Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
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"
Science fiction has seen its fair share of questionable military commanders and strategists. There’s Star Wars' Emperor, and his love of doubling or even tripling down on the whole "floating orb of death" strategy, of course. Darth Vader’s fixation on his wayward son to the exclusion of pretty much anything else springs to mind. And …
Continue reading "How the Baron Harkonnen Failed at Grand Strategy"
Like me, perhaps you've been watching the news from Afghanistan wondering how we got to this point. This piece is absolutely not an analysis of our twenty-year conflict there as I am neither an expert on the nation nor an unbiased onlooker. Instead, I've been thinking about the nature of these types of wars and …
Continue reading "The Distress Cycle of American Military Conflicts"
It was 1866, and the men of the US Army, Navy, and Marines had destroyed the rebellion on the battlefield and ushered in a "new birth of freedom." Their work done, they hoped to return to lives filled with the fruits of their blood and toil. That year, they formed a veterans' organization called "The …
By Captains Kenneth Bellows & Gregory Trahan Staff. Army Officers spend most of our time on it and most of that time we spend looking back to our last job on the line and looking forward to command, broadening, or the sweet release of ETS. Staff time is never the highlight, despite 70% or more …
Continue reading "Row Your Boat Ashore for a Break: A Case for The Military Order of St. Jude"
Hey, Army Engineer community, pull up a chair, we need to have a little chat about how we talk about our own history. Somehow, we always let the infantry, armor, and field artillery take center stage when it comes to talking about badass historical figures. We just sort of sit back and mutter, "Well, we …
Continue reading "Francois de Fleury: the Most Badass Engineer of the American Revolution:"
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"
Amateurs, so the old saying goes, talk tactics, while professionals – whoever they are – talk logistics. Okay, sure, that briefs well, but who is it that talks communications, then? You know, the 1/3 of that “shoot, move, and communicate,” that we’re always harping on. If your answer is, “Well, I always just get the …
Someday, you’re going to take that guidon or flag and you’re going to be that head honcho; the boss; the decision-maker; the grand moff. Well, okay, hopefully not the latter, as that means that you’ve somehow slipped into the chain of command of the Galactic Empire. As you rise in rank and responsibility, your duties …
Continue reading "Playing Patience: Hills to Die On. Or Not."
China is regarded by many defense and strategy experts as a significant threat to U.S.’s national security and global influence. This sentiment was shared by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and current Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood. Conversely, China views the U.S. in a similar light. On March 5, 2021, General Xu …
The Angry Staff Officer 
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