Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
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"
Throughout an officer’s career, there will be inevitable exposure to a plethora of reading lists. Although a myriad of different lists exists, one essay that finds its way to a majority of junior officer reading lists is Hubbard's Message to Garcia, a story that describes a young second lieutenant’s initiative and tenacity in accomplishing …
Continue reading "Message to Garcia: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly"
There I was, in my second year of command, feeling confident and competent. A dangerous concoction. We'd knocked out a great JRTC rotation, the company was firing on all cylinders, and I thought everything was golden. It was drill weekend and we were knocking out the M-4 range as well as some other tasks. Ahead …
Continue reading "Good Intentions Do Not a Good Commander Make"
Dunno if you're like me, but I was raised on stories of America, the survivor. America, the scrappy. America, the fighter. The country that came from behind, stood for truth and justice, took some punches, and then came out the other side - stronger than ever. The Sons of Liberty. The Underground Railroad. Rosie the …
Continue reading "America, Get your S**t Together"
As much as Ian hated to admit it, operating outside the system was a lot more fun than operating inside the system. Granted, there were new challenges - it was a lot more difficult to move around inside Allied zones without clearances. However, once Looper was able to reverse engineer some of the comms equipment …
Continue reading "Finding Space – Chapter Seventeen"
With all-due apologies to Dylan Thomas. As Christmas rolls around, my all-too willing mind is pulled back to Ohio, to the wide and rolling drab-colored fields dotted by stout wood copses, to the gray and leaden skies that sat like a lid on a silent universe. Snow, never early, always late, sometimes on time, would …
Continue reading "A Child’s Christmas in Ohio"
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"
There's a lot of talk about recruiting and retention in the Army these days, as we try to build the right force for whatever lies in the future. Without a doubt, we need to have the right people in the right places. But too often we are hidebound by organizational issues or habits that keep …
Continue reading "Army Organizational Issues that Prevent Talent Management"
For years, I was blessed with a marvelous ability: to be able to just sit down and begin writing. And then to finish writing, with an actual product. And like with most abilities, I took it for granted. I would jest about writer’s block as if I truly knew what it meant, even though for …
Continue reading "When the Words Stopped"
The Angry Staff Officer 
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