin separation action on, but haven't?

All of these questions have been answered by units who pay attention to data and use the tools that are readily available. And the three guests today are pioneers of homegrown data innovation in military units.

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Bate commands 2-23 Infantry Battalion and uses his Stanford PhD experience to improve the unit systems and lethality of his battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Lieutenant Colonel Erik Davis brings sixteen years of special operations experience and is an Army War College Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He’s also the author of the ‘Downrange Data’ Substack, where he shares his experiences using data to outmaneuver challenges in the field. 

Major Brett Reichert is an Infantry officer and current PhD candidate at Cornell, where he is studying how technology and automation are reshaping warfare. As the Brigade Executive Officer, Brett revolutionized our Brigade's systems and processes, and managed to plan and execute the brigade's three week field exercise without using a single PowerPoint slide.

The days of avoiding computers and relying on gut instinct are over. You have the chance to be more aware of what's happening in your unit, within your organization, and in your environment. We owe it to our people and our service to do so, especially as our adversaries and competitors fight for every advantage over us.

Find this episode at The Military Leader.