ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Though hundreds of meters away, the catastrophic explosion sent a powerful shock wave through the operations center. As the battle staff watched the aerostat monitors in horror, injured civilians staggered away, covered in dust and blood, while shattered bodies littered the street. Burning and charred vehicles stood everywhere as soldiers, thrown to the ground behind concrete barriers, struggled to their feet.

The commander shot a quick glance at the sergeant major, who sprinted out the door to alert the tactical command post to get ready to roll. In a steady, hard voice, the boss called...

In an ever-evolving global landscape, the ability to rapidly deploy is not just a military requirement—it’s a deterrence. The U.S. Army’s global competitors are kept at bay not just by firepower, but by the sheer efficiency of its deployment strategies, known as the strategic mobility triad. This triad comprises strategic airlift, sealift and pre-positioned equipment.

Each element of the triad supports the National Military Strategy by projecting military power anywhere in the world. Central to this is the Army Prepositioned Stock (APS) program, a synchronization of multiple logistics...

Holistic Health and Fitness is a performance optimization system created to maximize soldiers’ ability to deploy, fight and win the United States’ wars. Placing people first, Holistic Health and Fitness provides the building blocks that enable leaders, soldiers and units to improve performance and mitigate risk.

Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) leverages an embedded model to create an interdisciplinary, cross-functional team at the brigade level that provides support across the following domains: physical, nutrition, mental, spiritual and sleep. This is a proactive approach to improve...

Over the past couple of years, tremendous attention has been paid to the U.S. Army’s failure to meet its recruiting goals. The Army has rightly looked at increasing signing bonuses, enhancing workforce training opportunities and improving military career progression and housing options.

Some debate has arisen over bettering the Army’s social media presence to respond to criticism of the military becoming too “woke” or not “sensitive” enough to social justice concerns of potential new recruits.

But one major aspect of improving Army recruiting clearly needs more attention—how the Army...

Battalion and squadron command posts will always face limitations in their ability to disperse and hide in terrain. Equipment availability significantly impacts how each unit executes command post operations. Synchronizing operations and increasing the likelihood of mission success is best achieved by bringing warfighting functions together in one location.

Due to equipment shortfalls, our unit, the 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Carson, Colorado, had a limited capacity to run an expeditionary-style command post...

A common attitude among many U.S. Army leaders with respect to ethics and the moral dimension of our profession—deciding, acting and leading in accordance with the law of armed conflict and Army Values—appears to be that of a bread baker who considers flour an optional ingredient. Many leaders similarly consider ethics an optional ingredient in decision-making. It’s as if they think they can make a decision, then see if it’s moral. No one should be surprised at this bifurcated approach in the Army.

The U.S. Army War College, for example, has a core strategic leadership course with one...

Every year, an elite group of recruits arrives at Joint Base San Antonio for an intensive training program and evaluation—all before the recruits turn 1 year old.

These 50 to 90 puppy candidates are Belgian Malinois, a smart, confident and versatile breed of dog similar to the more compact German shepherd. They are trained and evaluated by the Air Force’s 341st Training Squadron, which is responsible for training military working dogs for all the services and the Defense Department. Alongside fellow canine recruits from global breeders, these dogs are an essential part of the U.S. Army’s...

While the Army must transform for the future, it also must move with urgency to contend with today’s increasingly volatile and complex world, the service’s top general said.

“The difference today is the tech disruption we’ve had, the volatility is completely different, and just how fast things are spinning on the tech side,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said. “I think it’s completely different from what we’ve seen, and there’s a lot of implications with that and how we do business and how we change.”

Since being sworn in last September as the 41st Army chief of staff, George has...

In developing great units, the most important and impactful responsibility a leader has is creating and continuously fostering a positive leadership climate.

This is important and impactful for both short- and long-term reasons. In the short term, it has the single greatest impact on the individual and collective performance of units. In the long run, it determines the types of soldiers and leaders you are developing for their next assignments and beyond.

U.S. Army culture is embedded in things like the military ethic, Army Values and warfighting and training standards. Climate is the...

Polo is considered one of mankind’s oldest team sports. It dates back more than 2,500 years, and it’s a military sport, developed to keep mounted warriors and their steeds ready for combat.

Famous leaders such as Alexander the Great, Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Gen. George Patton Jr. are all credited as having been enthusiastic polo players. The modern version of polo came from British officers who observed Indians playing polo in Manipur in the 1860s and brought the sport back to England. Rules were codified, and from England, polo spread across Europe and to the U.S. in 1876....

Most people assume followership to be the act of following a leader’s orders. Though followership requires a commitment to achieving organizational goals by following a leader’s instructions, it is not about mindlessly conforming to the influence of whoever is in charge. Instead, followership is the art of adapting and applying the values and principles of the organization while responding to a leader’s influence.

Discussing followership is relevant to leadership. Recognizing effective followers and cultivating followership is as vital to the U.S. Army’s success as leader development...

Most people assume followership to be the act of following a leader’s orders. Though followership requires a commitment to achieving organizational goals by following a leader’s instructions, it is not about mindlessly conforming to the influence of whoever is in charge. Instead, followership is the art of adapting and applying the values and principles of the organization while responding to a leader’s influence.

Discussing followership is relevant to leadership. Recognizing effective followers and cultivating followership is as vital to the U.S. Army’s success as leader development...

I crouched in the concrete foxhole and anxiously awaited the tower’s commands. As a freshman ROTC cadet on my first Leadership Lab weekend, I was eager to try out my marksmanship with the M16A1 rifle I clutched in my sweaty hands.

“Do you have any questions?” a voice asked gently. I glanced up to see the most fearsome soldier I had ever laid eyes on. His spit-shined jump boots sparkled like mirrors, and his olive drab uniform was starched and crisp. A well-worn green beret rested just above his steely dark eyes.

I had just met the man who would have the greatest influence on my military...

The U.S. Army Materiel Command and the U.S. Army sustainment enterprise remain focused on projecting and sustaining combat power, because sustainment is about warfighting, period.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George made this clear last fall when he assigned Army Materiel Command (AMC) as lead for one of the service’s key focus areas: delivering ready combat formations. His charge, in an October “Message to the Army Team” also signed by Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth: “We must be ready to get our formations to the fight and sustain them there.”

Have you ever thought about the cost of loneliness? Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, around 50% of American adults reported being lonely, according to the U.S. surgeon general. Chronic feelings of loneliness or social isolation have an impact on one’s lifespan that is similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

According to the May 2023 U.S. surgeon general’s advisory, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” loneliness increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death. Loneliness has proven to be more deadly than obesity and...