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Brigadier General Mark Miles · Five Questions for a General

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Foreign.
• 0:03
  Speaker B: You're listening to five Questions for a General, a production of the Modern War Institute at West point. I am Dr. Charles Feint, the team lead for this podcast series which features interviews of senior military leaders conducted by specially selected and trained West Point cadet hosts. These exchanges produce timely, relevant and inspirational insights for professional development of leaders at all levels.
• 0:25
  Speaker C: Ladies and gentlemen, before, welcome to the class of 1974 recording studio and the five questions for a General Podcast. I'm Cadet Zach Olson, your host, and it's my pleasure to be here today with Brigadier General Mark Miles, the Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army Cyber center for Excellence. Today's discussion with General Miles will focus on leadership, decision, dominance and the Cyber center of Excellence. General, welcome to the show.
• 0:47
  Speaker A: Thank you. I appreciate it, Zach. I appreciate the opportunity to be in here and talking to you and by extension, the corps cadets through this podcast.
• 0:56
  Speaker C: Thank you, sir. Welcome back to West Point.
• 0:57
  Speaker A: Thanks.
• 0:58
  Speaker C: You're currently serving as the Deputy Commanding General of the Army Cyber center of Excellence. Can you briefly explain the mission of the Cyber center and what your role as Deputy Commanding General is?
• 1:07
  Speaker A: Okay. Cyber center of Excellence is down in Augusta, Georgia. So Fort Eisenhower. It is the home to our signal and our cyber branch. So that includes really the signal, the cyber, the electronic warfare, war fighting functions. So it is the proponency for those. So not only the home where we bring the students and the professional military, military education, but by proponency, I mean the. The design of how we fight and win in those domains going forward. So think the doctrine, the what, what equipment we're fielding, how you train on that equipment, what the formations need to look like to win in those domains. And that's where my job is. I'm so as force modernization, as the deputy commander being my primary role, it is thinking through on those. So cyber, signal, electronic warfare. What do we as an army need to do, need to field, in some cases need to change from a process and a doctrine standpoint in order to maintain our superiority in those domains and to fight and win our next nation's war.
• 2:09
  Speaker C: Thank you, sir. Can you explain force modernization? I guess you did explain it, but what do you mean by that? What are we working on right now?
• 2:15
  Speaker A: A lot. I'll just. I'll say probably more than we could fit in this question in this podcast, but I'll give you the pro. Some of the higher priorities. So, General George, our Chief of Staff of the army has as a priority made the ability to rapidly transform. You may have heard the phrase transformation and contact or continuous transformation. It is an, a little bit of an acknowledgement and these are Mark Miles words. Not, not the, I don't pretend to be speaking for our, our chief of staff, but an acknowledgement that our army processes maybe aren't instrumented to keep up with the pace of technology. And that applies across warfighting function. But that especially applies to you know, your signal and your cyber that are employing state of the art technology on the battlefield today. So for reference, you know the, it takes eight to 10 years in some cases to fully field a capability at the scale of the army that is way too long. That is when you, when you talk through a signal or, or a cyber side that, that, that you know, we've got to relook processes, we've got to relook our, how we're doing, training, what we're training soldiers on and how those things reinforce each other and how all the partners that are involved in that, from commercial industry, from academia, from the actual units that are engaged, how all that input goes back in to continuously modernize. So that's force modernization and how it really applies in specific emphasis in the cyber, in the communications and in electronic warfare.
• 3:57
  Speaker C: So moving with that, during your keynote discussion remarks at the TechNet conference of 2024, you mentioned the potential for the army to become decision dominant with the assistance of artificial intelligence and machine learning. What does it mean to become decision dominant? And what role does AI and machine learning have to play in that transformation?
• 4:13
  Speaker A: All right, so I'll give you one sentence what to me what decision dominance is and that is the ability to make better decisions faster. And there's three words I'll pull from that simple sentence. First is ability. So if we think through a first world conflict, us against a power that has comparable technological capability, there's a potential that we both could have the ability to communicate. But it is going to be the ability to communicate or the ability to execute command and control means that you're, you have resilient systems, you've thought through the ability, the adversary's ability to try to stop you, whether it be jamming, whether it be, you know, missiles taking out your, your key, your communications capability, whether it be the cyber domain where for adversary offensive cyber effects trying to inhibit your ability to communicate. So that is all about the ability. Like you, a lot of work and effort and research goes into our ability to communicate on the battlefield. But again, both sides could have the ability to communicate the other two words in that sentence better and faster. So when I think through decision dominance of our ability to communicate Better. That is about our optimization of how we are enabling decision making on the front line. And that is thinking through what, what answers, what, what decisions, what questions? What data is going to be needed by leaders at every echelon from the platoon up to core level and our army? What are the critical decisions? What data, what systems do they need to have access to in order to execute faster, you know, or execute effectively on that? We need to be making better decisions. And only one side, you know, by nature of the word better, only one side is going to be making better decisions and that is us looking at processes, us rehearsing, us at our training centers, us iteratively getting better, us being the United States of America and our army getting better. And the second word of that is faster. To me, that is more what tools can you employ to stay ahead of the adversary? And that is where your question about artificial intelligence machine learning comes in. Now I understand my decisions. I have the ability to communicate. I understand what decisions I can make and I've optimized for that. Now, hey, what tools and systems? And that's going to continue to evolve. Artificial intelligence machine learning is the current state of the art that we're looking at. We're reacting to, we're trying to at pace, employ the most state of the art technology we can to make our decisions faster. But that could continue to evolve as technology continues to evolve. Our job at the cyber center, our job is part of equipping the United States army is to make sure we maintain that decision dominance because who's making decisions better and faster. As we're learning in Ukraine, as we're learning every, you know, in every situation that's really going to dictate who wins on the battlefield. It's who's got the, who's got the more effective C2 and control on the forward lines.
• 7:21
  Speaker C: Is there a component to better faster that manages risk?
• 7:25
  Speaker A: Absolutely. I'd say at every echelon, in every war, fighting discipline. And I would tell you as part of your time here at the academy, it started like you we, we train in the army, we train leaders to manage risk. In order to manage risk, you've got to understand what risk you, you know, you've been empowered to take on and what risk, you know, based on the equipment you have, let's say it's at the platoon level. What equipment have I been fielded? What specialties do I have to, that can employ? I'll give you one from my domain. Like what, what pieces of the electromagnetic spectrum am I reliant on you don't have to be an electrical warfare specialist to know that, hey, I'm employing this small scale UAV to get eyes on an adversary. I probably good for me to know how I'm communicating with that just so I have reliability of how effectively I can employ it. But there's risk in all those echelons. There's risk in employing tools, there's risk in how you set up your formation. There's risk both in garrison and when you deploy forward on a lot of the decisions that you make. So I think at pace and at scale, you make those risk decisions in all facets. Back to the last question. In your ability to execute your command and control and being able to do it better and faster than adversary is in a lot of cases, risk trade offs that you're going to train your entire career at every echelon as you learn to be able to make.
• 8:52
  Speaker C: So shifting gears a little bit, you commissioned through West Point in 1995 and began your career in the Signal Corps. How has your career in the signal branch and your service in places like Afghanistan, Alaska, Bosnia, Hawaii and Uzbekistan prepared you for your current assignment?
• 9:08
  Speaker A: That's a great question. I mean it's a, I think similar to every branch or leader, there's a life, there's a lifetime of learning there that obviously helps, you know, in working in the technology space, in the state of the art technology space. In a lot of cases, the ability to see it evolve over the time that it's, you know, not only the technology evolving, but how we're employing it as an army from our, again, from our tactics, from our doctrine, from what equipment we're using, how that interfaces with the key command and control systems that are, that are powering our decisions. But also, you know, I have been blessed with some fantastic leaders and subordinates at multiple steps, both joint and army, and being able to not only being exposed to those leaders and be able to learn from them, but additionally exposed to the processes that are involved in those. So how does the army change and manage, I think is also critical to being now kind of assisting the army on the force modernization capability. I'll just give you one quick story, you know, from a, from a leader development. I'll, I'll never forget that when I, I was a captain as a company commander, I had the opportunity to send my, my company, I deployed my company right after 911 into Afghanistan and we set up the initial communications infrastructure for Operation Enduring Freedom. And on my, on my team, I had a satellite E5 satellite NCO that was just fantastic. And really I, I knew it prior to deploying. I mean, he just, he was the guy that all the soldiers wanted to be on his team. His team. We had, we had training standards, we had training competitions. You know, he just, whatever team he was given and however we organize, I just amazed by his competence and his just ability to, to not only lead the team, but have all the soldiers kind of wanted to work for him. So one night in Afghanistan, we're just talking on the side of a berm and he said something that kind of stuck with me the rest of my career. I asked him, like, how, like how do you do it? Like, what, what drives you? And he just said, I know, sir, there's a lot of satellite teams in the army. Like, why can't I have the best one? Like, it's pretty clear how you do it. Like, I, my goal is to have the best one. Why not be the best at this? And I've thought about that at every job I've ever taken since. I thought that was good mentorship I got from one of my E5s. And you know, why not? Why not every, every echelon? Why not? Why can't we be the best team, not only here, but globally? Since you know what we're doing is so important, let's just be the best at what we do.
• 11:47
  Speaker C: Do you think there's more similarities or more differences to being the best in the different branches?
• 11:53
  Speaker A: I think more similarities. Every branch is going to rely on technology to succeed in 2024. But more than that, there's a technical level of excellence that is achievable regardless of branch as you're going through and learning your specific warfighting function and then understanding that and combining that with a people focused leadership that builds effective teams. I think the approach isn't that dissimilar. What you're learning and what your expertise is might be a little different. But I think the approach, the combination of, of competence, of excellence at what you do, and effectiveness of how you build and lead teams is the answer to the question at the end of.
• 12:42
  Speaker C: The day, sir, in remarks made during your promotion ceremony, you said that you stayed at West Point when you were a cadet because of the people. How do you create an organizational climate where people not only want to stay in, but excel where they're at?
• 12:55
  Speaker A: I'll give you three. There's probably a hundred. And my experience was West Point. And then even when you go to, into your bullock, do a great job of exposing you to different leadership lessons and capabilities. So If I can add to that arsenal, great. I'll tell you three that have worked for me. So first I would say be genuine. Don't try to be somebody you're not because people will see through that. Your teams will see through that. I'll say number two, be. I like to use the phrase confidently humble. Have the self confidence to ask questions when you're, you know, when you're in a room in something and that you don't understand a thing or a concept. And that's easier said than done when you go out into a new formation, when you're first joining a team, and I mean we're in the military, teams are constantly changing out. We PCs, quick team, there's a lot of new team members and sometimes it's intimidating to question an acronym or a concept or a piece of equipment. You don't want to look uneducated or unable to do what the army's asked you to do. So it takes a little bit of humility, but it also takes some self confidence to ask those questions and be engaged. I think that is a good climate setter, especially for a new leader to come in and demonstrate that, hey, I'm here to learn from all you, or hey, can you stop this briefing? You just used a phrase I'm not really comfortable or familiar with. Let's go over that. And then the last I'll say is at every step I've always tried to reinforce relevancy. So one of the factors, I wouldn't say it's unique to the cyber, to your, to your signal, to your high tech, but it definitely is a factor for us is retention. We spend a lot of time, money and resources training people on skills that are very valued in the outside world. There are times where retention's an issue. You train somebody up, they can make three, four times what the army can pay them. That's, that's a factor. My experience is, and this is definitely true for me, what drives morale in a lot of cases is feeling like what you're doing makes a difference. So I try to reinforce that as a leader in every way I can. I might not be able to pay somebody what, what Amazon or, or some other Fortune 500 company can pay them to do similar high tech work. But what I can give them is an adversary. What I can give them is a mission that means that is important to our nation, then turning around and ensuring that when they're excellent at that, you know, sometimes it's not immediately obvious to them, why me reviewing these logs or steps or Installing this type of network, how that is so relevant to our overall fight. So sometimes as a leader, it's good to reinforce that and say, here's why what you're doing is so important and thank you for being so awesome at it because you're making our country better, stronger and more secure.
• 15:43
  Speaker C: Sir, are there any deliberate career steps or personal development ideas that you've used to cultivate confident, humility, A lot of.
• 15:52
  Speaker A: Professional reading, and I would reinforce that at every step. The army will and does a good job of providing the training at the important times that you need it. And I know that you don't lack for having to read and do things while you're here at West Point because your schedule is. Is jam full that continuation of not only your skills in the discipline that you choose, but in, in leadership in general. There are mountains of books. I've got bookshelves full of different, whether it be straight leadership. I mean if you type leadership book into Amazon now would come up with thousands of recommendations. Some of them are really good and good, you know, good books. That would be my one recommendation. And then the other that. Because I think they go hand in hand. Just basic psychology. Understanding how people think, what motivates people, what, how, you know, how the. The human brain works and interfaces with tough missions and stressful climates is also an academic interest of mine. And I'll say something as a lifelong learner that that's really resonated for me. So I think those would be on the, the on your own time, things that you can do to continue to grow and evolve throughout your career.
• 17:03
  Speaker C: It's a little bit of a charged question, but do you think that the emerging mediums of media like podcasts, like newsletters, maybe even. Do you think those are adequate replacements for books or at least some type of supplement?
• 17:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's a different environment. I mean, you're in a different environment than I was. I am confident that you and your peers are going to figure that out. And I give it to more in the terms of being able to trust the information that you're exposed to. I think there are excellent. There's podcasts I listen to. There's. I think the environment that we're in today that's very different than when I graduated 30 years ago is the access to a broad range of ideas and thoughts that aren't colored by a certain beliefs or stance or, or spin, if you will. I'm not here to say, hey, I don't trust any media. I don't. But it is. It's just a different environment. I also think that you are better trained and you've grown up in that climate. So I, I am not as worried as some senior folks are that that environment will impact our ability to fairly, not only train leaders, but to fairly get our leaders out on the battlefield that have a broad range of experience or viewpoints and can, can be, you know, empathetic. Empathetic and humble enough to take on different viewpoints. I think you're equipped for that because I think you're equipped for the maturation of technology that you grew up with and deal with every day. So I do think that podcasts and journals are absolutely an effective substitute, if you will, or another augmentation, another tool you can use, along with some of the good literature and the books that are out.
• 18:40
  Speaker C: So for our final question, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self if you were starting your career over today?
• 18:46
  Speaker A: Well, so I'll start with the first kind of a theme from the last question is I, I would encourage younger me to read as you read more. I think I picked that up as I went. Like I said, there just wasn't time much at the, when you're here at West Point, you're, you gain a little more responsibility for your own, you know, professional development as you, as you keep continue to further in your career. And you in some cases are going to take jobs in every branch, in every discipline where you specialize in certain areas. It is an intellectual curiosity that you, you need to continue to, to stoke. And I would reinforce that in, in younger me if I had the opportunity. The second, I would encourage younger me to develop sustainable social networks. And I know social networks has its own connotation, but one thing about moving so quickly, taking on different jobs, joining different teams, and, and, and the climate's better now. There's just more tools and ability. But throughout my career, I've lost touch with some amazing subordinates, peers, friends that, you know, you lose contact with because you're on the go and everybody's deploying, everybody's busy. But two, those networks are great to lean back on when you get difficult problems, when you want to just talk through something unique in a certain area and you had an expert that you was either a good friend or a trusted subordinate or a mentor. So when I say a system that, and I have some peers that have done a much better job than me at this, you know, using tools like, you know, they'll put their people's birthdays on calendars that they've worked with and now they've, now that they're on their 15th different assignment in the army, it's full from people all over and they'll reach back out once a year or you know, something, something like that, to not only build the, the social network but to, to sustain it. And then the last thing I'll say is reinforce the role of informal leadership. One, reinforce the times where you are an informal leader and two, appreciate the difference and the audiences that you're influencing when in that position. And I'll give you a quick story, I'll give you two quick stories on that. First, I'll go back to that first deployment since it was early in my, earlier in my career and may resonate more with in this particular podcast. It was as an 03 so brand new 03 as a captain again, deploying my company to Afghanistan right after 9 11. On the way out the door, I was given a new system developed by the National Security Agency that I was supposed to throw on my network. It was defensive in nature. I learned it's not new technology now, but boy, back in 2001 it was, it was crazy. But because of that, they dropped 15 civilians on me almost literally on the way out the door with a, with somebody. A contract head was kind of in charge of organizing them. And we went to a war zone and we got there and they were attached to my team because we were the, the team doing networks. That was a little intimidating. As a captain, I've never, as a lieutenant, I never had a civilian that even worked in an organization that I'd been in, much less on my team. And I had no formal leadership role with that team. But what I realized a few weeks in is they wanted and needed a leader. It was intimidating to them. They were in the middle of a war zone. Like, it wasn't hard to fill that gap because they wanted to be led. And my first sergeant and I were the obvious team to provide that leadership for them. So that was, that was early on in my career just kind of understanding the environment. And I'll say later in your career, when you're interfacing with your teams, when you're making decisions, really thinking through all of the audience that the formal leadership should be obvious. When you get to your platoon and you can draw a block and line chart and know who works for you, or when you're a company commander and similar, or when you're a primary staff officer and you've got the specialties underneath you that you could play that primary staff role, what is less obvious is the organizations that support your unit, that work through you. So think some contractors that work through here that take the cue from you, or I'll give you another audience that you are leading informally, the family members of the of your subordinates. So when you're putting out guidance, when you're talking, when you're writing a memo, you know, that's another audience that you're leading through your actions. And then eventually in your career, this could include our coalition partners, this could include soldiers from other services, from other branches, people that rely on whatever technical expertise that you bring to the battlefield. And it will be an important capability of the combined army fight. But they're all in the looking at you potentially as part of that leadership and that guidance piece. So being, being cognizant of that and thinking through that as you're not only making decisions, but communicating those would be the third thing I think I'd tell Young me. Thank you, sir.
• 23:39
  Speaker C: General Miles, thank you for sharing your time with us today and for the great discussion on leadership, decision, dominance and cyber operations. On behalf of Colonel Pat Sullivan, the director of MWI, and Dr. Charlie Feint, the director of this podcast series, I'd like to present you with this rare and coveted MWI pen case and pen as a token of our appreciation.
• 23:57
  Speaker A: That is pretty awesome. Oh, I especially like the case. Well, thank you so much and it was really an honor to be part of this podcast and this series. So thank you.
• 24:05
  Speaker C: Thank you so much, sir.
• 24:09
  Speaker B: This has been an episode of Five Questions for a General, a production of the Modern War Institute of West Point. If you like what you heard today, please download like subscribe and share Share this podcast to help us reach an even larger audience. All statements in this podcast represent the personal views of the speakers and do not represent an official position of the United States Military Academy or the United States government.