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conclude, “That’s not possible.”
    There will be times when an adverse fact should stop you in your tracks. Never let it stop you completely until you have thought about it, challenged it, and looked for a way to get around it. And if you conclude that the gain will be great enough to overcome the consequences of that adverse fact, decide and execute.
    I dare not compare myself to Eisenhower or Grant, but a similar though far smaller decision came my way in December 1989, a few months after I became JCS Chairman. On the night of December 1 there was an attempted military coup in the Philippines against President Corazon Aquino. I raced down to the command center in the Pentagon to monitor the action. President Aquino was concerned that members of the air force would join the coup and bomb the presidential palace. She called the White House and asked us to bomb the nearby air base to keep that from happening. I got instructions from the White House situation room to execute the mission. My experience told me it was an easy mission using F-4 Phantom jets from Clark Air Base. My experience also told me that there would be Filipino deaths and collateral damage to property. Regardless of how the coup turned out, Filipinos would surely criticize us for any loss of life and property damage. My instinct told me there might be a better way to accomplish the goal of the mission, which was to keep the palace from being bombed. Admiral Hunt Hardisty, our commander in the Pacific, happened to be in Washington and joined me at the command center. The alternative we came up with was to instruct the F-4 pilots to take off and buzz the Philippine air base in a manner that demonstrated “extreme hostile intent.” If a plane took to the runway anyway, shoot in front of it or crater the runway. If the plane took off, then shoot it down. The Philippine planes stayed on the ground, and the coup ended a few hours later.
    If one plane had managed to get off, bomb the palace, and kill the president, my experience and instincts would have failed.
    During the crisis, I wasn’t able to reach the Philippine minister of defense, Fidel Ramos. After it was all over I finally got through to him and briefed him on what we had done. He was deeply grateful that we had not bombed.
    Whenever I’m faced with a difficult choice, my approach has always been to make an estimate of the situation—a familiar military process: What’s the situation? What’s the mission? What are the different courses of action? How do they compare with one another? Which looks most likely to succeed? Now, follow your informed instinct, decide, and execute forcefully; throw the mass of your forces and energy behind the choice. Then take a deep breath and hope it works, remembering that “hope is a bad supper, but makes a good breakfast.”
    7. YOU CAN’T MAKE SOMEONE ELSE’S CHOICES. YOU SHOULDN’T LET SOMEONE ELSE MAKE YOURS.
    We are taught in the military to take full responsibility for “everything your unit does or fails to do, and what you do or fail to do.” Since ultimate responsibility is yours, make sure the choice is yours and you are not responding to the pressure and desire of others.
    That does not mean your decision has to be solitary or lonely. Seek the advice of others, but be aware that people are always around who are full of advice and sure they know how you should decide. All too often, your decision affects them and they are pushing you in a direction that’s more in their interest than yours. Never forget that your informed instinct is usually the most solid basis for making a decision.
    Of course, the choice is not always yours to make. In the Army, for instance, duty will at times require acceptance of that reality.
    In 1985, I was selected to be an infantry division commander in Germany. I wanted the job badly—it is the dream job of every infantry officer, and I was eager to get back to troop command. But the Army decided I should remain in