Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
So there I was the other day, just minding my own business and falling down some social media algorithm-caused rabbit holes of a Saturday night, like ya do, when I came across this image: The Lion of Atlanta, image sourced here. Now, for those of you who are war monument nerds like myself, you may …
Continue reading "Copycats: The American Civil War Lions of Lucerne"
West Point's Modern War Institute, in conjunction with Training and Doctrine Command, initiated a contest in July 2023 to elicit essays describing a novel approach to "solve the recruiting crisis". Entries were accepted until September 3, 2023. To date, the winning entries have not been announced. The below reproduced short essay was originally written as …
Continue reading "Water is Wet: “solving” the military recruiting crisis."
In 1954, General Anthony McAuliffe wrote a letter to General Henry Hodes describing “an urgent and vexing problem” within the Army: “It is my understanding that assignment to command of a company or a battery is not a popular one, a pronounced contrast to the attitude existing prior to World War II…We must give …
Continue reading "Guest Post: Dear Senior Leaders, It’s Not Us, It’s You"
A few months ago, this blog published the post "On Command: A Confession," wherein I talked about my personal struggles with the idea of taking a battalion command. Not unlike the USS Maine in 1898, that post blew up. Too soon? I got messages from other Army officers, Navy officers, even officers in foreign militaries. …
Continue reading "Are We Hearing What We Want to Hear?"
One would say that picking the day before the anniversary of D-Day in World War II is an odd time to talk about the first world war, yet, here we are. Because the more that I look at the war in Ukraine, the more I am drawn back to World War I. And no, not …
Continue reading "Why the American Experience in World War I Matters Today"
Guest post via an author writing under the pseudonym Lost CAC The military faces a recruiting shortfall. The Army, as the largest service, predictably felt the sting acutely, missing its recruiting goals by 15,000 or 25%. Army officials offered several reasons for recruiting difficulties: a tight civilian job market, pandemic-related restrictions on recruiter access to …
Continue reading "The Army, Recruiting, and Bad Faith “Woke” Criticism"
I have a confession to make. I don't want to be a battalion commander. I don't want to be a brigade commander. I don't want to command anything, ever again. For an Army officer to say, this is well nigh on heresy. I nearly expected George C. Marshall himself to descend from his lofty throne …
Continue reading "On Command: A Confession"
This is brought to you by the author having been subjected to two World War II airborne "experiences" in this year alone, which made them wonder if someone would ever try to encapsulate and commercialize the GWOT experience. This is a work of snark and should not be interpreted seriously. However, if someone does actually …
Continue reading "The GWOT Theme Park Experience"
I'm sitting in a mock-up of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain as the airframe rumbles and jerks from the impact of anti-aircraft fire outside. As we can see from looking out the windows, planes catch fire and go down around us. One particularly close explosion scores a hit and smoke seeps from the floor. Across from …
Continue reading "The Problem of Remembrance"
Language is a window to thought. In the Army, we often say that “words have meaning” and they do. But even more so, the manner in which we crystalize thoughts into language colors the thoughts themselves. The goods somewhat assume the shape of the vessel in which they are carried. Learning a language beyond one’s …
Continue reading "NATO Operations and the Unifying Power of a Common Language"
The Angry Staff Officer 
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