0.0: Downrange Data Table of Contents
A one stop shop to help you find the data you are looking for.
Welcome to Downrange Data. If you’ve just started or if you’re looking to find an old post to share with a new reader, this is the place to start.
0.1: WTF is Data Literacy? — A brief introduction and definition of ‘data literacy’.
0.2: I’ve Always Been a Data Nerd — My first data wins as a lieutenant.
0.3 Death to PowerPoint — Why I think PowerPoint is killing our army.
1.0: The Recipe For Time — Stories from my time as a captain, when I was sparking digital innovations.
1.1: Getting Rid of the Hay — Finding insurgents’ rocket launchers in Iraq with data.
1.2: A Stryker Dies in Diyala — Missing insurgent bombers because of PowerPoint.
1.3: What to Give an NCO for Christmas — Digitizing processes so NCOs can focus on what matters.
1.4: It’s good to be the Warlord — My first glimpse of what a data lake could do.
1.5: Data in the Dirt — How we shared 500x the information with 1/10th the file size.
2.0: Changing Processes — Field Grade rank gave me the ability to change the way whole units worked.
2.01: A Boomer Made Me Learn SharePoint — When you stop relying on paper processes, you stop losing things.
2.02: ‘Can you make it do…’ — You need allies to help you drive change.
2.03: Make A SGM’s Day Better — What could you do with those four hours a week you spend updating admin?
2.04: ‘I’m From the Future’ — Helping the data skeptics see the value of change.
2.05: Show Me the Money — How I stole $1.2 million dollars from units that used PowerPoint.
2.06: ‘The Ben and Erik Roadshow’ — What happens when data meets high-end conflict?
2.07: Get Your Battle Captain Back — How OneNote killed the ‘my slides haven’t updated’ excuse.
2.08 A Library of Alexandria — Building — and losing — a wealth of data.
2.09: Where Red Lives — The single easiest hack to make your unit better.
2.10: The Files Are In The Computer — How we used a decade of old data to fix the future of SF.
2.11: Data in Context — Finding out what does — and does not — impact promotion.
2.12: No, You Can’t Have a Phone Call — When the war kicks off, you don’t have time to make PowerPoint.
2.13: Not So New Math — Learn how a ground pounder taught helicopters how far they could fly.
2.14: The Parking Brake — Why data literate commanders matter.
3.0: Making Decisions — Lieutenant Colonel and battalion command gave me room to run, and I took every inch of it.
3.1: A Brief Sidebar on Gaming — Learning to fail the best way I know how.
3.2: Starting with Data — Tired of having the army act like it’s never met you before?
3.3: Command in the Time of COVID — Turning to data instead of partisanship to navigate the pandemic.
3.4: What To Do With All Those Gains — Pity the officer whose commander knows data better than them.
3.5: Sua Sponte — The long-awaited post about KM.
3.6: Data Toddlers — How the data literate will beat you.
4.0: Where to Next? — I try to take a look forward.
4.1 Data Skeptics — Responding to the critics.
4.2: Bad Ux = Bad Data or ‘How We Killed iCommand’ — The most impactful kill of my career.
4.3 Towards Better Ux — This is the way.
4.4: You all did love PowerPoint once, not without cause — The two — and only two — things you should do with PowerPoint.
4.5: Parting Thoughts — My final two pence, and acknowledgements long overdue.
Appendices
X.1: About The Author — My CV.
X.2: Glossary — Army gotta acronym. Each term is hyperlinked to help you see where it was used in context.
X.3: Suggested Sources — A table of the things I suggest you read, listen to, watch, and play to learn more about data.
X.4: The Data of the Harding Project — Zach Griffiths’ cross post from The Harding Project reveals the data underlying the Chief of Staff’s call to reinvigorate army writing.
X.5: Data Informed Operations — Guest post from Kevin Horrigan shows how his team used data to track the progress of their Afghan partners.
X.6: Choosing Your Data Katana — Matt Moellering provides a run-down of the data tools at your disposal on DoD networks.
X.7: Stop Using Pie Charts, Your Commander Doesn't Understand Them And Neither Do You — Natalie Stone’s post on how to improve your data visualization.
X.8: The Art of Being Wrong — Natalie’s second guest post, this time covering how data can help you know when you’re wrong.
X.9: It’s Not All Guns and Zeros — How to run a JOC.
X.10: By the Numbers — The data behind the data behind the…
G.0: Where Data Meets Gains - A series that examines the data of army fitness and asks, are you ready?
G.1: Baseline - Ready for what exactly? What this series is, and is not going to cover.
G.1a: RAND Gave Me A Christmas Present - In an unplanned coincidence, RAND published a study on the ACFT right in the middle of writing this series.
G.2: Nobody’s Week Got Worse With Yoga - Why mobility and breathing matter.
G.3: Tasting Failure - Introducing the core of my fitness paradigm.
G.4: I Don’t Run - But I still can run. Would you like to know more?
G.5: What’s a Tabata? (11 Jan) - Learn the fitness insight from 1996 you wish you’d known earlier.
G.6: Row Well, And Live (18 Jan) - Allow me to introduce your two new frenemies.
G.7: Gains With Friends (25 Jan) - Because shared misery is always more fun.
G.8: When You’re Eating Well, You’re Well (01 Feb) - Why the 540 rule change was so overdue.
G.9: Getting Old(er) (08 Feb) - How fitness changes as you age, and how it doesn’t.
Z.0: Miscellaneous Posts - The junk drawer of other posts. Praise be unto Goddess Anoia!
Z.01: Data in a Crisis - When the power goes out, and the enemy is at the gates, you’re still going to want data.
Z.02: ‘Trilingual Leaders’ - Why it can’t just be a staffers job to understand data.
Z.03: Bringing Data to a Gun Fight - How data is making the USMC and the army more lethal.
Z.04: Between Probability and Representation - I’m not a feminist, I’m just data literate.
Z.05: Your Most Casualty Producing Weapon - Why knowing data and digital is every commander’s responsibility.
Z.06: Counting What Matters (coming soon) - The data impacts of CAP