This is a short post inspired by the recent meeting between Secretary of Defense Hegseth, President Trump and top military officers. There seems to be a push by this administration back toward a more muscular, male military. This is odd in the modern warfare world where brains are often more important than brawn. I can’t help but think about that Bible story of David and Goliath (The Book of Samuel, Chapter 17), one of my favorites.
Modern warfare relies on drones, satellites, cyber warfare, AI-driven targeting, and precision-guided munitions. The most powerful soldier cannot compete with someone who can disable a city’s power grid with a keystroke.
Ukraine is a recent example of how a smaller, less physically dominant country can resist a superpower by using strategy, local knowledge, and unconventional tactics. (Rather like our Continental Army, a diverse group of volunteers and conscripts including people of color, immigrants, and women, that won the Revolutionary War.)
The “fog of war” is now managed through intelligence analysis, data interpretation, and rapid decision-making, often in real time. Wars are won by maintaining supply lines, managing energy, and coordinating across multiple domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber). These require brains at every level.
Brawn is still essential on the ground. Infantry and special forces still need stamina, physical courage, reflexes, and grit. Even with machines and AI, wars ultimately involve human beings who just fight, patrol, and enforce control. Brains without brawn can’t hold territory or survive the chaos when systems fail. However, brains dominate the overall picture. The nations with the best intelligence, cyber capabilities, and technological innovation hold the real edge.
The right balance between brains and brawn, technology, machines, and people makes for the strongest military. It seems rather silly to hark back to the days when battles were fought between men rushing at each other across open fields with spears, shields and bows. Much like our President, I have no military experience, so I may be off base here. Anyway, something to think about next time someone charges you with a knife.