You are listening to the War on the Rocks podcast on strategy, defense, and foreign affairs.

My name is Ryan Evans, I'm the CEO of War in the Rocks.

In this episode I talk about a very special new bit of doctrine.

Doctrine is not usually something to get something

excited but this one should. It's called learning and it's the newest Marine Corps

doctrine. The man who led its creation is Major General William F Mullen who is

actually days away from retiring. He's the outgoing Major General

William F Mullen, who is actually days away from retiring.

He's the outgoing commanding general of training and education command.

Enjoy the show.

Why don't you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your career in the Marine Corps?

Yeah, I've spent the last 34 years in the Marine Corps, an infantry officer by trade, but when you become a general officer, you're a generalist,

so they put you in different types of jobs.

And I haven't spent as much time

in the operational forces that I was, as I would like.

But that's kind of the way the ball bounces. And I have been a lifelong learner. I've always been a reader. I've always seen the benefit of reading and what it does for me and how it helps me make decisions,

especially in crunch moments when you don't have a whole lot of time or a whole lot of information.

And over the past... don't have a whole lot of time or a whole lot of information.

And over the past probably 10 years,

I've been pressing harder and harder

across the Marine Corps for all of our folks

to do the same, to get them to understand the why,

...