Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
Guest post via an author writing under the pseudonym Lost CAC The military faces a recruiting shortfall. The Army, as the largest service, predictably felt the sting acutely, missing its recruiting goals by 15,000 or 25%. Army officials offered several reasons for recruiting difficulties: a tight civilian job market, pandemic-related restrictions on recruiter access to …
Continue reading "The Army, Recruiting, and Bad Faith “Woke” Criticism"
Language is a window to thought. In the Army, we often say that “words have meaning” and they do. But even more so, the manner in which we crystalize thoughts into language colors the thoughts themselves. The goods somewhat assume the shape of the vessel in which they are carried. Learning a language beyond one’s …
Continue reading "NATO Operations and the Unifying Power of a Common Language"
John Q. Bolton We reached in China the exact opposite of what had been our object. – Barbara Tuchman The chaotic 2021 American departure from Afghanistan inevitably invites comparisons to the 1975 fall of South Vietnam. Pictures of helicopters evacuating rooftops evoke feelings of helplessness of an erstwhile partner government collapsing. But before Afghanistan, Iraq, …
Continue reading "Afghanistan Isn’t 1975 South Vietnam, It’s 1948 China"
The armored JLTV’s diesel engine growled as the transmission downshifted to avoid getting stuck in the rutted, muddy road. The hulking four-wheeled truck’s right front tire splashed into a deep puddle, cascading windshield with brown water and banging the soldiers inside hard against the armored doors. “Goddamn it, Cisneros, who the fuck taught you how …
Continue reading "#NextWar: A Fictional Cautionary Tale"
The Legend of Korra is not only a good primer to study insurgencies, it can also be used to study operational art. The Battle of the Bay which took place between the Equalists and the United Forces over control of Republic City in season one episode eleven is an especially suitable example. The United Forces …
Continue reading "Operational Lessons from Legend of Korra"
The Army is not for everyone. More often than not, this phrase is a not-so-thinly veiled critique of those leaving the service, either on their own terms or not. Proponents of this phrase tend to mention how only a small percentage of the population serves and how much more selective the military is compared to …
Continue reading "The Army is Not for Everyone"
I spent 12 months managing a division-level Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program. It was evident, commanders have varying opinions on what “success” means in SHARP. It was even more clear Commanders were not in sync with the inner workings of their programs. The more senior in rank the commander was, the …
Continue reading "Taking Ownership: The Problem of Command Teams and the SHARP Program"
This article contains significant spoilers for Season 1 of The Legend of Korra Season 1 of The Legend of Korra is an insightful depiction of a counterinsurgency campaign which should be required watching for security studies students everywhere. It captures key elements of how insurgencies operate and highlights common pitfalls of counterinsurgents in a compact …
Continue reading "The Legend of Korra – An Insurgency Masterclass"
Assessment is how the military determines “the overall effectiveness of employing capabilities during military operations.”. That said, the military does not practice this dark art well. If an objective is clear-cut, measuring its performance is also straightforward. Broader objectives cause problems. This was the challenge in Iraq. It was also at the heart of the …
Continue reading "Forget Love in the Time of Cholera, How About Assessment in the Time of COVID-19?"
It’s not the Generals and Admirals, resplendent in their perfectly pressed uniforms or artfully crafted Rebel style, who write strategy. No, it’s some poor neglected Rebel equivalent of a staff weenie making best guesses in the back of an Empire cubical farm of Rebel hangar deck.
The Angry Staff Officer 
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