Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
I've been to a lot of battlefields: from the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Most are neatly marked with "this thing happened here" or "Robert E. Lee's horse drank from a puddle here." I've even been to a few from the Soviet-Afghan War and Operation Enduring Freedom, although I saw …
Continue reading "Walking a World War I Battlefield"
In 2010, as the popular uprisings that comprised the Arab Spring were flaring across the Middle East, more than one commentator must have looked back in time to make comparisons to other democratic revolutions. And as the Arab Spring became drenched in blood, heartache, and divisiveness, that same commentator might have noted with sadness the …
Continue reading "What Do the Revolutions of 1848 Tell us About Modern Politics?"
On the morning of September 15, 1862, the fate of the Civil War was held in the hands of Union Brigadier General Dixon S. Miles. Those hands were probably shaking slightly that morning, although not from fear, but from the delirium tremens. You see, Miles was a drunk. A graduate of West Point, Miles had not done his …
Continue reading "Drunken Disaster at Harper’s Ferry"
When I sat down to write this post, I had planned to say a few things about current veterans’ organizations and ask where the new generation of veterans fits in. However, in doing my research on past veterans organizations, I found that veterans issues have been rife with problems since the very founding of our …
Continue reading "We know Old Soldiers just fade away, but where do Young Soldiers Go?"
When I was a shiny new soldier, fresh out of Army basic and advanced training, I was placed in the rear detachment of a unit that was forward deployed. There were a few other brand new soldiers in the detachment, but quite of few of the soldiers were coming off of Active Duty into the …
I recently read a great article from Foreign Policy citing a lack of critical thinking skills on the part of U.S. Army officers, and it stated that a solution lay in a better groundwork in history. First off, anyone who's spent time working on staff at any level can agree to the lack of critical thinking. …
The Angry Staff Officer 
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