Colonel Mike Davis: Expert Military Composer

Michael T. Davis is an officer in the United States Air Force. He has been in the military

for almost twenty-five years and has gained priceless know-how. In my interview with him I

hoped to explore his experience with composition and see what advice he had for a future Air

Force officer.

When I asked Colonel Davis to define his profession he told me that he is a colonel in the

Air Force. Then he made it clear that he is not a pilot, doctor, or scientist. Often when he

mentions Air Force in conversation people assume he flies planes or develops bombs. He

wanted to make it clear that he had an entirely different job indeed. Instead, he is a senior leader

who is charged with the care and well-being of Air Force personnel. It is truly a job where one

should expect the unexpected. He’s been asked to get three master’s degrees, be in charge of

12,000 service members, lead two Air Force bases at once, and be the link between the United

States Air Force and Lockheed Martin. All he had to say was, “if you’re interested in challenge,

adventure, and excitement then the Air Force is for you.”

Surely someone that is asked to put on so many hats needs a solid base in

communication. This is where my questions led the interview and where the solid content was

found. I started off by asking him how much he actually composes something in a day. He told

me that composition in his field is demanded multiple times per hour for the whole day! The

main genre is email, which he writes concisely and with a very clear purpose. According to him

military communication is always done quickly and efficiently. That made sense to me because

with a job having so many different responsibilities there is no time for time wasted. Colonel
Davis told me that the best way to write an email as an Air Force officer is to start with what

needs to be done and why. Follow that with a strategy, motivation, and finally a projected

timeline or outcome. This format is the same across all forms of composition that the military

uses including briefings and “bullet-background papers.”

Briefings are interesting and we talked about the pros and cons of them later in the

interview. Bullet-background papers are very detailed and provide all background information

needed to make a decision on an issue. They are meant to replace “laborious meetings”

according to Colonel Davis (it is important to note that Colonel Davis is very critical of meetings

that he feels wasted time). He said that if military compositions were done any other way, the

mission could be jeopardized and that is the fault of the officer who failed to communicate

effectively. He also commented that the purpose of any composition in his field is to get

something done and that I should keep that in mind. There is no reason to send a redundant

email or provide the same information twice. However with missions sometimes involving a

few hundred people, redundancy is inevitable. A good officer is mindful of avoiding it and also

works to decrease redundancy among his or her peers.

This was interesting to me because I realized that in his field there is almost never any

creative composition. Everything that he does is about the mission, whatever it may be. This is

a unique aspect of the military because in most other professions there are at least some

occasions where someone would compose with creativity as the goal. There are even some jobs

where creativity is the main goal of composition. For example, a comedian’s compositions are

likely all creative ideas for more comedy. I decided to dig a little deeper into briefings and see

what I would find.

 Colonel Davis explained that briefings are almost always seen in powerpoint form. It is a

way to inform a large group of people at one time. Briefings are widely used in the military and

also in military reserve programs like Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. They sound

great! However Colonel Davis had a few things to say about them. He said that it is hard to get

the content in a briefing just right. On one hand, a briefer can over-explain the pertinent

information. It’s frustrating to listen to someone get into the nitty-gritty on something you’re

already very familiar with. On the other hand, Colonel Davis said “we use too much jargon and

expect our audience to know too much.” Briefers can gloss over the background information and

leave the audience without the facts they need to understand the main point. And for Colonel

Davis leading a base of 12,000 airmen, he needs that necessary background information because

he can’t know everything about everything that is going on. He also mentioned that briefings are

often very boring.

That led me to ask Colonel Davis about the importance of evaluating your audience. He

told me that knowing your audience is a crucial piece in effective composition. If you’re writing

something for an officer above you, your tone and diction would likely be different than if you

were writing to your buddy, or at least I would hope they are. The audience also needs to be

considered when choosing what method of composition would be best suited to them. If an

officer needed to inform a group of other military members about the benefits of implementing

one model of the F-35 than another, a briefing would probably be the best choice. If they were

informing a group of civilian contractors on the same topic, a bullet-background paper would

make the most sense. At about this point in the interview Colonel Davis warned me about one

thing.
 I asked him to tell me the most important thing I could do to be successful in my future

career as an Air Force officer. He told me that I would make many mistakes. I would make the

wrong call and people would be angry. At times I might wonder if I’m even the right guy to be

doing the job. The pressure put on me would sometimes be overwhelming. He told me that

making those mistakes and having those doubts are perfectly normal though, and they are

inevitable. He said the most important thing a young officer can do is to embrace those mistakes

and hardships, analyze them, and turn them into a lesson. He told me to never stop learning and

constantly seek improvement. This left me feeling a little anxious but also inspired and excited

to take on the challenge.

I set out to dig into Colonel Davis’ experience with Air Force and with composition in his

job. When the interview concluded I felt like I had reached that goal. Overall, I was left feeling

that everything someone does in the Air Force matters. Whether it’s an email, briefing, or

bullet-background paper, a speech, mission statement, or performance report, it matters and

should be given your best effort. Colonel Davis showed me that military composition is concise,

constant, and serious. If done poorly, people could get hurt, lose their jobs, or simply have their

valuable time wasted. Being comfortable with composing is a key piece in being successful in

this career field. Aside from composition I realized that being an officer will be difficult. It

comes with a lifestyle that is challenging in every facet. However, it can be extremely rewarding

and I can’t wait to see it for myself.

 Reflection

I am very pleased with how my interview turned out. I feel like I organized a lot

of good information and it was definitely worth the work. I was excited about going into

the Air Force before, but now I’m super excited to get there. Before the interview I was

pumped to get into the job. Because of the interview, I got to see some of the specifics

and challenges that come with the job from a guy that has been doing it for years. For

instance, I knew that officers do a ton of email but I did not know that there was a

different format that is to be used. Further, I had never really thought about the

consequences that come with poor composition. It turns out that with the level of

responsibility and accountability that comes with being an officer, some seriously bad

stuff can occur if that officer doesn’t compose something correctly. Just being able to

pick the brain of someone so knowledgeable on a topic that I am so invested in was a

great experience. On the topic of responsibility, I am really looking forward to filling the

role and being a good leader for my airmen. I know that to be a good leader you have to

be good at basic things like confrontation, speaking, and composition before you can do

the harder tasks like decision-making and mission planning. I see now that it is important

to nail those things down so that when I go in to do my job I’ll be prepared to do it

effectively. As composition is directly related to this class, I appreciate the work we’re

doing here to improve our skills in it and I know I can reach the skill level required of

me. I also loved talking relatively casually with a senior officer. Keep in mind he is my

dad, but as an ROTC cadet we’re taught to use the seven basic responses (“Yes Sir, No
Sir, No Excuse Sir”, etc) which would not have led to an effective interview. This helped

me to see that although ranks and due respect are important, behind all that are great

people who are normal and just really want to do their best. It took away the stigma that

military personnel are robots who do their job really well but neglect other aspects of life.

A big takeaway that I got from this project was that someone in a career field like this

needs to be open to new ideas and change. You need to be adaptable to succeed. Colonel

Davis has done various jobs for the Air Force, each of them different than the last and the

Air Force does not care if you’re having a hard time adjusting. This is something that

I’m used to, my family has moved to a new place eleven times since I’ve been alive.

With that said, I do think the whole thing is a little daunting and it will be a huge

challenge. Just on the topic of composition there are many things you can do wrong!

Balancing responsibilities at such a high level is not something that I have experience

with, but I know my career path will take me through the little steps to get there.

Something that will be interesting to see is how the information that I learned through

this interview will be applicable to my situation as a young officer. Colonel Davis has

been a senior Air Force leader for a long time now and I wonder how his advice and

responses would have been different if I were to have interviewed him early in his career.

Overall, I can’t wait to be surrounded by like-minded people in the Air Force and I’m

thankful for any opportunity to better prepare me for it.