Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
Like many junior officers, I hear a lot about “professional development.” We hear about it from senior leaders, it is almost always on our officer evaluations, we are told to develop our subordinates, and we assume that leader development exists...somewhere. Some of us have even been developed professionally, apparently. Most often, however, it seems …
Continue reading "Full Spectrum Professional Development"
Battles are planned by generals and won by sergeants, so the saying goes. The saying didn't include anything about who runs things in the meantime. That's because the people who run things were very keen on ensuring that their names are left out of popular sayings. Those people are the specialists of the U.S. Army. …
Continue reading "The Real Army Mob: The E-4 Mafia"
This is a guest post from Peter Lucier. Peter Lucier is a Marine veteran (2008-2013) and student at Montana State University. He writes as a member of the Council of Former Enlisted for The Best Defense blog, and is the editor of the soon to be launched Return to Base (rtbmag.com) You can follow him …
So, the other day I was talking with a noncommissioned officer within my organization. We were having an interesting discussion about different issues facing the Army right now, when he made the somewhat alarming remark that he thinks multiculturalism is destroying this country. This line of thinking isn't new at all; in fact it's …
Continue reading "Retaking the American Narrative: A Challenge to the U.S. Army"
This post first appeared on the blog Point of Decision and has been reposted in its entirety with permission. So, you’ve pinned (or rather, hook-and-loop fastened) your black bar to your chest. Gone are the days of people calling you “Butterbar” and ignoring what you have to say. It’s a new era, right? Wrong. You’re …
Okay, so I’ve got a confession: I’m a veteran and a military nerd who doesn’t care for war movies. And it’s not because I’m anti-war, or because Hollywood doesn’t “get” us vets, or because the movies trigger PTSD: no, I just don’t care for them because they’re too obvious and in your face. We get …
Continue reading "Top Gun 2: What Might Have Been"
This wasn't supposed to be this hard to write. I'd thought about writing this weeks ago, and it all seemed to flow so well. That was before emotion got involved. See, emotion can be a blessing and a curse. It can tie your reader to your story and get them involved. But it can also …
Continue reading "To my Cat, on the Occasion of his Parting"
Scene: Galactic Courtroom. Defendant seems blissfully unaware of what’s going on, keeps talking about his training with a “Yoda.” Judge: “Commander Skywalker, let’s walk through the events that occurred during the Battle of Hoth, shall we?” Commander Skywalker: “Sure, it’s all the same to me, but I’m kind of busy and --” Judge: “Commander, this …
Continue reading "Skywalker on Trial: the Galactic Code of Military Justice"
So this past weekend I had my wisdom teeth out. I elected to go full pansy and get all the anesthesia the doc would give me. Accordingly, there is a gap in my memory after coming out of surgery. Luckily, my charming wife took notes for posterity on what happens when an Army officer and …
Continue reading "Wherein I Come Out of Anesthesia"
A lot has been said about the role of artillery in World War I, in both its intensity and ferocity. On the opening day of the Somme on July 1, 1916, British guns hurled 250,000 high explosive and shrapnel shells towards German positions. During the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, over 3,000 …
Continue reading "Anatomy of a World War I Artillery Barrage"
The Angry Staff Officer 
You must be logged in to post a comment.