BOOKMONGER
SEMPER FI
‘Call Sign Chaos’ is a
refl ection on a lifetime
of military service
Lessons from a military
career
astern Washington native Jim Mat-
tis, with assistance from colleague
Bing West, has written this forthright
account of his career. The story follows him
from Marine recruit to four-star general to
Secretary of Defense and recounts the bat-
tle-tested lessons gained along the way.
Mattis makes clear, however, that as much
as he values learning by doing, he also has
great respect for the lessons that history pro-
vides. A keen student of military history, he
closely read the strategies of warriors across
the millennia.
In 2003, in advance of his deployment to
E
Iraq, Mattis’ penchant for books was made
clear when a colleague noted that other offi -
cers were “too busy to read.”
In a response that went viral, Mattis
rejoined, “By reading, you learn through oth-
ers’ experiences, generally a better way to do
business, especially in our line of work where
the consequences of incompetence are so
fi nal for young men.”
Reading, he continued, “doesn’t give me
all the answers, but it lights what is often a
dark path ahead.”
And now with this book, Mattis meticu-
lously shares his own experiences so future
warriors may learn from him.
While attending Central Washington
State College, Mattis spent summers in offi -
cer candidate training. After graduating with
a degree in history in 1971, he was commis-
sioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines.
In his fi rst 12 years he was deployed to 13
different countries, where he learned “the
irreplaceable benefi t” of allies.
In those early years, Mattis honed the fun-
damentals of good leadership, which he sums
up as “the three Cs”: competence (“be bril-
liant in the basics”), caring and conviction.
He was a colonel when he acquired his
call sign, “CHAOS.” His management objec-
tive was to keep his battalions nimble by
decentralizing authority and encouraging ini-
tiative on the battlefi eld. Despite the proven
effectiveness of this approach, it didn’t keep
his irreverent operations offi cer from asking,
“Does the Colonel Have Another Outstand-
ing Solution?”
In 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded
Kuwait, Mattis and his battalion were sent to
the Middle East. Their fi rst mission, defend
Saudi Arabia, was later revised to forcing
Hussein out of Kuwait.
In response to the deadly attacks on the
World Trade Center in 2001, Mattis was
instrumental in the design and execution of
This Week’s Book:
“Call Sign Chaos” – By Jim Mattis and Bing
West
Random House – 320 pp — $28
an audacious amphibious invasion of Marines
into Afghanistan to go after Osama bin Laden
and the Taliban.
During his career, Mattis served loyally
under both Democratic and Republican pres-
idents. But in this book, with specifi city, he
reveals frustration with policymakers who
had unclear objectives or waffl ed in the mid-
dle of a military campaign.
Mattis refrains from criticizing Presi-
dent Trump (“I don’t write about sitting Pres-
idents”), but does share his letter of resig-
nation as Trump’s Secretary of Defense, in
which he writes, “While the US remains the
indispensable nation in the free world, we
cannot protect our interests or serve that role
effectively without maintaining strong alli-
ances and showing respect to those allies.”
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi-
chael, who writes this weekly column focus-
ing on the books, authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bkmon-
ger@nwlink.com
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‘Call Sing Chaos’
by Jim Mattis and
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 // 23