General James Mattis, A Marine We Should Know
"In this age, I don’t care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony—even vicious harmony—on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines."
General James N. Mattis is currently the commander of U.S. Central Command. Having replaced General Petraeus on 11 August, 2010 he previously commended U.S. Joint Forces Command. He has commanded troops at every level in the Marine Corps and the U.S. Military. He has significant combat leadership experience in command of operational units from the Battalion through Division level.
Born in Pullman, Washington, the General attended Central Washington University. He was commissioned a 2ndLt in January of 1972, serving as a rifle and weapons Platoon Commander in 3rd Marine Division. He commanded a Rifle Company in the 1st Marine Brigade.
As a LtCol, he commanded 1st Battalion, 7th Marines in combat during Operation Desert Storm. 1/7 was an assault Battalion in Task Force Ripper. As a Colonel Mattis commanded 7th Marine Regiment.
As a Brigadier General he commanded Task Force 58 during the initial stages of Operation Enduring Freedom in Southern Afghanistan. As a Major General he commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and follow-on stability operations.
As a LtGen, General Mattis has also served as the Deputy Commandant, Marine Corps Combat Development Command and on his promotion to General as the Commander, Joint Forces Command.
Prior to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 General Mattis wrote a letter to the distributed to the Marines of the 1st Marine Division the day before their attack. The letter is notable on several levels and coined another nickname for the Marines as "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.
Nicknamed the "Warrior Monk", General Mattis is known to have a significant Military Library and has a reputation as one of the most, if not the most, well read Marines of all time.
Resources for Marines
The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the United States Marines
Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines
New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah
General Mattis Quotes
A Marine General at War
Posted by Leading Marines.com at 9/13/2010 12:49 AM 
Categories: Marines you should know
Tags: Marine Corps Leadership Decision making combat leadership
Categories: Marines you should know
Tags: Marine Corps Leadership Decision making combat leadership
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