Lack of reflection by senior leaders is the single biggest deficiency we have in the military today. General Mattis More Quotes by General Mattis More Quotes From General Mattis When asked why he carry's a knife, General Mattis said, In case I run into a piece of cake, or, a throat to slit General Mattis The problem [with revising the Counter-Insurgency doctrine] would have been if you only had people working the content who knew infantry, the cockpit of a plane, or the bridge of a ship. General Mattis opinion