Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
Let’s have a little chat about readiness. To be more specific, let’s talk Army National Guard readiness. First of all, what does readiness even mean? The word is being tossed around like a football these days (that’s American football to you other folks who refuse to acknowledge our arbitrary break with the rest of the …
Continue reading "What is Readiness and How Do We Get There?"
It seems just the other day that the song "Cups," as sung by Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect, was all over every radio station in the country. Now, it barely comes on over the waves. Not unlike another old forgotten favorite: the war in Afghanistan. Not only is it in the news less, it literally received no treatment …
Continue reading "How “Cups” is Actually About the U.S. War in Afghanistan"
He bent low. His back ached. He could smell the earth below his face, the stinking, ever-present mud. Mercifully, free of gas. For now. The soft lip of the trench - or, what had been a trench before German artillery had blasted it to ever-living hell - was a dim reflection in the early morning …
Continue reading "“Of the Highest Order:” June 16, 1918"
I know you all are like me; you get excited when new doctrine gets released. Giddy, even. So I know that when the Army released Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 1-02 Terms and Military Symbols you immediately downloaded the whole thing and had a good read. Or not. One thing always strikes me when going through this …
Continue reading "Military Graphics: What they SHOULD Mean"
There’s a moment on the television show “Scrubs” (the greatest thing to ever air on American television) when the young resident John Dorian (JD) becomes paralyzed by the fear of accidentally killing a patient by making a mistake. In this mindset, he veers away from making any risky decisions or undertaking any procedures that might …
Continue reading "World War III: Stop Trying to Prevent It"
Whoa there, high speed. Look at you, all brand new and shiny, right out of your basic officer leader course, hard-charging to take over your first platoon. Thing is, behind that brash exterior, you're probably confused as all get-out. After years of training in ROTC or a military academy (you OCS guys know all this stuff …
Continue reading "Thrown into the Deep End: Tips for New Platoon Leaders"
Today's guest post comes from Tim Shea (@trshea88), a former U.S. Army Captain hailing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord's now defunct 4th Stryker Brigade. In 2014, Tim traded the green pastures of Army life for the exhilarating, cutthroat world of economic development consulting. He maintains his sanity by writing here. To all the badge, tab, etc. lovers …
Continue reading "A Combat Badge Does Not a Soldier Make"
You can tell a lot about someone based on their uniform. Especially in the Army. In fact, we regularly violate the "Don't judge a book by its cover" dictum. Hell, we stomp that dictum into the dirt and build a fighting position on top of it. When meeting each other, soldiers tend to size the …
Continue reading "Integrity: The Unseen Skill Badge"
Official complaint logged by Human Resources Division, I Division, Stormtrooper Corps Dear Sir/Ma'am/Alien/Droid, This is a closed complaint from troopers of the I Division, who wish to remain numberless, for very obvious reasons. This complaint is being registered in accordance with General Order Number 139, Complaints and Open Door Policy for First Order Personnel, Starkiller …
Continue reading "The First Order Complains"
When I was seven, my mother did the worst thing I could conceive of: she took my Calvin and Hobbes books away from me. Why, why would she do such a horrible thing, I asked her at the time, probably kicking and screaming and waving my tiny fists. It was a very simple answer: I was acting too …
Continue reading "Seven Military Leadership Lessons from Calvin and Hobbes"
The Angry Staff Officer 
You must be logged in to post a comment.