Don Draper & Selling the E-7
Selling C2; E-7, AMTI, & Battle Management
C2 Pros,
I think we know we have a problem. Well, more than one problem. We have an inventory problem & a marketing problem.
(If you’re not a C2 pro, feel free to skip this one)
1) Problem 1: We need C2 stuff
Despite feel good philosophies like “mission command,” command & control still needs physical things (sensors, comm systems, etc.). And our C2 things are, technically, really fuckin old.
We need the DOD to buy physical C2 systems. We want this not out of some parochial, special interest but because we want to win wars, and we know we can’t win wars if we don’t have the physical ability to command and control our forces. We know this. The public doesn’t & neither does Congress.
So, in order to get C2 stuff we have to educate and pitch our story. And I don’t think I’m hurting feelings by saying that has not been done effectively (I think tails on the ramp are proof enough).
2) Problem 2: we don’t have a story that helps us “sell C2” as a thing worth buying
One reason C2 is hard to sell is because it’s hard to define. It’s often reduced to “lightning bolts on PowerPoint.” We also failed to create a story for ourselves, let alone the public/Congress.
I still need my one paragraph “elevator pitch” that simplifies what C2 does. And my kingdom for a C2 lobby 1/10 what the A-10 has just in Brrrrttt memes. The public understands Brrrttt cause they can see it and still thinks air combat = WVR dogfights between Tom Cruise and MiG-28s. I think we need this language and imagery of Quarterback or Coach. We are Admiral Ackbar calling the game from the cruiser.
Fixes:
1) creating an AEW lobby
No idea how to do this but this may be most important of all. How do we create a C2 or AEW lobby? How the hell did the USN manage to get 100+ P-8s and we can’t manage a new platform buy? I’m not mad but AEW&C is as important as Maritime Patrol. No answers here.
2) Bring your PA game into the 21st Century:
For my money, the RAAF are the best in the game at public media. NATO AWACS is also exceptionally good. Go look at their Facebook/Instagram game.
Yes, it’s not much and flying waivers for media can be a minor pain BUT this is free money on table. Get on Facebook, IG, TikTok, Snapchat.
Do flybys and photo ops. Make them easier. Default position after ensuring basic safety should be “yes.”
*but consider the real audience. (Pt #4)
3) Creating a “party line”
We need C2 thinkers who are writing and discussing the way ahead internally eg AMTI is not Battle Management. But that must also translate to telling our story to the people who matter at fixing our problem #1.
Articles like this one on developing battle-management professionals are great as discussion within this broader C2 community but now we need these internal discussions to translate into that 1-2 paragraph slogan for what is battle management, why it’s not the same as AMTI, and why we need the E-7.
Good news is that the facts are on our side in a way that should be really easy sell IF we can educate:
we let the PLA surpass our AEW&C capability.
We’re gonna need AEW&C anywhere but especially in fight far, far from land. I can think of a few places with lots of blue on the map.
One of the basics we learn in taking down adversary systems is to target enemy C2 & logistics because they’re so important and have outsized impact in destroying the enemy. Well, as DeNiro says to Pacino in Heat, “You know, there’s a flip side to that coin.”
We need this internal discussion to evolve and a ABM Don Draper to create the “Lucky Strike, it’s toasted” but do it for AEW&C. See point below.
4) Identify the correct *target audience
If the key target audience for getting the E-7 is Congress (or the hill staffers and aides who whisper in their ear) we need to be writing much shorter with much less jargon than you see even from place like the Mitchell Institute. (Please eliminate phrases like “speed of relevance” or “long-range kill chains” from your writing unless talking within the community).
If we want to win fights inside Pentagon, and then Congress, we must still translate and condense into something like a 1-page CRS report. If it’s longer than 2 pages, start over.
Conclusion
Let’s get our heads together and create the party line and slogans that are going to sell the need and the solution. And then we hammer that party slogan home.
“AEW& C, if you wanna stay free!!”
Okay, it needs work.
BL: we need the E-7 and we have to articulate that to the absolute dumbest people in the nation, the US Congress.
