About Us

Who we are

  • I provide creative solutions to intelligence issues in government and corporate domains.
  • I provide seminars for your people in the areas of ‘will,’ intelligence analysis, intelligence collection, red teaming/devil’s advocate, critical thinking and “how-to-think” vs. “what-to-think.”
  • I provide cutting edge thought in understanding and using the power of ‘will,’ intelligence analysis, intelligence collection, and asymmetric warfare.
  • I provide red teaming/devil’s advocate services to assist your planning process, papers or projects, theses or dissertations. These services help you to find weaknesses that can then be fixed before publication.
  • I provide virtual mentorship to individuals to help with thinking and planning.
  • I provide creative thinking to present options and to solve difficult problems.

 

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– Photos by Scott London

Biography of Wayne M. Hall

Brigadier General Wayne M. “Mike” Hall retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years of active military service.  Positions of responsibility while on active duty included J2 (intelligence officer), U.S. Forces Korea from 1996-1998; Commander, 501st Military Intelligence Brigade, U.S. Forces Korea from 1994-1996; Commander, 313th Military Intelligence Battalion, 82d Airborne Division from 1989-1991, experiencing Just Cause and Desert Shield and Desert Storm; and G2 (intelligence officer), 82d Airborne Division from 1987-1989.

Brigadier General Hall currently spends time with Joint, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps intelligence analysts, collection people, and operational planners teaching his advanced analysis seminar – a two-week learning experience in advanced intelligence analysis and operational planning. Over 1250 intelligence analysts and operational planners have successfully completed the seminar requirements. He is developing a program of learning for advanced collection to complement his advanced analysis program. Both learning programs involve improving individual and organizational ‘how to think’ capabilities for thinking about and operating in complexity-ridden and nonlinear operational contexts Americans and coalition partners will face now and in future conflict and other competitive interaction. In these intense one- and two-week learning programs, Brigadier General Hall helps people learn the system of thought that is advanced analysis and advanced collection. He has led 53 one- and two-week seminars, helping over 1000 analysts and collection people learn how to thing more relationally, creatively, and deeply over 7 years.

He also provides consulting services in creative thinking, red teaming, intelligence experimentation, future conflict, transformation, intelligence support to irregular and counterinsurgency warfare, intelligence analysis and collection, and coping with the increasing influence of information and knowledge in thinking, planning, and making decisions.

Brigadier General Hall has developed a unique system of thought for both advanced intelligence analysis and advanced intelligence collection that is relevant to an entire spectrum of conflict, law enforcement operations, homeland security, and competitive commercial activities.

Brigadier General Hall holds a BS in history from the University of Nebraska; a MS from Kansas State University; a MMAS (Masters Military Art and Science) from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and an EdD from George Washington University. He also attended the Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), and the National War College.

Brigadier General Hall has published four books. The published books in chronological order include: Stray Voltage War In The Information Age – in April 2003, Intelligence Analysis How To Think In Complex Environments—in December 2009—Intelligence Collection How To Plan and Execute Collection Operations In Complex Environments, in June 2012—and The Power of Will In International Conflict How To Think Critically In Complex Environments in September 2018.

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Biography Wayne Michael Hall                                        

 

First Name:Wayne                    Middle:Michael                       Last Name:Hall

Rank:Brigadier General, US Army, Retired

Contact Information:

Street:9925 Grandview Dr

City:Denton                   State:TX              Zip:76207         

Cell Number:757-647-4371

Email:hallwm@me.com                         Website Address:http://waynemhall.com

 

Education / Degree:B.S in History, University of Nebraska; M.S., Kansas State University; Masters of Military Art and Science, US Army Command and General Staff of College; School of Advanced Military Studies; National War College: EdD, George Washington University

 

Expertise:Lecturing, seminar leader, business strategy, collections, red teaming, military experience, consulting, writing, creative thinking

 

Professional Affiliations:Military Intelligence Corps Association (MICA), Association of the United States Army (AUSA)

 

Volunteer Work/Charities:Mentor, past sponsor for Hall Scholarship Fund administered by MICA, ending in 2016

 

Published Works:Four books:Stray Voltage War In The Information Age (April 2003), Intelligence Analysis How To Think In Complex Environments (December 2009), and Intelligence Collection How To Plan and Execute Collection Operations In Complex Environments (June 2012), The Power of Will in International Conflict (2018)

 

Public Speaking:Numerous speaking engagements including giving lectures at Industrial College of Armed Forces, National War College

 

Keys to Success:hard work, deep thought, continuous learning

 

Hobbies/Interests:Music, writing, reading

 

Inspirational Mottos:

– Don’t be afraid to ‘disturb the universe’ with your ideas and actions.

– One finds joy in thinking via synthesis and holism.

– Always answer and then revisit – Have I lived a life worth living?

– Believe in connectedness—the past, present, and future.

 

Brigadier General (Retired) Wayne M. Hall has made his life’s mission to serve his country and mankind by helping others make full use of intelligence capabilities and learning how to think deeply about difficult subjects. He is a staunch believer in the notion that thought does matterand that it is through purposeful, challenging use of our intellects that we can shape, protect and serve humanity. Although machines have their place in the process, the human mind is and will always be uniquely superior in creative and imaginative capability to man-made machines. Learning ‘how to think’is an enormous aspect of being alive; however, people have to broaden their horizons and have a desire to be life-long learners and thought leaders/mentors.

 

In the past, Brigadier General Hall has provided both the government and private sectors with creative and lasting solutions to intelligence analysis and collection, and now, “will.”  He has advised firms on intelligence issues, provided red teaming and “devil’s advocate” services in addition to direct consulting and seminar services. Also within his realm of expertise he has been a consultant in intelligence experimentation, future conflict, counter insurgency warfare and developing new ideas about working with the continuous flow of data, information, and knowledge and then forming conclusions and recommendations. He has developed quality control systems for intelligence analysis and collections. His concepts involving knowledge advantage centers and virtual knowledge environments allow people to use data for advantage while sifting through the huge flow of data that exists in today’s world.  He also provides virtual mentorship to individuals as they plan for their personal and professional lives and his ability to think creatively has helped many people to successfully solve challenging issues resulting from organizational transformation.

 

Brigadier General Hall is proud of the unique system of thought that he developed for advanced intelligence analysis, advanced intelligence collection, and the theory and conceptual underpinnings involved in understanding the phenomenon of ‘will,’—the age-old core of conflict that has brought both greatness and misery to mankind. All of these subjects can be taught in seminars and used in national security and law enforcement operations, homeland security and competitive commercial activities.  In his past, Brigadier General Hall created a scholarship and raised over $50,000 for intelligence analysts and collection professionals to study at the collegiate level.

 

Brigadier General Hall has an extensive and distinguished background in this field. His military career spanned 30 years. He was the senior intelligence officer in one infantry battalion (1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS), two infantry brigades (2d Infantry Division, Republic of Korea, and 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS), and one airborne infantry division (82d Airborne Division). He was the 4th Infantry Division Plans Officer, Fort Carson CO. He commanded the military intelligence battalion in the 82d Airborne Division from 1989-1991and a military intelligence brigade in the Republic of Korea from 1994-1996.  He participated in Operation Golden Pheasant in Honduras in 1988 as the 82d Airborne Division G2; Just Cause in Panama in 1989 as the 82d Airborne Division Military Intelligence Battalion Commander, and; in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm from 1990-1991 as the 82d Airborne Division Military Intelligence Battalion Commander. As a General Officer, He was the J2 (Joint and Combined intelligence officer) for US Forces Korea for two years from 1996-1998. From 1998-1999, he led a study for the Chief of Staff of the Army on the future of Army Military Intelligence. He is a Senior Parachutist, and earned and proudly wears the Army’s Ranger Tab. He has lead his advanced analysis seminars 52 times to ~ 1250 professionals in the Joint Services, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

 

Brigadier General Hall has academic credentials too: he holds a Bachelor of Science in history from the University of Nebraska, a Master of Science in Adult Education from Kansas State University, a Masters of Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and an EdD in Adult Education from George Washington University. He attended the Army’s Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), and the National War College.

 

Brigadier General Hall has authored four books: Stray Voltage War in The Information Age (Naval Institute Press, 2003), IntelligenceAnalysis – How to Think in Complex Environments (Praeger Security International, 2009),Intelligence Collection – How To Plan and Execute Collection Operations in Complex Environments (Praeger Security International (2012), and—The Power of Will in International Conflict (scheduled for publication by Praeger Security International in late September 2018).

 

Philosophy  

Life is a journey in a sea of turbulence and change. It is an interesting journey – full of people, events, activities, and interactions in which people intersect, conjoin, collide, and sometimes careen off of each other or the contexts in which they live. One of the true joys of living is the realization that the minds our maker bestowed upon us are wondrous. The human mind sets us apart from animals and objects. The human mind involves thinking. Joy exists in thinking; however, finding such joy takes traveling, in a metaphorical sense, to the high country of our beings to engage in deep thinking about life and death, work and play, hate and love, philosophy and purposeless living, mysteries and solutions, creation and destruction, good and bad, and other couplings in the endless unity of opposites that comprise our lives. Thinking though must be much more than reductionism. Reductionist thought is often barren and devoid of reflection, lacks understanding of being conscious, lacks synthesis, and lacks creativity in its truest sense of meaning. It is through synthesis that the spark of intellect springs forth; it is through deep thinking that we can innovate and create. When we as human beings use our minds to create art or to create new ways of doing things or seeing the world, of understanding relationships, of causing combinations of things to come together and work as one, and of coalescing things into a new and better whole – this cognitive process is the essence of the mental capabilities we were born with. I hope that by engendering the collective power of the minds of multiple people and machines to work in a unified whole and to shape the future through the doctrine of holism (parts of a whole cannot be truly known and understood except in the coherent functioning and power of the whole itself), we will create optimal cognitive outcomes. Thought does matter; no machine or organization can accomplish what the human can do with his or her mind. Our minds though have to expand and improve constantly. It is through purposeful, challenging learning we learn ‘how to think’ better each day and allow our senses and minds to experience the world with an overwhelming sense of awe and gratitude. We cannot squander this magnificent gift for narrow, regimented, and fragmented approaches to our lives, the world, and seemingly intractable problems that face our country and the human race. Thus, we must learn how to think differently and better through the cognitive skill that is synthesis and the doctrine of holism. The wonderful part of this admonition is, while difficult, all people can learn to think better than today. Mental improvement has to be purposeful; it has to involve relationships between and among people, being honest, being open to new ideas, admitting that we do not know, asking questions, and being humble enough to seek to improve one’s thinking and to accept help from others in the task. Then, and only then, can human beings do what they should feel compelled to do to constantly optimize the greatness of the minds that we received at our inception and that connect with those spirits that preceded us and those spirits that will follow us.

Goya’s Sleep of Reason

This work by Goya fits well with my philosophy of thought.  I have a copy of it in my office where it reminds me daily of the power of rational thought combined with imagination.

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Goya wrote a caption for his print: “Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders.” Goya believed that imagination should never be completely renounced in favor of the strictly rational.  (http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org)

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Footnotes

Come to the edge quote:  Guillaume Apollinaire

http://thinkexist.com   accessed 1/11/13

Sleep of Reason quote: Goya

 

accessed 1/11/13

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