Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
As you progress in the Army as an officer - and sometimes as an NCO – you’re bound to end up on staff at some point or another. Like death or taxes, it is inevitable – and sometimes as equally dreaded. One of the perks of staff – besides the feeling of constant dread and …
Continue reading "The Different Types of Army Staff Officers by Branch"
By Butters' Bars Recently a couple friends and I turned to the internet to answer a very important question: are we millennials? A number of sources place the millennial generation between 1980 and 2000—with some variation—putting the most recent group of college graduates (recently minted 2LTs) right at the end of the millennial generation. The …
Continue reading "Guest Post: Who is Achilles Anyways? A Millennial Fires Back"
If you've been in the military, you've had this conversation before: "Oh, you're in the Army? That's cool, I almost joined up once, but..." Random excuse follows. (Caveat: unless it is a medical issue, because there are those who desperately want to serve in the military but can't because of medical issues, and that can …
Continue reading "“I Would’ve Served, But…”"
In the Army, we battle more about whose branch is superior than we do about who has to eat the vegetarian omelette MRE. The infantry, of course, are the most aggressive in asserting their primacy over all others. That is, until special forces rolls in and glares at them over their beards. Cavalry and armor …
Continue reading "Hogwarts Houses as Army Branches"
The Army takes the education of its soldiers very seriously; so seriously that it developed the term “professional military education,” which it then turned into an acronym, PME. That’s how you can tell that the Army is serious about things: proliferation of acronyms. But seriously. Military Education Military education is incredibly important - it sets …
Continue reading "Is the Army’s Professional Military Education System Broken?"
Strap yourselves in, folks, it's time to ruin yet another timely classic by giving it the old "analyze it to death" treatment. And this time, we're going back a ways. A long time ago, to be exact, in a galaxy far, far away. More precisely, we're going to the ice planet of Hoth. If you've …
Continue reading "Warfighter: Hoth"
Summer means many things: vacation, lazy days by the beach, cook-outs, and the smell of freshly mowed lawns. Or it means yet another NTC rotation, another deployment, a PCS move, or other less-fun Army experiences. Whether you're burying your toes in the sand on the beach or trying to get the sand out of your …
Continue reading "ASO’s Summer Reading List"
There are many iconic images in U.S. military history: Washington crossing the Delaware, the surrender at Appomattox, troops landing on Omaha Beach, to name a few. But few paintings or photographs have managed to capture one of the most significant weapons in the U.S. arsenal: the knife hand. Able to cleave the air with a …
Continue reading "The History of the Military Knife Hand"
With the recent news that Arrested Development creator Ron Howard will be directing the new Star Wars one-off movie about Han Solo, we would be negligent if we did not consider what that could look like. So, without any more introduction, I give you... Now the story of a family of dysfunctional Jedi who lost everything and the one …
Continue reading "Here’s Some Memes, Go See a Star War"
When World War II came to a close in 1945, about 13 million service members began the transition into civilian life. Some had been in uniform for the whole four years; some, for just a few months. Some had served overseas; some had served at home. Many had been in terrible combat; many more had never …
Continue reading "We Need a Universal Veteran Symbol for America’s Recent Conflicts"
The Angry Staff Officer 
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